Libertarian Socialism

[The Grand Nudger]

Both Bill Gates and Gandhi have had a bit of hero worship applied to them. Sure, they worked to solve problems, but asking the government to spend the money we give them is -also- working to solve problems. The state is a tool (our tool, in fact...supposedly). It ought to be able to do some work...and I don't see why the request that it do so be characterized as "begging", or fundamentally different from what you think Bill Gates or Gandhi did.

If I could I'd invest in a hydroponic infrastructure for California's agriculture to solve our drought problem once and for all. I'd also be willing to work for it. As long as I'd be able to buy the investment back.

Now that's right up my alley. In fact, it's what I do (or used to do). I've handed over two 20 acre vertical hydro setups on the state dime thusfar (Florida). The next one will be mine (in Kentucky). I have alot of kids...I want to give them something. Expensive startup though, like most conservation tech. Since you're tacitly assuming the full environmental cost of your operation (rather than shuffling it off on the state ala the standard model) you can't really expect a similar ROI...and because food is artificially devalued (so that everyone can eat..ostensibly) the margins are already slim. I do aight though. It'll be years until I'm up and running the way I'd like to be. Right now I'm doing no till (I still collect data for various projects). It's a bear, I much prefer hydro, not as much bending over or waging hellish war on the ground beneath my feet...lol. Mostly I'm just establishing fruit in prep. Just bought this place.

Started out as a way to continue work on a research grant regarding reclaimed water use in strawberry production - our berry boys fell through mid project (tons of the states money wasted right there) and we didn't have a "lab" to play with......so we built one, then..because the community was so generous, we built another. You know the trick was actually the business model. We ended up with a CSA in both cases. One certified organic, one "merely" sustainable. Damndest thing....the local farmers didn't like it, said we were a government subsidized entity and that they couldn't compete with us. Got shut down. I always get a giggle out of that, because the people complaining owned farms as large as cities and turned millions to our tens of dollars. Real David and Goliath story there, huh? It was clearly a case of government run business trampling on the private business owner (sigh). You know what pissed them off? We cut into their roadside trash sales, I shit-you-not. Whatever fell off the trucks they'd sell at stands, and people stopped going to their stands because our produce was of much...much higher quality - and if you asked really nice, we'd just give it to you for free anyway. We all loved what we did. If we hadn't done that - they wouldn't even have noticed that we were there, right in the middle of their farms (so maybe we should have thrown it all away.... or kept feeding it to their cows on the fenceline like we did when we started - weren't any complaints then, that's for damned sure. Bet that beef fetched a high price). Some of it was politics as well, our main guy, the farm manager proper was part of the town gentry (as were the other farmers) and they had -history-. Some of it, obviously, was that everyone was feeling the pinch (state included) and the purse strings needed to be drawn up anyway.

I wholeheartedly agree that we don't have to wait for permission to improve things. Bet the state of California would pour money at a decent proposal along those lines....pretty sure they already do. You -could- do it on your own..but take it from me...your wallet will run out long before you ever see a dime....-if- you ever see a dime, that is...and it's a big if. Isn't that the sort pof thing the state should be using our taxes for (even if the local muckity mucks don't like it for whatever batshit reason)?