Freedom and Risk

Can MAHA Succeed?

Whether we see it as such or not, MAHA is a movement by the people and for the people. Before it was known as MAHA, it was simply a rising concern among an increasing number of in-the-know people who learned how bad our food, faming, and health situation is in America. The question is; Can it succeed as a government mandate? I know I will probably be vilified for this, but I am skeptical. I believe RFK Jr. will give it his all and will work very hard to make it a success. But I’m skeptical that MAHA can be successful to the extent he wishes to make it successful. Don’t read into this what I’m not saying, his intent, as I see it, is sincere and he’s probably the best person for the movement, along with Jay Bhattacharya and Marty Makary. I don’t wish to be paranoid on this issue, or to discourage anyone who believes in it. It’s just that I look at the massive agency HHS is, the vast number of people who are part of it (and all the agencies under HHS like FDA and USDA), and I’m skeptical that such a vast organization can meaningfully backtrack from the direction it was pointed for at least thirty years. Not to mention whether the bureaucracy within wants to backtrack. The term “permanent Washington” refers to people in bureaucratic positions who stay there from one presidential administration to another. I think this is more real than most Americans realize. Undoubtedly, there are people within these agencies who are willing to wait out an administration who disagrees with their agenda. This will include people who are willing to give lip service to a sitting president for the sake of appearances, only to continue the previous course (back to the original agenda) when he is gone. I’m with everyone else, watching and waiting hopefully to see what secretary Kennedy is able to achieve on the vaccine front, with the food pyramid, regenerative agriculture, and the like. And I am hopeful in a dubious sort of way. I look at the track record of these types of agendas—programs that are for the people at the expense of government control—and can’t help but being cynical. I think the opportunity for MAHA to be sidetracked from its original intent is extremely high. Yes, there’s the banning of food dyes—a necessary move. There’s a willingness to study Autism, which I endorse. There’s the separation of vaccines (not as many vaccines in a single shot or visit), which is a necessary initial approach. But even so, the chance for the original agenda to be sidetracked by small wins or bright shiny objects is extremely high, in my opinion. Plus, I’m sure RFK Jr. and the people surrounding him know very well that certain agendas will be met with extreme pushback from industry and the lobbying circuit, which, if you’re in that position, it’s always easy to go for the smaller wins at the expense of the bigger ones. The same likelihood for distraction applies to the people who follow MAHA and support the endeavor. When a people’s movement like this one garners presidential and government attention like MAHA has, it’s very easy for the people (even the early supporters) to be so caught up in rah-rah-rah-ing every small “win” that they lose sight of the bigger agenda. Let’s recognize that we’re hardwired to want to have someone take care of us. Those of us who have opted out know how difficult it is to take the not-so-well-traveled path of finding life-giving real food, of going against a pediatrician’s advice regarding the vaccine schedule, of seeking out alternative health hacks that are poo-poohed by not only the medical industry, but perhaps by family members as well. Therefore, it's quite comforting to see our health strivings go mainstream, being discussed in a presidential campaign, and a celebrated-in-the-health-crowd figure like RFK Jr. being appointed secretary of HHS. But remember, the desire to be taken care of may be stronger than the desire for liberty and independence. Liberty and independence, BTW, require hard work, free thought, and sometimes ridicule. My concern is that four years, or eight or twelve years roll around, a new administration comes in, and very little has changed that can’t be easily reversed. I hope I’m wrong. The foremost reason for my skepticism is rooted in the fact that MAHA flies directly in the face of the largest and most powerful industries in the country—and perhaps the world. These would include the pharmaceutical industry, the agricultural lobby, the agri-chemical industry, and the American Medical Association. If MAHA goes as it should and treads around on the toes of these industries and the lobbies representing them, and survives the pushback, threats, and ruthlessness, it will be quite a feat. Many of us want to believe RFK Jr. will not compromise, much like many Trump supporters paint everything he does as positive. But even RFK Jr. must pick his battles, and don’t kid yourself, the battles are real, and the threats, I’m sure, are severe. The industries I mentioned above do not handle threats to their agendas with kid gloves. Ruthless is their middle name, and I don’t think they will back away from their long-standing agendas just because RFK Jr. is appointed head of HHS. Plus, the likelihood for the supporters of the movement to become lax because it’s now a government mandate is extremely high. I’m always reminded of Zuby’s “21 things I learned”, which is an excellent short-form recognition of human behavior. Many of the 21 bullet points theoretically apply to this topic. For example, number nineteen, which reads; Modern people are overly complacent and lack vigilance when it comes to defending their own freedoms from government overreach. I think this axiom is true on a much deeper level than most of recognize. Or number seven; Most people believe the government acts in the best interests of the people. Even many who are vocal critics of the government. Here again, this is more widespread than we think. The indoctrination runs deep, and we’re all steeped in the idea of American exceptionalism to the point where we tend to think our government wouldn’t do the things they actually participate in. Perhaps the best one—especially in light of government proceedings—is number twenty; It’s easier to fool a person than to convince them that they have been fooled. To have MAHA sidetracked would certainly not be the first time the people hoped and waited on what they thought was going to be a win for them, only to realize that they had been fooled. The euphoria that takes place among the MAHA supporters as this agenda goes mainstream is a red flag in my opinion. Yes, we should cheer the effort to remedy the problems that plague our national health, food, and farming, but we must remain wide awake and retain a healthy skepticism, because this very “fourth branch of government” is expert at intercepting good agendas. Let’s remember that MAHA began as a movement by the people. Whether or not it succeeds as a government mandate, it is by definition a people’s movement. I daresay it most certainly will not succeed on a governmental level if it isn’t doesn’t remain a crusade driven by the people, even though it’s now gone public. The way I see it, this MAHA government mandate may be the best opportunity we have to further solidify the crusade. We have this moment to take advantage of the door of regulation being ajar and practice our God-given food and health freedoms more boldly than ever. This is the moment for our generation to sacrifice other consumeristic desires for the sake of real food and honest healthcare. If you’re inclined to not vaccinate your children, now is the time to shamelessly inform your doctor or pediatrician, and to stand firm in your decision. If you’re a farmer interested in providing food for the growing number of people seeking unadulterated farm fresh food, now is the time to just do it without too much concern over whether or not your state or county allows it. If you’re an eater who wants to buy raw milk or non-USDA meat, now is the time to push the envelope with your farmer (and your family) without first seeking approval all around. This is the moment for our generation to sacrifice other consumeristic desires for the sake of real food and honest healthcare. The early stirrings of what is now known as MAHA began with people who took risks with the food police, the vaccine police, and even with their disapproving family members. They were often vilified socially by friends and family and persecuted legally by an overarching layer of bureaucracy. Now that MAHA is mainstream effort, let’s not relax and think we’ve achieved the goal. Let’s accelerate and boldly give this our best shot. It may be the only one we have. And that’s The View from the Country.

