It’s About Making Babies!

Frank W. James farms. He blogs about his love of farming and delight in gun ownership on Corn, beans, spent brass, an empty page and a deadline. During a recent trip to California he encountered those disillusioned with developing ethanol as a fuel. They found rising food prices too much to pay.

A year or two ago ethanol was the new darling save-the-planet battle cry of the global warming crowd. Congress bought in, and funded ethanol plants and related programs. Tree huggers wept for joy.

Only now there are some uncomfortable findings. Instead of saving the atmosphere from releasing the ‘cached’ carbon of oil, gas, and coal, ethanol only reduces the amount of fossil carbon required. By the time all the transport, processing, and farming are counted, there is a slight energy deficit in using ethanol.

Then NASA released their minor little study that tree huggers ignore religiously. It seems every planet in the solar system is warming up. Burning coal and oil isn’t causing global warming at all. Nor is Al Gore, thank goodness.

Brazil enjoys a worldwide admiration for turning to ethanol. What they gained, though, wasn’t reduction of carbon emissions - not when they burned 1,000 square miles of rain forest last year, according to them - they gain national security. They don’t need mideast oil.

We cannot do what Brazil did. We cannot pull 1,000 square miles of new farmland out of the air, each year. We are also unlikely to be shipping farmers in to help the effort (Mom tells me several Northwest Iowa farmers are wintering over in Brazil, to farm their season before coming home to farm ours.)

The cost of ethanol will likely never drop below that of oil/gasoline. There is no market mechanism to separate the two commodities, and those invested are unlikely to change that.

Like many recycling programs, it appears that only government subsidies will make ethanol appear to pay for itself.

Here in Oklahoma, there are farmers around me that planted corn to sell for ethanol this year, rather than other crops that looked (at the time) to bring in less cash.

Fuel costs are changing the way some of my neighbors work, what crops they are willing to plant. Costs of custom work are skyrocketing as are food and livestock feed bills. Everyone seems to be reducing amount of equipment as much as possible, turning to low-tillage techniques, hiring some work done. Several farmers always got together to bale, rather than everyone own their own. Now so few own a baler that most baling is done for hire - and the prices are skyrocketing. A couple years ago I had hay cut for $6 and acre, and large round bales baled for $6 a bale. Last fall it was $10 and $10, and prices this spring are even higher. This has a direct effect on food prices - farmers here are cutting back on the number of cows they run. Beef prices historically never change that much, so the assumption is you keep the costs low, or stop raising cows and calves. And beef and other protein source food prices go up as the supply is reduced.

Agribusiness has always been about making money. Plant the crops expected to sell the best at harvest. Pick the seed sources that seem best suited for the expected weather that year. Pick a few strains or crops that would take advantage of likely changes in the weather or market forecast, or provide a useful rotation crop to keep the ground in good condition. So the allure of ethanol markets have a big impact on farmers, many of which changed a field or three to ethanol corn.

And then we have the insanity of patented seeds. Well, the patents I don’t mind that much, it keeps lawyers busy. But the seed companies got Congress and the courts to outlaw planting anything but patented seed, essentially. Grain elevator companies cannot sell wheat or other grain for seed, if it arrived from a field. Only if it arrived in patented bags. We had a screwy spring here in Northern Oklahoma, and neighbors wanting to plant oats - cannot. There isn’t any in the area. The seed companies didn’t plan to make any extra available, and no one else is allowed to provide oats for planting. This kind of pre-season shenanigans is having a nasty impact on food and feed prices, too.

So some of ethanol still shows advantage. Congress has already spent the money for processing plants and programs, so we just as well continue down that road awhile. Replacing foreign oil with ethanol, especially if we can use ethanol and bio-diesel to run the Department of Defense machinery, would help the balance of trade, reduce the influence of OPEC on our economy, and improve our security.

But the mixed environmental story means the protesters and tree huggers aren’t as supportive of the concept.

Frank points out that urban sprawl displaces crop land - reducing the amount of ground available for raising crops. (High-tension power lines and highways also cut up and displace farm ground.) Urban sprawl also destroys old-growth forest. Which changes weather patterns, above and below ground water flows, and atmosphere quality in surrounding regions.

I imagine the best way to satisfy tree huggers and environmentalists is to advocate orchards - hazelnuts are said to produce more food per acre than other crops. Grazing cattle, goats, and pigs under pecan trees makes use of windfalls. I can see it now, cottage industries in charcoal and pecan butter. Maybe keep cows and horses for transport and manure for fertilizer. Won’t that excite the people worried about how urban sprawl raises food prices!

Cathouse Teri poses an interesting question. We teach boys not to hit girls, but what about bullying females? She refers to 74 WIXY and his struggle with being a pushover, and to One Man who relates how his nephew acts out what he sees at home.

While substitute teaching in a fifth grade class (about 5 years ago), someone came in and showed a 15 minute short film, on bullies. The message was that you have a choice when you encounter a bully. You can join friends to confront a bully, or report the bully to a teacher / parent. Anything else you do will get you in trouble.

