Farm Subsidies - A Necessary Evil?

4 Pages 1056 Words

Subsidies are payments, economic concessions, or privileges given by
the government to favor businesses or consumers. In the 1930s, subsidies
were designed to favor agriculture. John Steinbeck expressed his dislike of
the farm subsidy system of the United States in his book, The Grapes of
Wrath. In that book, the government gave money to farms so that they would
grow and sell a certain amount of crops. As a result, Steinbeck argued,
many people starved unnecessarily. Steinbeck examined farm subsidies from a
personal level, showing how they hurt the common man. Subsidies have a
variety of other problems, both on the micro and macro level, that should
not be ignored. Despite their benefits, farm subsidies are an inefficient
and dysfunctional part of our economic system.
The problems of the American farmer arose in the 1920s, and various
methods were introduced to help solve them. The United States still
disagrees on how to solve the continuing problem of agricultural
overproduction. In 1916, the number of people living on farms was at its
maximum at 32,530,000. Most of these farms were relatively small (Reische
51). Technological advances in the 1920's brought a variety of effects. The
use of machinery increased productivity while reducing the need for as many
farm laborers. The industrial boom of the 1920s drew many workers off the
farm and into the cities. Machinery, while increasing productivity,
was very expensive. Demand for food, though, stayed relatively
constant (Long 85). As a result of this, food prices went down. The small
farmer was no longer able to compete, lacking the capital to buy productive
machinery. Small farms lost their practicality, and many farmers were
forced to consolidate to compete. Fewer, larger farms resulted (Reische 51).
During the Depression, unemployment grew while income shrank. "An extended
drought had aggravated the farm problem during the 1930s (Reische 52)."
Congress, ...