What's Your Reference Group

I don't know its current status, but "reference group" theory used to be important in sociology. Briefly, the idea is that one's opinions vary based on who you're comparing yourself to.

If, for example, in 1950 you compared your dinner to what was being eaten by the starving children of China, you'd feel very lucky. On the other hand, if your reference group was the Joneses, then you spent your time trying to keep up with them.

As I age, I find my reference groups changing. When I was a boy, I compared myself to everyone older, bigger, stronger, than me. Now I compare myself to myself, my younger self, the one who was smarter, more vigorous, more productive than I am now. And I know that mostly myself tomorrow will be less than today. I suppose the moral is--enjoy today for what it is. If I could only remember morals.

The Difference a Label Makes--"rbST-Free"

Sometimes dairy farmers aren't too smart. (Remember, I grew up on such a farm.) This article from the Akron Beacon describes the bind they're in over rbST, the hormone that increases milk production. It's reasonably sympathetic. But the terminology shows the fight is already lost:

"rbST-Free"--that's a construction which implies that rbST is bad. Most notably: "drug-free", "tax-free", "gluten-free", "risk-free", "pollution-free"...etc. etc.

Are We Ready for This? Changing Mores

Back in my youth, lost amidst the fogs of memory, is the phrase: "Does she or doesn't she?" and the response: "Only her hairdresser knows for sure".

I thought of that this morning as I waited in the supermarket line, and noticed a picture of Ms Clinton on the cover of one of the magazines. She's noticeably blonde.

I also stumbled across this in today's Post:

Clinton's ground troops seeded Las Vegas beauty salons with folders displaying Clinton's hairstyles through her career and declaring, "Worry about your hair. If you don't, someone else will" -- a dig at establishment sexism, Titus said. That issue came even more into focus when MSNBC political talk show host Chris Matthews was forced to apologize for comments that he conceded could have been regarded as sexist and demeaning to Clinton.

And I remember her first hairstyles when in the public eye--seems to me she definitely was not blonde. So she dyes her hair. She's made the choice to be blonde. It fits her boomer personality--in my generation, as the ad suggests, dying one's hair was not something a woman advertised. Nor was it something any man would consider. It was a matter of fakery, dishonesty, meddling with the natural order of things. The boomers changed all that, I guess.

But I'm not sure we're ready for a President who dyes her hair--have we really changed that much?

But of course there was Reagan, but he's not a role model.

Locavore and NAL

USDA has the National Agricultural Library (NAL), which now has its own blog. A recent post discusses "locavore"--the idea that eating food grown locally is good for you and for the environment.

Procedural Theory Meets Political Practice

In theory, when each house of Congress passes a bill on the same subject, the two bills go to a conference committee to thresh out the differences. The reconciled bill is passed by each house and the President signs it.

This long post from FarmPolicy on the current state of play on the 2007 farm bill shows how far we've deviated from it. Issues include payment limitations and means testing and even reform of the marketing loan program. Perhaps most important is how to pay for the new stuff in the bill (i.e. permanent disaster program, help for veggies, conservation). I wonder if the drive to do a stimulus package for the economy may not adversely impact the farm bill--tweaking the tax system to get more money for farmers may not fit well into the atmosphere of doing stimulus.

Whither Corn?

I keep thinking, been there, done that. This farm economy is just like the 1970's. But maybe not. From farmgate:

The energy bill signed into law will have greater impact on farm commodity prices than any farm bill being considered," says MO economist Pat Westhoff at FAPRI. “Mandates to use set levels of biofuels increase demand for corn and vegetable oil and affect market-driven prices more than current or proposed farm bills.”

Sometimes I Can't Sympathize, But This..

Michael Lewis writes in Slate of getting a vasectomy. I suspect most men, even those who have no thought of following his example, can empathize.

Bureaucrat of the Day

I'm sure Kathy Wolfe won't appreciate the award, but this column
in the Journal-Advocate of Sterling, CO is well done. She even covers the electronic customer statement and AFIDA.

(AFIDA is a carryover from the time when the big fear was Japanese buying up our farmland. Now foreign government funds are buying our banks and there's a little agitation for more transparency. AFIDA should be a reminder that the body politic is subject to fevers and agitations which aren't necessarily well founded.)

The Drumbeat of Farm Bill Attacks Goes ON

More articles taking advantage of the Environmental Working Group data to find local people who don't seem to be "farmers" and/or are rich.

From Fort Wayne.
From St. Louis
From Muncie

Judging by the volume of criticism the farm bill is doomed to extensive revision. But poking fun at subsidies doesn't accomplish much. To do that you need to find a coalition of politicians who would gain from the reform. I'd assume that most farmers currently receiving benefits aren't discontented enough to support someone pushes for revision. So that leaves suburban and urban lawmakers, and those Senators who don't have much agriculture. The problem is that politicians tend to be rewarded for doing something positive. They get attention from their local media if they do something for the district or state. There are a few, like Chuck Schumer when he was a representative on House Ag and pushing payment limitation, who can see opportunities in the most unlikely situations. But, thank goodness, most politicians are not as smart or publicity driven as Schumer.

Another possibility is a politician like Senators Morse and Proxmire (I'm showing my age, I know). Morse was around in the 50's-70's, moving from Republican to Democratic party but always a maverick. Proxmire won fame for attacking government "waste". So you could get an effective maverick working against the current shape of farm programs. But by definition mavericks don't work well in coalitions.

Possibily pressure from WTO limitations on supports may be effective. We'll have to see.

Green (Capitol) Hill

Marian Burros writes about the new menus in the Capitol Hill menus--including the changes in the descriptions of cage-free eggs and rBGH (hormone) free dairy when the lobby groups got wind of them.