People like to use the example of Crassus’ fire brigade as an analogy for how corporate interests extract value from regular people in society. Crassus and his fire brigade would go around buying burning houses on the cheap, and then put out the fire for the benefit of Crassus, the new owner. There were some who believed that Crassus was setting the fires himself, but the extractive playbook here works whether he was setting them himself or not.
Are agricultural megacorps buying up farms with depressed values and then fixing them so that the values increase? Probably not. They’re in basically the same boat with the price of commodities, in terms of the inputs (water, fertilizer, labor, equipment and machinery, fuel, energy) and the outputs (wheat, corn, soybeans, etc.). It’s a problem for them, too.
Maybe they have deep enough pockets to ride out the current crisis and will have more to show for it in the end, but for now, they’re in the same boat.
The goal is the collapse and consolidation of farms for private equity. JD is being loud about supporting one venture group buying up farms but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was a proxy group and the one he is parading is supposed to take on liabilities and shed its assets, typical venture cap behavior.
are the farmers in dire straits, or are independent farmers in dire straights?
i make the distinction because if the purpose is to make the rich, richer, then this is a feature, not a bug for republicans
Yeah it’s just the independent farmers. Here in Arkansas they’re either losing their farms or straight up killing themselves, at a brisk pace too.
Happens here too. And who scoops up the land when it gets liquidated? JD goddamn Vance and his vultures.
All part of the plan :(
People like to use the example of Crassus’ fire brigade as an analogy for how corporate interests extract value from regular people in society. Crassus and his fire brigade would go around buying burning houses on the cheap, and then put out the fire for the benefit of Crassus, the new owner. There were some who believed that Crassus was setting the fires himself, but the extractive playbook here works whether he was setting them himself or not.
Are agricultural megacorps buying up farms with depressed values and then fixing them so that the values increase? Probably not. They’re in basically the same boat with the price of commodities, in terms of the inputs (water, fertilizer, labor, equipment and machinery, fuel, energy) and the outputs (wheat, corn, soybeans, etc.). It’s a problem for them, too.
Maybe they have deep enough pockets to ride out the current crisis and will have more to show for it in the end, but for now, they’re in the same boat.
The goal is the collapse and consolidation of farms for private equity. JD is being loud about supporting one venture group buying up farms but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was a proxy group and the one he is parading is supposed to take on liabilities and shed its assets, typical venture cap behavior.