An excellent point, Mark.  And why we in Minnesota try not to elect
politicians to office...we prefer "common folk", like snake-charming
wrestlers!! (our last 3 governors have been independents...not endorsed by
any major party).  It's time for the rest of the country to start doing the
same or suffer at the hands of a few.

John Lee


At 11:20 AM 6/24/02 -0400, Mark Wonsil wrote:
>On Sun, 23 Jun 2002 20:19:36 EDT, Wirt Atmar <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>You're both right and wrong. You are absolutely correct that it is
>ultimately
>>the politicians that control the water supply, but only as a matter of
>>policy. Both words, "politicians" and "policy" come from the same Greek
>root,
>>"polis", from which we derive not only those two words, but also "police",
>>"polite", and "metropolis". The word "polis" means "people" (or for those
>of
>>you who speek Greek, "city" and "state" as well).
>>
>>The question is how best to serve the people. As it stands now,
>agricultural
>>usage is very low on everyone's list. One acre-foot of water, if diverted
>>from agriculture to industrial use, will generate eight times the wealth
>that
>>it would if it were spent growing any crop. If that same acre-foot were
>to go
>>into residential use, it would generate even more wealth.
>>
>>The same is true for agricultural land. Farming, unless done on a very
>large
>>scale, has become an almost unsustainable economic activity. Farmland is
>much
>>more valuable if sold off into residental tracts or strip malls. But the
>>question is, where will it end? The Los Angeles Basin was once among the
>>richest farmland in the world. Every part of LA was farmland 50, 60, 70,
>or
>>80 years ago. Indeed, you can probably identify the crops and the farms
>that
>>used to be where your house is now. Any crop that could be imagined could
>be
>>grown there, but nothing grows there anymore, other than grass, palm trees
>>and golf courses. It's now been completely paved over.
>
>I would submit that the price of farming is just as much under political
>control as is the water supply.  I remember a reporter asking the then
>presidential candidate, Steve Forbes I believe, "Do you know the price of
>a gallon of milk?"  He could not answer because he, like most sitting
>Senators, don't buy their own food.  The correct answer would have
>been, "What ever Sen. Leahy wants it to be."  The most recent farm bill is
>another fine example.  The largest sums of money go to the very large
>farming conglomerates.  This makes it impossible for the smaller farmer to
>compete.  The prices appear to be low to the consumer but they are
>actually higher when the subsidies are added in.  This makes it look like
>one cannot make money with farming and why small farms find it worth while
>to have their land "completely paved over."  This does not discount what
>you have said in any way, I just wanted to point out the fine work done on
>behalf of the 'polis'.
>
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