[p2p-research] Abundance Destroys Profit [was: Tick, tock, tick, tock… BING]

[Ryan Lanham]

On 12/14/09, J. Andrew Rogers <reality.miner at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 6:07 AM, Ryan Lanham <rlanham1963 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > I hope you are right, but it isn't the story I hear.  It would be great
> to
> > kill off the farm subsidy.  I've been told by Senate staffers it will be
> the
> > last pork to ever be cut.  The farm lobby owns the Senate (along with the
> > banking lobby).
>
>
> I don't expect it to be cut, just stating it could be without nearly
> as much impact as some might claim. New Zealand showed the way.


Farm subsidies by state:
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/310/farm-subsidies.html#here
almost exactly equals the number of farms by state in the Midwest.  Corn and
grain are heavily subsidized: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883513.html

The economic impact in rural areas is vast...pretty much keeps most
"fly-over" states going.

> Still, having Nevada "matter" in a national election seems, in democratic
> terms, pretty backward.  It has a tiny franction of the population of
> Calfiornia all settled in Los Vegas...effectively a Californian (and New
> York crime family) invention.


Nevada has a middling population for a US State.  A number of US
states in New England, the Midwest, and elsewhere have significantly
smaller populations. In any case, you will appreciate the current
state of affairs more in the future since the South is going to be the
dominant population center while places like New England depopulate.

There are only two metro areas in Nevada because ~90% of the land (and
growing) is under Federal control. There is no more room and the
Federal government refuses to relinquish control, even unmanaged land
with no Federal purpose (~40% of the state), under any circumstances
for any price. The way cities in Nevada grow is by buying a big piece
of land elsewhere in the State and trading it for a small piece of
Federal land adjacent to an existing city. There is simply not enough
private land for a sustainable economy in most of Nevada, and in some
counties the property tax base is ~1-2% of the actual property in the
county.

This pattern is why the mountain West is the most urbanized region of
the US outside of the NYC-Boston corridor and, compounded by a
historical pattern of abuses of power and bad behavior going back a
century and a half, explains why there is a strong anti-Federal streak
and distrust of government in western politics. The difference now is
that it is (demographically) very young and rapidly growing region of
the US instead of a backwater without political influence.


Nevada is 35th in population--a little larger than the city of Houston..
84% of the state is under federal control...the highest in the country.

State pops... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population

Remember...each state gets 2 seats in the upper chamber regardless of
population...and the recent budget laws give the Senate overpowering control
of spending.  Also, with the unique "filibuster", any senator can
effectively block any legislation that does not have 60/100 votes...meaning
that a Senator from a small state can block progress of the national budget
or any legislation at will if he/she has the backing of a 39
Senators...often far fewer because some are out sick, travelling, etc.

Ryan
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