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Sunday, July 17, 2005

Oh, to be a cow

Sumeet Kulkarni, in the first of a series of posts about the "unwieldy socialist economies of Old Europe," comes upon an interesting statistic: the average cow in the European Union receives a daily subsidy that is greater than what most Africans make in a day.

Now, despite my fondness for cows, clearly this is not a desirable state of affairs. So what should be done? Sumeet states it very well when he writes:
Listen Europe, the poor farmer in the third world does not want your monetary aid to make progress. He wants an equal opportunity to succeed. So stop your agricultural subsidies.

The poor meat worker in Poland does not want your EU development subsidy. He wants to be able to work as an EU citizen in the country of his choice at the wages mutually agreed upon by him and his employer. If those wages are below your inflated labour policy-defined wages, then so be it. That's how a free labour market should settle on the "correct" wage.

Stop your condescending know-all attitude and give free trade and globalization the chance to succeed. That's "social justice". Not your bloated socialism. [Emphasis in the original.]
Well said. Empower people instead of subsidising cows.

Previous posts on cows: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.
amit varma, 3:54 PM| write to me | permalink | homepage

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