Like many welfare states, the United States government loves to privilege certain special interest groups at the expense of productive members of society.
One group that receives substantial government aid are farmers. According to the American Action Forum, government subsidies for farmers averaged $16 billion annually in the last decade.
Interest groups in the US do everything possible to extract the maximum amount of largesse from the government, all which comes at the productive taxpayer’s expense. In addition, such benefits create distortions in the particular industry that the government is allegedly trying to help. Heavy subsidization ultimately stifles innovation and privileges unproductive actors in a given sector.
Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie understands this.
In a tweet he posted on April 23, Massie stated “Empower farmers and get the government off their backs instead of subsidizing them.”
Empower farmers and get the government off their backs instead of subsidizing them.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 24, 2022
There’s nothing empowering about subsidizing people and having them dependent on the government for their livelihood. If people want to economically thrive, they’ll need to operate in a free market environment where taxes and regulations are low, while no businesses count on special privileges to get by.
The most conducive way to facilitate economic prosperity is to have a separation of economy and state.
