Comments by "Harry Mills" (@harrymills2770) on "'Complete insanity': Justin Trudeau's climate change 'crack down' on Canadian farmers" video.

  1. As a descendant of Druids and a closet tree-hugger, I believe humans can and should be a positive force in the ecosystem. That doesn't mean I think authoritarian use of force by misguided and under-educated politicians, bureaucrats, and self-interested robber barons (who ALWAYS feast when government intervenes) will get us to a better place. Look. People care about the environment more than ever before in human history. Environmental friendliness is a deeply inculcated value in our culture (USA). You want a greener planet? De-regulate and cut taxes. Compensate for the de-regulation by putting 10% of the money wasted on government agencies into the TORT SYSTEM. Make it quick and easy for the common man to sue anyone - including a mega-corporation - for ANY harm caused by that company. You think companies wouldn't clean up their act? All of a sudden, a $10,000 check to the regional rep for the EPA does you no good. You just better not dump that stuff in the river, because of the millions of little guys downstream who can take a $10,000 swipe at you in, say, small claims. Don't need more laws and regs. Just need a tort system that's robust enough to handle a gazillion LITTLE cases, expeditiously. As a libertarian, I think if you removed government barriers to competition, every home with a yard and a tree or trees would have a rocket stove mass heater that you could always heat your house and make hot water and cook with, no matter what happened to the grid, plus you'd have a really clean and efficient backup heat system. But due to regulations, I don't think there're more than one or two companies who make rocket mass heaters that are UL listed and be covered by homeowner's insurance. What there SHOULD be is 1,000 or 10,000 guys out there, all making rocket mass heaters (RMHs), in competition with each other for performance, safety, ease of use and durability. We don't have that. Why? Because government insists on "helping" us with everything. How did things ever improve before government stepped in with regulations? Regular customers and the rewards of treating people right. There'll always be fly-by-nighters, but in an unregulated market, you just go by the company's REPUTATION, and it's hard for anybody without a reputation to break in. They have to offer really good deals just so people will try them out. None of that requires a government overseer...
    1
  2. Dutch farmers NEED that fertilizer, because government pushed agriculture down a petro-chemical path that is destructive of soil biome. The government shouldn't've encouraged the chemical farming in the first place, but that doesn't mean it can turn on a dime and go to full-on permaculture without a MASSIVE drop-off in production and MASSIVE harm to farmers. It's just wrong. But these Climate Cultists are very absolutist in their views and their noble ends justify any and all means that will serve that one messianic goal of theirs. I do think we need to view agriculture differently. Grow more, locally, both for quality and efficiency. Russ Finch growing oranges in Nebraska can get $3.50/pound, but a Florida grower only gets 40 cents per pound ($.40/pound), because of all the middlemen getting them from Florida to Nebraska (1500 miles? 2000 miles?). We DO need to get more decentralized, but not the way the alarmists who love wielding government power want to do it. Just make it a selling point in your products to be greener than the next guy, and customers will like you more. Before the Mongols came through, ancient Persians were happily growing melons on the desert with first-rate irrigation and ag techniques, feeding a LOT of good people.
    1