Betrayed
by Lance Brown

I experienced emotions reading the Summer 2006 issue of Rural Heritage that I never thought I’d feel reading an agricultural magazine, namely sadness, betrayal, and anger. “Full Compliance,” “License to Keep Animals,” and the NAIS/animal ID articles show us who’s running this country and that the small producer is not in their vision of the future. A proliferation of laws with the resultant loss of freedom is a sign of, and directly proportional to, spiritual sickness in a nation. If a nation is devoid of spiritual health and moral character, then government and unprincipled men will fill the vacancy. Freedom prospers in moral values; tyranny thrives in moral decay.

The pressures being exerted on small producers and country folk in general are merely symptoms of a much larger problem. While the sheeple are entranced by television’s American Idol, The Longhorns, The Steelers, and The Heat our Public Servants, who are supposed to be guardians of our freedoms, have become rulers and leaders. Our Republic somehow became a Democracy. Our manufacturing base has gone offshore, but don’t worry—WalMart will sell you all the cheap stuff you never needed. Choose and judge your “leaders,” also called guardians, thus: Those who seek to always limit the power of government are of good heart and conscience. Those who seek to expand the power of government are base Tyrants.

Reading an agricultural property magazine I was shocked at all the ads claiming, “$40,000 in government payments last year.” Granted most weren’t that high, but the point is no government can give anything to anybody without first taking it from someone else. Government by its very nature is legalized taking. I truly believe that without this “welfare” most large agribusiness operations would be forced out of business by small producers who are diversified and able to withstand whatever nature throws at them without government interference. Neighbors provide help to neighbors in need; it is nowhere in the Constitution.

What’s the answer? It’s not to be found on a National scale as both Demicans and Republocrates are merely two sides of the same coin, both working toward the same agenda. Besides the Gestapo-like regulations being thrust on small farmers, our borders are unsecure while tens of thousands of cameras have been installed in our cities and towns. Border county sheriffs complain about the steady flow of unknown persons crossing into our country, all the while the TSA [Transportation Security Administration] is pat searching little old ladies and making you take off your shoes to board a plane. What country is this again?

In our relationships or interactions, as in all of Nature’s Laws, to each action there is a reaction. That which we plant will be harvested, if not by ourselves, then by others.

Lance Brown lives in New Boston, Texas. His letter appeared in the Autumn 2006 issue of Rural Heritage.