It was either that or we go back to this. I rather not have my tax dollars wasted. I'm not defending what the farmers did but if they didn't the milk market would have collapsed which would have affected other parts of the market.
It's a complete mess. A cave full of cheese, literally.
We actually did and as a matter offact people hated it. We giving them away to anybody that wanted it. It even became main stream as hip-hop artist would reference it. We even gave it to the military because the government doesn't know what to do with it and also as humanitarian aid across the world.
Did you read the article and reference links in the article?
The program is still going on. WIC. Food banks. Military. Aid. We have like 2 billion pounds in Missouri that is just there going to waste and you want the government to buy even more for this to go to waste?
Why not just give more money to people that need food security?
You forget demand as people gonna want their milk. Nobody is gonna stop producing milk completely.
Do capitalists not believe in the free market? If Farmer A and B stop because prices crashed, Farmer C will see an opportunity to fill in the void and produce milk.
But to destroy it to protect the markets should be a capital offense.
Ok Farmer C, by the time they start establishing a stable supply what will happen? Not everybody lives close to a farm or suppliers. What will cities do? What will be the price? You think it will just go to $1 for a gallon when there is no stable supply of suppliers to provide milk?
Look at prices of vehicles the more scarce it became the higher the price went. New companies are filling in the void, but prices take longer to fall to reasonable prices as it takes the new companies time to establish a stable supply and recognition of reliability.
In Europe, we also had warehouses full of butter and powdered milk that had to eventually be destroyed.
However, the whole capitalism vs. socialism debate really isn't all that relevant anymore.
All economies are mixed-mode nowadays, because governments are better at some things and free markets are better at other things.
The real issue isn't about choosing the right ideology, but rather the issue is about tweaking the right set of policies and rules.
Right now, we can really use some stronger unions and pro-labour policies. Whereas on climate change, we really need to start taxing fossil fuels higher and let markets adjust away from them.
This is the right perspective, in my opinion. Pure socialism will never work until humans further evolve, and pure capitalism also doesn't work for the same reason (i.e. greed/selfishness). A balanced blend of the two is the ideal path to a prosperous society.