Thinking back on this now, I see a fatal flaw in the presentation. It presumes trust and worthiness in the teacher or other authority. It only takes one or two disappointing tries to report a problem, before you teach someone that reporting isn’t a useful thing to do. And neither is following the school’s advice.

Everyone should know by now that bullies are considered to be insecure, and I suppose most are.

When raising kids, one of the broad categories of things we are supposed to do is to ’socialize’ the youngster, develop ethics and character that recognizes authority, works together with others for common goals, considers a family to be an advantage and something to be desired. We want a disciplined, honest, nurturing and caring, and happy character for the little one.

But what happens when the child isn’t taught any of that? When the examples of adults in the child’s life are themselves injured emotionally - abusive, neglectful, or cowed into withdrawal?

And teaching boys not to hit girls is historical. Boys were expected to wrestle, tussle, scrap, and fight. But not girls. Girls were expected to keep the house, support her husband, raise her children. Teaching boys that girls aren’t to be hit is part and parcel of defining ‘women’s work’.

Because we supposedly live under the rule of law (tell someone that on the Texas/Mexico border!) the current social rule is to report crime, and let professional law enforcement agencies take care of the problem. We call the holdouts and ‘do it yourselfers’ vigilantes. America has spent maybe the last 100 years or so convincing everyone that you use lawyers instead of fists to respond to cheats and liars and those that hurt you and yours. Where people are rich, and have neighborhoods with well paid police protection, this works pretty well. Many people live where the change is still in doubt.

Below the age of 13 or 16, I bet you could take about any bully kid, and see that the bully expresses anger and behavior observed, regularly, at home. Punching, belittling, abuse of all kinds, neglect, or that scary one - disassociated, unbonded, disconnected. After 4th or 5th grade, though, the intimidation, bullying, and arrogant behavior is probably related to home, but is more influenced by peers and kids encountered on a regular basis. Remember the homily “One bad apple spoils the whole barrel?” We have to be aware of the character of those our kids spend time with - in and out of the classroom.

Kicking, hitting, biting, pushing into someone’s space, blatantly ignoring instructions from those in authority - these are acts of disrespect. When raising kids, each act of disrespect must be confronted. We need to teach correct behavior, help the kid understand what wasn’t acceptable, and why. (Teaching can go faster with “Because I said so”, but be much more thorough when the lesson convinces the student why the desired result is more appropriate.)

I imagine One Man is learning what other parents have learned. Kids come programmed with mimic genius, and extremely primitive instincts. The process of raising kids includes de-programming the fight-or-flight, ruthless basics most kids seem to start life with, and guide the infant and toddler to more acceptable ways of living. Kids aren’t adults. They gradually approach adult behavior, experience, and understanding, between age 13 to 25, depending on the environment, the parents, the youngster, and the amount of money in the family.

74 WIXY discusses several incidents of being a ‘nice guy’. Only what he calls a nice guy, with great sense of humor, cries out in pain. A sense of humor sounds great, doesn’t it? Someone that takes pain and makes it entertaining. Only, why spend so very much time in pain? Cliff mentions a lady that made pals while he bought her drinks and smokes, then went home with someone else every time. He doesn’t thank his lucky stars that nothing came of his pursuit of this promiscuous, disrespectful, abusive woman (Garth Brook’s “Some of God’s Greatest Gifts are Unanswered Prayers” runs through my mind). Cliff doesn’t question choosing to pursue someone of weak character. He even pointed to a church group that snubbed him at a revival, for his lower class background. In the church group, is he choosing a congregation with immense arrogance (i.e., a social ‘clique’ or disrespectful association of arrogant bullies), or is he misreading the reason for not being included? Reading Cliff’s side of the story, it seems likely he is choosing poor companions.

Instead of looking to ‘better’ himself by associating with ‘better’ people, Cliff might look at character, respect, honesty, and discipline - and choose to avoid people that don’t have any. With luck, removing much of the pain in Cliff’s life would change him from ‘good sense of humor’ - to ‘happy’.

Bullies look for people like Cliff - they make life easy. Bullies tend to keep their victims thinking they are victims, and they can make others feel like, and act like victims. But victims are isolated. Let them get together, and pay attention to character virtues, and the situation changes. Lump honest, respectful people together and bullies leave them alone - they aren’t acting like victims.

Luck Cliff. One Man, you might look into foster parent training. Foster parents deal in distressed behavior and the vagaries of child care regularly. Once through the training, you might find ways to support some of these heroes, while understanding your nephew and his environment better. Luck to you, too.

Teri, I think bullies mimic behavior in their lives. Betrayal of trust, unfair attacks/beatings, misuse of authority can also trigger abusive behavior we call ‘bullying.’ Once we confront a bully, we really should examine the home for abuse and other problems. Charity isn’t the only thing that begins at home.

Your thoughts?