-=> Quoting Karolina Stutzman to Charles Murray <=-
 KS> As to the taxes on bread, shucks, I don't know for sure one way
 KS> or the other, but I wouldn't mind paying a few cents more so the
 KS> farmer could make a decent living without being subsidized by the
 KS> government.  Kinda makes me think that would bring the taxes down,
 KS> but I've heard that if the government *didn't* subsidize the
 KS> farmers we'd be paying a *lot* more for bread than we are now.
 KS> But, again, I'm not sure about that and maybe I just oughta leave
 KS> the tax and subsidy discussions to others.
 
 And usually the "others" don't have any better ideas. In this day and age of
 the huge society we have, I'm not sure going back to simple "supply and
 demand" and barter would work any better on a _large_ scale. BUT... that
 doesn't prevent anyone from thinking on a smaller scale. Most of the "added
 on cost" to any product is "labor-saving". And some people have the false
 impression that it is "time-saving". BUT, if you really analyze it "people"
 are working more hours nowadays thatn used to to provide their subsitence.
 The BIG difference? They are working for _someone_ else to earn the "coin of
 the realm" to pay all the "middle men".
 This can even be seen in some NA cultures where material goods were gathered
 and then redistributed to acquire status for someone or their tribe. (Think
 about the U.S. and foreign aid.) In the Northwest Coast traditions, it's 
 called the potlatch. It now appears that only after contact with the white
 man did this accumulation/distribution get to the point that it could almost
 bankrupt a tribe. But, "status" is VERY important to the "mainstream 
culture".
 Jim
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