Why I was Wrong

A few posts back I discussed my reasoning for a fat tax, or a tax on foods that make people in America fat. I discussed high fructose corn syrup and fast foods.

This past weekend I was having an argument about this topic with others from AllForLocal and my eyes were opened to why this is not a correct solution to the problems I addressed (America is fat, health care costs rise as a result, less people can afford health care and thus education on the topic of staying healthy, it's a vicious cycle). I acted in a hypocritical manner because for all there are many flaws in America, including the need for Congress to constantly put fat bills through that are made to please all parties involved (this gives way to earmarks). Thus a proposed solution creates other problems, or pisses people off. The same goes for a fat tax: we add a tax on top of a system that is already flawed (solutions beget problems).

Ever since America was founded several hundred years ago, legislators have insisted on creating new taxes to collect from Americans in order to solve some problem. This included sin taxes like those on cigarettes an alcohol, and other taxes such as those on tea (I say tea because I wanted to include the Boston Tea Party and a fun reference!) and food products (most of which were justified). In the case of taxing corn in order to reduce the amount of corporations producing byproducts of corn, there is a much better solution. Instead of adding on top of existing laws, we should just start eliminating the subsidies that make it so easy to become rich through corn. This includes NOT growing corn because farmers are getting paid for it. This would eliminate (well, reduce) the amount of farmers producing corn, thus bringing the cost of corn up, thus discouraging manufacturers to use corn byproducts. Problem solved. Less taxes, a healthier America, lower cost for health care, more money to give to farmers that produce better vegetables (and so on.).

Let's look at it from my perspective (I eat healthy, I avoid high fructose corn syrup, and other corn products), because I am sure there are others who are in the boat with me. Since I am an American taxpayer, I am paying the government to give subsidies to farmer's to not produce corn on their farms. This means I pay to make a product I use sparingly become cheaper for corporations and consumers (and then I have to pay for higher health care costs, because of a fatter America). This is assed backwards. Why is our government paying to produce such an unhealthy sweetener? Because it is cheap to produce in mass quantities ever since it became trendy to grow corn, or profitable (lobbyists also). Instead, we should be giving this money to farmer's who produce crops organically, or in season, which is better for the environment, and better for the health of America.

There are numerous other reasons why Americans should stop paying subsidies to corn farmer's. It has been proven that the growth of agriculture (and I mean irresponsible agriculture) has terrible effects on the environment and the ecosystems within it (THIS article tells a bit about it, I'm sure there are many more). Corn is just one example of our government being used by lobbyists to encourage them to create products that are cheap and effective in making food taste better (soybeans are another massively produced product). When farming was a much bigger part of the employment of America (now only 2%), farmer's had the help to produce a variety of items on their farms. They needed the skills necessary to ensure that crops are cycled in soil, in order to take and put new nutrients in the soil. Now with modern machinery and less farmer's per square acre, it is encourage (and easy) to produce only one product, which causes the soil to become deficient in important nutrients. SO, not only are we destroying the soil, but our food has less nutrients in it as a result.

In conclusion, reduce or eliminate subsidies of corn, and other products that make America unhealthy. This way, we pay less taxes, health care costs fall, and we can stick it to the lobbyists who are trying to ensure the demise of America. If the environment doesn't kill us, not being able to get off a bus because of so many fat Americans, will.

I could get into GMO's (genetically modified organisms), but that is a whole new topic.

I hope I have shed new light on this subject, now pick at my argument because there are about 100 different tangents that can come from this statement. I want to try and break this topic down to the bare bones, but that would be practically impossible. Thanks for reading (COMMENT!!).