A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 30, 2002
an3 magazines of interest to £ancaster 6 Farming readers
ANDY ANDREWS
Editor
HOW AMERICANS CAN BUY
AMERICAN: The Power of
Consumer Patriotism, Sec
ond Edition, by Roger Sim
mermaker. Rivercross Pub
lishing, 2002, 352 pp.,
$24.95. ISBN 158141080-8
In an ideal world, according to
Roger Simmermaker’s HOW
AMERICANS CAN BUY
AMERICAN, open trade policies
should work: provided that other
governments keep their agree
ments. Provided they open their
own doors to our products. Pro
vided they don’t adopt protec
tionist attitudes themselves and
close the doors to what America
can ultimately produce better.
But what is fair about a foreign
government that sets up shop in
this country, reaps the rewards
from our work-obsessed culture,
but pays no taxes and doesn’t
contribute much of anything to
ward our own government?
That’s the central focus of
HOW AMERICANS CAN BUY
AMERICAN.
Author Simmermaker casts
doubt on some of the ideology
embraced by politicians regard
ing “free trade.” He quotes exten
sively from leaders of the past
that, through their own experi
ences, reveal that trade works
only one way: to benefit the other
guy. Rarely can we benefit, since
so many countries simply do not
want to come to the trade table in
a sincere way.
He criticizes China, which is
reticent, to say the least, about
providing a free trade alliance
with the West. While initial re
ports show China could really
use U.S. grain imports, in actuali
ty, they have plenty of stockpiled
grain. They can truly produce
enough grain to feed their popu
lation (see page 298).
But China’s leaders will readi
ly welcome any company that is
willing to provide labor for their
people and produce benefits that
simply remain one-sided, accord
ing to Simmermaker.
Again and again, Simmermak
er points out the benefits that
have accrued in the past from
adopting a protectionist U.S. pol
icy. He notes the strengths of
buying American-made products
from companies that are truly
American (though most foreign
carmakers have plants in this
country, unfortunately the result
ing profits stay comfortably away
from the U.S.) The tax incentives
for the car companies are appal
ling, noted Simmermaker
truly, the past was a better place,
before foreign manufacturers en
tered. Wages were high and pros
perity was everywhere.
Simmermaker noted that for
m-nwnMl mmpaniM pay fewer
taxes to the U.S. government
than comparable American
owned companies. The more we
support American-owned compa
nies, he writes, the stronger they
will be financially and the less
likely they will be to merge with
or be taken over by foreign com
panies (page 302).
“When foreigners assume own
ership of U.S. land and factories,
they become our landlords and
holders of the mortgage on our
national treasury,” writes Sim
mermaker. “They dissipate
wealth instead of creating it since
their profits return to foreign
lands and the taxes are paid to
foreign governments.”
I was amazed at the many
66 Consumer optimism and consumption are
being stimulated by the performance of the
stock market, which also stimulates econom
ic growth. It seems apparent we have
reached a phase in America where we will
both live by the stock market and die by the
stock market. 5 5
Roger Simmermaker
HOW AMERICANS CAN BUY AMERICAN
solid examples provided by Sim
mermaker in the book. He even
addresses farming. On page 297:
“Perhaps we could look at the
plight of the U.S. farmer. At the
heart of the uneasiness many
Americans feel about the global
economy is the farm crisis.
Earlier I discussed the disconnect
between rising productivity and
rising wages, and the agriculture
industry is no different. Although
American farmers are continual
ly more productive, higher living
standards have not materialized.
Each year it seems the govern
ment devises yet another bailout
scheme to keep American’s farm
ers farming. Still, foreclosures
have skyrocketed. Financial lend
ers in North Dakota more than
doubled the number of farms
they foreclosed on for 1999 alone.
Mediation services, which oversee
disputes between farmers and
their financial lenders, saw their
cases more then double as well.
The consequences are far-reach
ing.”
Simmermaker points to the
“Go Texan” commercials featur
ing Tommy Lee Jones as con
sumers are given the choice of
Canadian beef from more than
one million cattle that slaugh
terhouses buy in the U.S. each
year. Brazil, he claims, is always
“on the very of prying open the
U.S. market. Yet U.S. ranchers
are barred from selling their beef
to Europe, as that continent exer
cises its sovereign right to refuse
agriculture imports that are not
free of growth hormones.”
Is the growth hormone require
ment merely an excuse to keep
Europe’s own protectionist poli
cies in place?
America continues to depend
heavily on foreign investment to
keep the economy going, accord
ing to Simmermaker. Yet despite
consumer confidence, which re
mains high, “consumer optimism
and consumption are being stim
ulated by the performance of the
stock market, which also stimu
lates economic growth. It seems
apparent we have -reached - a
phase in America where we will
both live by the stock market and
die by the stock market.”
He makes the blunt statement:
“Both our successful past of
trade protection and our current
system of an open U.S. market
for foreign producers has demon
strated that, at least for the Unit
ed States, protectionism equals
prosperity and free trade equals
failure.”
On page 304, Simmermaker
notes: “Foreign investors are al
ready reaping more gains from
their U.S. investments than
Americans take home from for
eign investments overseas. In the
first nine months of 1999, foreign
companies announced U.S. pur
chases of more than double the
value of 1998’s volume to $256
billion, which is four times the
volume for all of 1997. According
to the latest data from the U.S.
Commerce Department, of the
$282 billion of foreign investment
in 1999, only 3 percent was used
to establish new operations, while
97 percent was used to acquire
existing U.S. businesses.” (page
304)
It’s hard not to dispute Sim
mermaker. He certainly makes
you think.
In addition, he provides many
lists of products that note wheth
er the company making the prod
uct is American or foreign
owned.
