"John D. Giorgis" schreef:
> At 01:55 PM 1/28/01 -0500, Kat wrote:
> >John D. Giorgis wrote:
> >
> >>Come on now, Jeroen - that's a bait and switch. I did not argue that
> >>"low wage workers produce nothing of value." Rather, I argue that low
> >>wage workers produce things of less value than other workers. There is a
> >>huge difference between the two, and you argued against the former, not the
> >>latter.
> >
> >Hi, John. I'm a low wage worker- below the poverty line, in fact. I
> >produce your food, without which you would die. Obviously, a low-value
> >product.
>
> Actually, Kat - I think that I can say with a high level of confidence that
> you have not produced a single bite that I have ever eaten. (Of course,
> if you were are below the poverty line, I would strongly question how it is
> that we are conversing over e-mail..... maybe you're at a library or
> something.)
>
> Rather, Kat your occupation is an anachronistic and inefficient process
> that results in a byproduct of a marginal amount of surplus food. If the
> amount of food produced by your farm (as I seem to recall it) disappeared
> from the world market, the supply and price of food would be completely
> unaffected. Therfore, the marginal value of your production is of very low
> value, compared to larger and more efficient farms. Virtually all of the
> food that I eat almost certainly comes from large and efficient farms that
> produce large quantities of food very cheaply. Most farmers that run
> these farms are actually fairly well off.
That efficiency comes with a high price. More poison, less diversity in natural
foods available, more engineerd crops, larger fields (one of the biggest reasons
for erosion of valuable soil), more automation, longer transport routes for
supplies and produced goods. This also implies more use of non replaceble
resources. And if one type of crop fails (a plague of one sort or another, too
much or too little water), due to the large monocultures that are usually grown
by those very efficient farmers you get one major disasters. It's just a thought.
Sonja
