In the US, we hate socialism for everyone else, but love it for ourselves. I've ...

karakoram · 2026-09-23T17:53:36 1790186016

I find the farmers to be the funniest. Like without their stimmy cheques and subsidies they'll all be homeless. For some reason not many farmers call this socialism.

OhMeadhbh · 2026-09-23T18:09:02 1790186942

There's a quote attributed to Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it"

And an interesting investigation into the origin of the quote at https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/11/30/salary/

toomuchtodo · 2026-09-23T18:40:49 1790188849

USDA Survey Shows Most U.S. Farmland Is Owned by Older, Non-Operating Landlords - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49815913 - September 2026

- Approximately 2.1 million landlords rented out 348 million acres of farmland.

- 87% of landlords did not farm the land themselves.

- Rental income, farmland values, and debt levels have all increased over the past decade, with rented land and buildings now valued at $1.7 trillion.

- The average principal landlord is 69 years old, and landlords age 75 and older control about 40% of rented acres and rental income.

- Most non-operating landlords acquired their land through inheritance or trusts.

- Operating landlords primarily purchased their farmland.

- Financially, landlords received $34.1 billion in rental income while carrying $50.7 billion in debt.

Federal farm subsidies: What the data says - https://usafacts.org/articles/federal-farm-subsidies-what-da... - June 23rd, 2025

- Farm subsidies have added an average of $17.6 billion to farm income each year from 1933 to 2024, adjusted for inflation.

We take taxes from the top 40% of Americans, and funnel it to farm landlords to harvest corn to burn in cars as ethanol, broadly speaking.

theraaca · 2026-09-23T19:08:03 1790190483

> We take taxes from the top 40% of Americans, and funnel it to farm landlords to harvest corn to burn in cars as ethanol, broadly speaking.

https://www.history.com/articles/feudalism

Feudalism was a medieval system in which land was exchanged for loyalty and military service between lords and peasants.

I guess the more things change the more they stay the same...