Winston Churchill once said democracy was the absolute worst way to run a country, but any other way was unthinkable. The richest one per cent of the world’s population owns more than the poorest 95 per cent of the world’s population combined. The wealth gap in the U.S. is the worst in all the “developed” world, and has gotten worse in the last 60 years.
When I was a little kid some 70 years ago, anything that was made in China was very poor quality and even kids’ toys were looked down on. Twenty to 50 years ago, I spent many days every year attending conferences on agriculture in various states south of the border. The U.S. was the world leader in both crop and dairy production. I went yearly to animal nutrition days for both dairy farmers, nutritionists, and veterinarians. About 15 years ago when I attended one of those info sessions, one of the top nutritionists from the U.S. who had worked with others the world over to share information said China was fast becoming the leading country in the world in agricultural research. This shocked me, so I asked a few more questions. I was reminded that 60 years ago, the governments of the free world had changed their way of subsidizing agricultural research. Both state, provincial, and federal governments had begun to offer matching dollars to universities that they used to just give grants.
For most research, it takes more than five years to complete decisive studies that are credible. Most governments only have a four-year term. Research is a big ticket item for any government and if a research project gives positive results, whatever government is in power at the time likes to take credit for the big discovery. Sometimes the government that funded the research has been replaced by its opposing political party and it is them that takes the credit. In some cases, the private sector is a major investor in important research, which makes it possible for government dollars to fund more research. This might seem like a good idea. But it is the large oil, seed, and pharmaceutical companies who have the most money to fund this research leaving the results vulnerable to the demands of those private companies. In a communist country like China, I believe the state keeps more power to direct research.
Most socialist countries have free health care, education, and higher education if the student has the smarts. Any new chemical that might cause health problems is not on the market in their country. If you are a news geek like I am, you may have already noticed that China is the most progressive country in the world at developing renewable energy technology, reducing air pollution, developing the world’s most efficient electric automobile battery, and adopting practices to increase efficiency in manufacturing with use of robots.
Many automobile manufacturers like General Motors (GM) and Ford have moved some production to China. Many of the former U.S. hotel chains and investment firms now have their head offices in China. The Chinese have made many trips to Canada to purchase superior dairy cattle breeding stock and embryos. I believe that the largest dairy farm in the world is now in China – tell me if I’m wrong. China has also become a major force in diesel engine manufacturing.
For the last decade, I have been taking Jeannie to an excellent physiotherapist in Ottawa and spent many hours sitting in a parking lot watching and counting cars. I have noticed that more than 80 per cent of the cars that drove through or parked there were not American cars. Half-ton trucks are still mostly American trucks. I’m sure you can remember laughing at the first Datsun truck that you encountered. We should remember that wages for both factory floor workers and engineers in South Asia are less than half of those in North America. That means that they can hire two engineers to design a car or truck when in America we can only afford one.
No, I don’t want to accept the communist way of life, but we should look back at where they were 70 years ago and look at their advancement. Could we have done a better job of spreading the wealth and bettering the place where we are?
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
