Power of the Powerless

The Chicken Mafia, their bureaucrat supporters and enablers, and the cheerleading politicians believe that Small Flockers and consumers are powerless.  They believe that they own and control Small Flockers and consumers as their pawns, to be used and abused as they please.

They may want to reconsider their flawed assumptions.

Misguided Assumptions

Many people feel they are powerless.

Just because we all feel powerless, doesn't mean it's true.

Humans naturally go along to get along.  It's easier that way.  It's protective.  It's less complicated.

If there is any path through the woods, regardless if it goes in the right direction or not, it's easier to follow the path, rather than blazing a new trail through the woods.  Once we've gotten to the other side of the woods, we can always circle around to go the direction we had wanted to travel in the first place.  Somehow, that makes sense to most people.

However, that logic doesn't work forever.

Eventually, things get so bad that we are no longer willing to travel the path of least resistance in the wrong direction.  Sooner or later, we realize this is just wrong, and somebody has to do something about this terrible situation.

That moment comes every century or so, when things are so screwed up, somebody eventually decides to push the reset button.

Adam & Eve had it happen to them.

Babylon had their moment.

The Pharaoh thought everything was going great, then this guy called Moses showed up.

Even the Romans had the Visigoths get uppity in 376 AD, sacking Rome.  Who saw that coming?

After World War II, the Russian Empire took over many small countries and force them under Communist governments.  The people were terribly oppressed, but the oppression continued, firing squad ran up a huge bill for bullets, so they eventually invented Gulags and slave labour, reducing the cost of munitions and getting free stuff from political prisoners and their families imprisoned for the slightest, whimsical reason.

People under Communist rule were  propagandized, and told what to think and believe.  Slogans and right thinking was freely provided.  If you were a little slow on coming up with the right answers, a few decades in a Gulag were applied to sharpen your skills with constant remedial training programs.

Two-faced lies and propaganda of
totalitarian governments, and
Canada's Supply Management System

People put the right signs with the right slogans in their windows, because they had to.  At the public meeting they were coerced to attend, they were expected to say the right thing.  They were required to vote the right way in "free" elections where the outcome was known years in advance.  Kids were taught to watch their parents, and turn them in to the government Secret Police if they spoke against the government's official position.  Like in George Orwell's novel 1984, war was peace, truth were lies, freedom was slavery, and so on.  People were forced to live lies.

Some people got so good at living the lies, they no longer were aware of the truth.

People learned to say and act exactly as they were  required to do.  Go along to get along.

Fortunately, they didn't yet have the Thought Police.

Family and friends sometimes spoke in double entendres, to hide and share their true feelings.  They came to know and trust each other more and more, having sufficient incrimination on each other that they could not expose the other without convicting themselves.  Eventually, they risked smuggled books, listening to forbidden free radio broadcasts, and the creation of Samizdat by secretly copying and sharing these forbidden thoughts.

Finally, in Oct. 1978 Vaclav Havel wrote his famous and powerful essay "The Power of the Powerless"

This essay helped people to understand the lies they lived, and why they did it.  It showed them a way out.

The people thought they were weak, but in reality they were powerful.

Eventually people realized that some truths were worthy enough to suffer for.  They were no longer willing to go along to get along.

Eventually, thousands of people were in the streets every evening, protesting these lies they had been forced to live.  The government sent their elite troops to quell the demonstrations.  The government ordered these troops to fire on the crowd so as to end the protests, but the troops refused to obey the orders.  The government fell within the week.  Next, the Berlin Wall was breached, and existed no more.

SM Vs. The Sleeping Powers of the People

So much for the history lesson.

We are not yet at one of those crossroads, but we passed the big yellow diamond road sign alerting us to the intersection that we are quickly approaching.

Supply Management ("SM") for dairy, eggs, chicken, and turkey in this great country of ours is a lived lie, deceiving thousands of Canadians, if not millions.  The SM system doesn't live up to the SM Mafia's propaganda.  The henchmen of the SM Mafia live the lies and promote the lies every day, for that is how they earn their pay cheques.

This Blog of Small Flockers is similar to the secret writings of Samizdat.  Nobody admits they read this Blog, but the Internet pageviews keep counting up as these ghosts come back for the latest sample is cooked up and served to them via this Blog.

We have not yet had the galvanizing essay on SM that rallies and catalyzes the public.  When that essay appears, the SM goons will feel forced to react.  They will attack without mercy.  Fortunately, the sleeping public will be awakened by the noise and confusion created by the SM henchmen.  Most people will not see the essay, nor understand the meaning.  However, they will know and feel the SM response.  That response will be the force that awakens them from their long, 50 year sleep.

That day approaches soon.

We need to prepare ourselves for the day when that event arrives.

Why Join SFPFC?

Our latest new member to Small Flockers was asked why they joined.  Here is the conversation for all the world to see.  The names of the innocent have been redacted so as to protect their privacy, and save them from possible retaliation by the Chicken Mafia, the governments, or others.