WRITE FROM LIFE: Turning
Your Personal Experiences
Into Compelling Stories, by
Meg Files. Writer’s Digest
Books, 2002, 244 pp.,
$16.99. ISBN
1-58297-154-4
Everyone has experiences to
share. The writer’s gift is the abil
ity to use words to articulate
those experiences.
But how does a writer artic
ulate those experiences best? Ul
timately, how does he or she go
about converting experiences
through the “slant” called fiction,
according to Meg Files in
WRITE FROM LIFE, or through
a simple accounting that captures
the atmosphere a compelling
one, if possible in nonfiction,
sometimes used by many colum
nists, even those in this newspa
per?
Files provides the basics of de
veloping the writer’s “voice,”
something that often takes years
to develop. Though some people
are helped by books (like this
one) or workshops (though they
can steal a writer’s precious tijne
-away from thefypewrker-or com
puter), everyone can learn from
WRITE FROM LIFE.
Files, who has authored a
novel called MERIDIAN 144 and
a collection of stories, HOME IS
THE HUNTER, is also a pub
lished poet. Her articles have ap
peared in a variety of magazines.
She has taught creative writing
for more than 25 years at Colo
rado Mountain College, Universi
ty of Maryland, and elsewhere.
She teaches at Pima College in
Tucson and directs the Pima
Writers’ Workshop.
Files provides a handyperson’s
view of how to overcome fears
and to start writing. Importantly,
she provides basic viewpoints:
write from the heart. Dig into
your inner beliefs about your ex
periences. Tell the story with con
trol and authority. Look at your
finished work carefully and don’t
ever be afraid to edit.
This is a book that columnists
and correspondents can use to
improve their work. This book re
minds us to take a more critical
look at what we write and learn
to grow as a result.
ten and photographed by
Ralph Kylloe. Gibbs Smith,
2002, 25S pp., $6O. ISBN
1 -58685-^35-7
Fanner/Author David Kline
To Speak At Sustainable
Farming Conference
GENEVA, N.Y, David and
Elsie Kline operate a modestly
sized farm in Fredericksburg,
Ohio.
There are few farms in the
U.S. that attract more birds per
square foot than the Klines’. This
is intentional.
This 35-cow Jersey farm at
tracts birds and other forms of
wildlife for a variety of reasons.
One is that wildlife is never view
ed as a threat on this farm. An
other is Kline’s insatiable appe
tite for observing the gifts of life
that abound around him. As a re
sult, David has honed a keen ap
preciation and understanding of
nature.
Kline has shared his astute ob
servations through countless arti
cles, two books (Great Posses
sions and Scratching the
Woodchuck), and numerous
talks. Entwined among these var
ious stories are rays of perception
that reveal the rewards of a slow
er-paced life. This lifestyle sup
ports not only families and caring
communities, but a people com
fortable with themselves.
Economically, this farm serves
as a model that blends older tra
ditional methods with newer
technologies in a manner that is
environmentally friendly and ad
equately profitable. Indeed, it
would be a safe statement that
many more modem farms would
envy the margin of net return af
forded by this model.
THE GRAIN OF OUR ECONOMY*
This is a big, beautiful book.
Now, what does it tell us?
Well, if you had plenty of
money, you can make your home
look similar to the wonderful
Roddy Lodge on page 132. I’d
like to afford the intricate, rustic,
handcrafted staircase with the
railings, newel posts, and spin
dles created from bark-off cedar
on page 56. Who wouldn’t want
the fun dining room of the
1930-style Adirondack lakeside
home (page 29)?
The bookcase built by Brian
Kelly for a 1920 s lodge in the
Adirondacks on page 8 certainly
caught my eye.
What’s so appealing is the
wonderful, experienced eye to the
photos brought by author Kylloe,
who is trained as a professional
photographer and an expert on
rustic design. The preface sets the
tone for an astonishing work of
art in itself, and speaks about the
sincerity Kylloe brings to the
book.
‘I bought my first serious piece
of rustic furniture in 1978 while I
was a doctoral student at Boston
University,” he writes. “My
roommate at the time, Jon Ames,
was in the antiques business. He
brought home a gorgeous six-foot
oval dining room table with mas
sive log legs. It was signed Old
Hickory Chair Company. I
bought it from him for $2BO,
which was about my life savings
at the time. A month later, he
bought it back from me for $4OO.
At that moment, I knew there
was something to the antiques
business. It was the quickest $l2O
I have ever made!”
This is a colorful, big, coffee
table book that decorates and en
lightens in itself. Now, if I could
come up with a way to afford to
make my home look something
like those homes featured....
The average farm in Holmes
County, Kline’s home, is 122
acres and horse powered.
According to Steven Stoll of Yale
University, the mean household
income from these farms exceeds
the mean household income for
the county by 26 percent. A typi
cal observation by a visitor to
Holmes County is “a sense of
wellbeing”.
David Kline will be the key
note speaker at the Low Input
Sustainable Farming Conference
on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003 in
Jordan Hall at Cornell’s Geneva
Experiment Station. Come share
ideas about your farm with
David and sixteen other success
ful small-scale fanners.
For a conference registration
packet, call Bill Henning at (315)
536-5123. Deadline for registra
tion is December 20. Cost is $2O
per person and $lO for each addi
tional family member. Space is
limited.
The Low Input Sustainable
Farming Conference is supported
by a CCE Grant for Innovative
Small Farm Education from Cor
nell’s Small Farms Program.
Bill Henning is Small Farm
Specialist with Cornell Coopera
tive Extension’s NWNY Team
and Pro Dairy. For more informa
tion on Cornell’s Small Farms
Program, visit our web site at
HYPERLINK “http://
www.smallfarms.cornell.edu”
www.smallfarms.comell.edu.