The Conscience of a Conservative · Chapter
Freedom for the Farmer explained
This chapter argues that federal intervention in agriculture, beginning with the New Deal, has been a constitutional and economic disaster.
What happens
This chapter argues that federal intervention in agriculture, beginning with the New Deal, has been a constitutional and economic disaster. It traces the history of the Agricultural Adjustment Acts, the Supreme Court's reversal in Wickard v. Filburn, and the resulting surpluses, high taxes, and loss of personal freedom. The author advocates for a return to the free market and the termination of farm subsidies, asserting that most farmers prefer independence over government control.
Themes in this chapter
Limited Constitutional Government
The chapter argues that federal intervention in agriculture violates the Constitution's reservation of powers to the states and the principle of limited government.
States' Rights and Federal Overreach
The federal government's intrusion into agriculture is presented as a clear usurpation of state jurisdiction, as originally intended by the Founders.
Property Rights and Taxation
The chapter highlights the immense tax burden of farm subsidies and the violation of farmers' property rights through production controls and fines.
Welfarism and Individual Responsibility
The subsidy program is criticized for rewarding non-production and undermining individual responsibility, with the author arguing that farmers prefer to compete in the free market.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The narrator presents the argument against federal farm subsidies and price supports, citing constitutional principles and economic consequences.
- Alexander Hamilton
Quoted from Federalist No. 17 to argue that federal intervention in agriculture was never intended and would prove 'troublesome.'
- Congress
Congress is criticized for enacting the Agricultural Adjustment Acts and for distorting the commerce clause to justify federal control over farming.
- The States
The states are referenced as having constitutional jurisdiction over agriculture, which was usurped by the federal government.
- The True Conservative
The chapter implicitly aligns with the true conservative position by advocating for limited government and free market principles in agriculture.
- Most Americans
Mentioned as consumers who pay high prices due to farm subsidies, and as farmers who prefer to stand on their own feet.
Key passages
“The teaching of the Constitution on this matter is perfectly clear. No power over agriculture was given to any branch of the national government.”
The Constitution explicitly reserves agricultural regulation to the states, not the federal government.
The author asserts a strict constitutionalist view that federal farm programs are inherently unconstitutional.
“The problem of surpluses will not be solved until we recognize that technological progress and other factors have made it possible for the needs of America, and those of accessible world markets, to be satisfied by a far fewer number of farmers than now till the soil.”
Surpluses persist because too many farmers are producing, and the solution is to let market forces reduce the number of farmers.
The author argues that the farm problem is fundamentally about overproduction, which only the free market can correct.
“I cannot believe that any serious student of the farm problems fails to appreciate this fact. What has been lacking is not an understanding of a problem that is really quite impossible not to understand, but the political courage to do something about it.”
The farm problem is well understood; the real issue is that politicians lack the courage to end subsidies.
The author criticizes political cowardice as the main obstacle to reform.
