Re: Where the heck is Canada?

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:08:05 +0530, Gunner Asch
<gunner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:14:51 -0600, F. George McDuffee
<gmcduffee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Land reform
and the resulting use of currently idle acreage will most likely
solve any domestic food problems as well as establishing a
productive class of small farmer/owners.


Lets hope it works out better than it did in South Africa., the
Phillipines, Bosnia, etc etc.

Gunner
===========
I hope it does also.

The big difference appears to be [from their press releases] is
that land in active/productive use will not be redistributed, but
only fallow land on which the taxes are very low will be
"recycled" back into productive use and back onto the tax rolls
at full value.

It makes no sense to have food shortages and/or to import huge
quantities of food requiring foreign exchange, and at the same
time have large numbers of unemployed and large amounts of fallow
land on which minimum taxes are paid.

It appears to be common in Latin America that many huge estates
continue to exist with very low productivity per acre in terms of
the number of cattle raised and/or crops produced because of the
low utilization. These are called Latifundia. In many ways the
Latifundia is the ultimate "conspicuous consumption" item, and
IMNSHO is a serious misallocation of capital.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latifundia

In addition to the very considerable economic/productivity and
taxation issues, the continued existence of these huge estates
appear to be of significant socio-cultural importance in that the
Latifundia is widely seen as a remnant and constant reminder of
the colonial/feudal era, and extreme labor exploitation remains
very common. Typically much of the best available land is part
of the Latifundia system, and is not farmed.

Some sources suggest that the Latifundias are gradually being
taken over by trans-national corporations. While the
productivity/utilization may then increases, the extreme labor
exploitation and excessively low taxes appears to continue (and
may even intensify) and any increased production is exported
rather than increasing the stocks available for domestic
consumption. These are more properly called plantations.


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).
.

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