> The days that weren't so enjoyable were due in part to good people
> that had been put into
> impossible positions that illuminated their incompetencies. Not
> necessarily their faults, they were just climbing the management
> ladder to whatever their goal was. But the party line they had to
> follow to reach their idea of happiness made lots of other people's
> lives hell. And that's just the postal service!
>
I've been in the the University, private industry, also at a state seed
lab. What you are describing is a ubiquitous, but not inevitable
phenomenon. Some will abuse their authority, stepping on others to
achieve their ends.
> With this small corner of the government in mind, I would state that I
> don't
> recall ANY instance of the US government or any of it's agencies
> operating in
> good faith.
>
The only experience I have with the postal service is that mail seems to
be delivered quickly. I do know a few people with the USDA, and as far
as I can tell, they have a lot of integrity, and seem competent.
> What about Korea? Cuba? Vietnam? Nixon?
>
Well, that's a diverse set of examples! I would love to debate certain
of these, but it goes beyond sus-ag!
> What about the now-moot Delaney Clause, full of good intentions and
> left to
> languish in the courts for 30 years,
>
The Delaney Clause was practically obsolete before the ink was dry, due
to advances in analytical chemistry. Thank God the courts kept it in
check!
> ow replaced by the Food Quality Protection
> Act, which may suffer the same fate?
>
The FQPA may be overconservative, but I don't think it is wacky.
> I haven't seen that the government has followed any of the democratic
> ideals that we boast so loudly about to the rest of the world.
>
I lived in Colombia for a couple years. In comparison, the US is a
paragon of honesty, integrity and efficiency, plus crime of all sorts is
way, WAY lower. I don't mean to be hard on Colombia, they have a number
of vexing problems. But I think you are taking a lot of things for
granted. Things can be much worse than they are in the US.
> If anything, USA IS the evil empire.
>
Maybe in your exotic corner of cyberspace.
> Throw the bums out.
>
Sounds like the political instinct to me! The same one that causes many
of the problems you are describing.
> Let those that want the rules abide by them.
>
If I were an organically-inclined consumer, about to be charged $1.50/lb
for "organic" onions, I would want to know that the term organic has a
consistent meaning. An argument can be made that this is essential for
the growth of the organic foods industry.
> All these large albeit organic operations are still out of sync with
> the basic tenets of
> sustainability - consider the resources it takes to move any product
> further
> than 25 miles from it's point of production.
>
I'm trying to resist the impulse to debate the meaning of sustainability
here, or about how externalities are priced. But suffice it to say, all
these things are highly debatable. If I were growing organic onions
near Boise, I would probably claim that I can do it with less adverse
environmental impact than can someone in Iowa. I could certainly do it
more cost-effectively.
My point is that it is possible to disagree with you, and the
bioregional agenda, without being part of an evil conspiracy.
> And don't trust the government because they don't have anyone's best
> interests at heart except those that perpetuate their own control over
> all they can see.
>
Sure, some of those bureaurocrats want to build their empires, but their
agendae are not so expansive. They just want their niche (and they can
rationalize and sell their ideas). And there has been a groundswell of
political will to shrink government, and limit it's power. I don't
believe the US government is out of control.
> I appreciate SANET as a forum for this long overdue dialog.
>
Me too. Thanks for the interesting discussion.
Dale Wilson in beautiful green Central Iowa
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