ABG
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contributors
  • ABG CFB
  • Reference center
  • Contact Us

Cumberland Island

​

Washington Fails Us Again

4/9/2019

0 Comments

 
PictureTypical Negotiations in Washington
Sam Burnham, Curator
​@C_SamBurnham

With the news that the disaster relief bill has stalled out in the Senate, we sit here scratching our heads. With much of South Georgia still struggling to recover from Hurricane Michael as well as tornadoes that damaged small towns and agricultural infrastructure, farmers were counting on federal disaster relief to make repairs, buy equipment, and to be eligible to secure loans for seed. And now planting season is upon us and those who lost last year’s crop to weather have lost this year’s crop before they even had a chance to plant it. Many may lose everything they own.

As Washington becomes more and more divided and the two major parties make moves only in the interest of gaining or maintaining power, the pawns become odder. This is not a frivolous topic. Sure, agriculture is the livelihood of those affected but their livelihood is the most important one on Earth. It’s not only the biggest industry in Georgia, it’s where we get our food and it’s what drives our industries. It is all of our livelihoods.

The Judge, Augustus Romaldus Wright, put it this way:

"Agriculture is the foundation of all production absolutely necessary for the use or comfort of man. He must eat and be clothed, to live, to think, to modify matter into ten thousand forms for his use. By locking up the soil, you dry up the fountain of life and being." ​

PictureGeorgia Statesman Augustus Wright
This failure is locking up the soil. That’s not an option we can accept. We cannot allow this to happen. It also seems that we cannot expect to change what goes on in Washington. The only option that leaves us is to start conversations on how to never be at the mercy of Washington. We have to be able to handle this at the state and local level. That requires us to develop sustainable systems of finance, energy, agricultural practices, and disaster relief that are completely independent of Washington. The answers will be local, local, and local.

I don’t have answers and don’t claim to. I’m saying we gotta start talking about these answers among ourselves and with anyone in Atlanta who will listen. And we might have to talk a little louder to those in Atlanta who won’t listen.

Washington is not the answer. We were fools to think it was. Our survival depends on a future with limited influence from Washington. If we don’t count on them, they can’t fail us. It’s time to count on us and to set the example for other states to do the same.

​Got any ideas? 


Picture
ABG Sponsor - Click For Link
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Sam B.

    Historian, self-proclaimed gentleman, agrarian-at-heart, & curator extraordinaire
    ​READ MORE


    Picture
    ABG Sponsor, Click Here
    Picture
    ABG Sponsor, Click Here
    Picture
    ABG Sponsor - Click for Link
    Tweets by @BiscuitsGA

    Social Media

    RSS Feed

    Books Blog Directory

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture
    Art
    Books
    Business
    Christmas
    Civil War
    Community Revitalization
    Culture
    Education
    Family
    Fashion
    Fiction
    Film & Television
    Food
    Garden
    Hiking
    History
    Home
    Industry
    Local
    Music
    Native American
    Outdoors
    Politics
    Restaurants
    Revolutionary War
    Tradition
    Travel
    World War II

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2010

Copyright 2015
ABG. The celebration and preservation of Southern history, culture, and agrarian ideals.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contributors
  • ABG CFB
  • Reference center
  • Contact Us