Here is what our newest member said:

"I received your email confirming receipt of my membership in 'Small Flock Poultry Farmers of Canada'.

For your ready reference, I would advise my interest in supporting your endeavors is multi-fold and I suspect too extensive to fully express here at this time. For the sake of brevity, I would advise that my recent research into the food production systems has revealed some startling information which absolutely astounds me. While this organization deals specifically with chickens, the same kinds of frightening practices and regulations seem to infect virtually all sectors of our food production system.

In a nutshell, I have decided there is far too much corruption, deceit, unnecessary regulation, protectionism, and excessive costs  in the industry. Additionally, the quality of our food is affecting not only my health but that of all people and perhaps all life on the planet. I believe this is the direct result of my assuming that the information previously released to me was sound but it now appears I have been incredibly deceived along with the masses.

Consequently, I fully support your efforts to return the rights of individuals to freely engage in the production, processing, sale, and consumption of the food they choose to eat without anyone having to give them such authority other than themselves. Moreover, the responsibility for profit by any producer lies only in their ability to conscientiously provide a valuable product or service to another individual with the freedom to so choose. 

As far as I am concerned, supply management is no more than an excuse for monopoly and high prices. All free markets have what is called a market clearing price. Poor producers, in any market, are soon removed by the market and that is the only regulation required.

Thank you for the opportunity to express these very important opinions."

I think that is very well said.  SFPFC collects the finest people from all over the world, in this case from a major city in Ontario.

For all those interested, here are the redacted version of the email conversation with SFPFC's newest member on their reasons for joining SFPFC..

The above feedback from our members is why SFPFC struggles on, against huge and powerful forces.

We will soon be tested at our greatest challenge.  We will depend on truth and justice.  We hope and pray that the Tribunal will save us from flashy legal trickery, erroneous assumptions, brute force, and monied interests.

Hopefully might does not make right.

On May 14, 2014

will

truth and justice 

defeat

power and privilege

 ?

Lesson #3: Absolute Marketing Power

Today, we roll back into history to look at the lobbying and government's response to pacify the agriculture sector.  Previous postings:   Lesson #1, Lesson #2

Today, we will learn that:

"You can avoid reality,
but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality."

Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982), Author, Playright, Screenwriter, and Philosopher

 

"The Splintered Market", a book published in 1980, relates that the first marketing co-op in Canada was the Okanagan tree fruit growers in 1913, which was of limited success, as they couldn't control the marketing done by members, and they had no control whatsoever over non-members.

As typical with government, if any action is a disaster, they assume doing lots more of the disastrous action will be an effective solution to the initial disaster.  In other words, if throwing gasoline on a fire fails to extinguish the fire, the reason for the resulting disaster is assumed to be insufficient gasoline was used in the first attempt.

Lets see what Mr. A.G. Wilson had to say in 1971 about the draft SM Bill in Parliament:

“The Produce Marketing Act passed in 1927 by the British Columbia legislature gave exclusive powers to a board to control and regulate the marketing of specific farm commodities. When tested in the courts in 1931, the legislation was declared ultra vires since it interfered with inter-provincial trade.

The Splintered Market also notes that the courts also struck the law down as the levy charged farmers was an indirect tax, which was not permitted by the Canadian Constitution.

Lets continue:

"The onset of the depression sharpened the desire of producers to obtain market control since they observed that industrial firms were able to maintain prices by curtailing output. Continued agitation resulted in the passage of the federal Natural Products Marketing Act in 1934. Several marketing schemes were approved under this Act before it was declared ultra vires by the courts in 1937 on the grounds that the marketing of a product within a province was a matter under provincial jurisdiction.

Strike 2, but not to be deterred, the Provinces join in to the fight:

The respective provinces, to circumvent this difficulty, have each passed their own Natural Products Marketing Acts. Well over 100 provincial marketing boards have now been established.

So now we have a piling on, of both Federal and Provincial governments, to restrict trade and freedom.

Provincial marketing boards found themselves limited in their ability to regulate marketing since their control was restricted to the product produced within the confines of their respective provinces. This limitation was particularly onerous for those products which were produced in several provinces. Some means of coordinating the activities of provincial boards handling the same product was considered necessary if effective market control was to be achieved.”

One of the reasons for having both provincial and federal governments is to prevent absolute powers, to have counter-balancing, to prevent extremes and excesses.  If something requires both the Provinces and the Federal government to act in unison, the first assumption should be "This is something that should not be done!".

Unfortunately, they lobbyists were bound and determined to have their way, so they pressed on, and called for united action by both levels of government.

So the next idea was to create an independent third party, and both the Federal and Provincial governments would delegate their respective powers to this third party, thereby making it more powerful than either government alone.

Does this not give anybody pause or caution?

"Power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely."

John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, First Baron Acton (1834–1902)
English historian, politician, and writer

Next part:   Lesson #4:   Freedom to Choose & Constitutionality

Modify Supply Management before it's too late

Yesterday, we discussed our support for the new egg quota trading system for Ontario (see Egg Quota Sale by Auction ).

But wait, there's more!

Supply Management ("SM") was originally created as a clumsy, ham-fisted solution to the power imbalance between individual farmers and the large powerful corporations who bought from the farmers.

SM wasn't perfect then, and is less perfect today.  If the system was supposed to balance power, how come we still have all the same problems as before, and the power imbalance has gotten even worse over the 50 odd years of SM?

Instead of continuing with a flawed SM system for determining how many eggs to grow and the price those eggs are to be sold at, why not apply this same effective, modern tool to that side of SM too.

Here are the facts as I understand them:

1. Farmers know what it costs to grow their eggs.
2. Farmers would like to get the highest price possible for their eggs.
3. The farm gate egg sale price has to be above the farmer's break-even price if they are going to stay in business.
4. There is the ongoing possibility that some farmers are sufficiently incompetent, dastardly, lazy, or unwilling &/or unable to improve that they have lost (or deserve to lose) their social license to continue doing what they do; they need to retire or find a different career.
5. Some farmers are more efficient than others, and therefore have lower break-even prices.
6. Some farmers produce a higher quality egg than others.
7. Farmers need a steady production volume to avoid wild cycles of feast and famine (which can lead to inefficiencies and financial ruin).
8. If a farmer produces a higher quality egg at more reasonable prices, they deserve better remuneration for their skill and efforts.
9. Egg grading stations, egg distributors, and Canadian wholesale and retail customers want to buy the best possible egg at the lowest possible price, and have a consistent supply (not too many, not too few).
10. We are able to do random sampling of a farmer's eggs and develop a quality score.  A time weighted averaging of these quality scores will dampen any short term fluctuations in these quality scores.  The quality levels could be divided into 3 categories (Gold, Silver, & Bronze) with set minimum standards for each grade level.  Due to continuous quality improvements by some farmers, the egg quality will likely improve over time.  Once more than 50% of the eggs are in the Gold standard, the quality standards would be re-defined to re-balance the distribution of eggs into equal thirds again.
11. Egg sales can be done well in advance of the planned delivery date for a farmer's eggs so as to ensure stability in the marketplace (ie. don't grow an egg if you can't sell it).
12. Multiple sales can be done for the same delivery date, so if you are unsuccessful in the previous sale, you can try again in subsequent sale.  As long as there are enough buyers and sellers to hold a sale, another sale is held.  Using automated systems, the sales could happen every day, or every hour, or maybe every 5 minutes if need be.  Buyers and sellers could let their previous bids stand, or based on the results of the previous sale, they can make an adjustment in their bid.
13. For each current specification, there would be 3 separate auctions for three levels of quality (gold, silver, & bronze).  One would think that gold standard eggs would be limited in quantity, and will fetch a premium price.  If there are limited buyers for Gold eggs, the excess Gold eggs can be sold in Silver and Bronze auctions, thereby virtually guaranteeing that Gold eggs will always be sold.  Bronze eggs may have insufficient buyers, and therefore may have to go to a cracking plant at a significant loss in income due to their inferior quality.  This helps ensure continuous improvement in egg quality.
14. The sales are run as a truncated k-double auction, so as to ensure maximum value for consumers.
15. To avoid conspiracies and dysfunctional game playing during the auctions, there may need to be some mechanism or rules to prevent both farmers and buyers from using predatory bidding practices.

This proposal builds a level playing field for farmer, buyers, and the Canadian consumer.

Which of the Supply Management is brave enough to consider this alternative system for ensuring Canadians get the very best deal for their supply management commodities?

You can change a little now, or wait to have the decision ripped from your grasp.  The choice is yours.

Credibility Trap

Jesse wrote the following about the 2008 financial collapse and its causes.

When I re-read it, I found it interesting that it may apply quite well to Canada's Supply Management systems.

See what you think:

"A credibility trap is a condition wherein the financial, political and informational functions of a society have been compromised by corruption and fraud, so that the leadership cannot effectively reform, or even honestly address, the problems of that system without impairing and implicating, at least incidentally, a broad swath of the power structure, including themselves.

The status quo tolerates the corruption and the fraud because they have profited at least indirectly from it, and would like to continue to do so. Even the impulse to reform within the power structure is susceptible to various forms of soft blackmail and coercion by the system that maintains and rewards.

And so a failed policy and its support system become self-sustaining, long after it is seen by objective observers to have failed. In its failure it is counterproductive, and an impediment to recovery in the real economy. Admitting failure is not an option for the thought leaders who receive their power from that system.

The continuity of the structural hierarchy must therefore be maintained at all costs, even to the point of becoming a painfully obvious, organized hypocrisy.

Jesse, Jesse's Cafe Americain