What is Freedom?

Today is Independence Day—the day Americans celebrate the birth of the United States of America. It’s the day we revel in the fact that we’re a free nation—a free society. Yes, it’s debatable just how free we are (in many different ways), but I would suggest we’re about as free as allow ourselves to be. Or maybe as we behave ourselves to be. I say “behave” because recently I’ve been thinking about an old quote. Supposedly an old Amish proverb, the quote reads; “Freedom is not the right to do as you please but the liberty to do as you ought.” The reason I’m intrigued by this quote stems from what we’ve seen in American society in recent years, which is a push/pull—even a legal debacle—over issues such as abortion, gay marriage, porn restriction, jobless able-bodied men living on the public dole, and many more controversial issues of our day. Regardless of where you are on these issues, I think we need to recognize that some things—whether or not they pose as liberating the individual or society—do not contribute to real freedom. Freedom, in modern times, is often conflated with the idea of simply doing as we please. But in reality, real freedom comes from living responsibly and morally (as we ought). The quote, I think, hits the proverbial nail squarely on the head in this light. Now, I mentioned some of the heaviest hot-button societal issues of our day, which was deliberate in order to make the point. However, there are many other decisions affecting society that the quote applies to as well. Issues as marginal as farming practices, ultra-processing of food, even poor dietary decisions, that do not liberate us as promised. Many of these practices and products were initially marketed under the guise of liberation but have proven otherwise. Such as the promise that herbicides and pesticides will liberate farmers from the arduous task of weeding, pest management, and proper crop diversity—only to bind them to the ag-industrial complex in ways they were unable to foresee. Or the promise of liberating women from the kitchen via cheap ultra-processed food, resulting in vast society-wide metabolic dysfunction, a raging type II diabetes epidemic, numerous auto-immune diseases, childhood cancers, and the like. Illness, by the way, is a form of slavery—a constraint on one’s life and liberties. The freedoms many of these ideas offer need to be weighed in light of what they will do to us societally and individually. I don’t mean to suggest that all our food, farming, and life decisions are moral decisions in and of themselves, but they are freedom-oriented decisions all the same. We don’t allow our children to simply do as they please, because we know it’s not good for their long-term wellbeing. The same is true for adults, and for society, respectively. Joel Salatin has often posed the question in his books and lectures; “Just because we can, should we?” I think this is an excellent question to ask ourselves, both individually and societally. Just because we can be jobless and live on the public dime, should we? Just because we can take part in a rampantly consumeristic mindset that buys everything just because the neighbors do, should we? Just because we can use so-called “benign” chemicals on our fields and gardens to eradicate pests and weeds, should we? Just because we can live irresponsibly and thoughtlessly, should we? I could go on, and I say these things to myself as much as to anyone. We are not here to simply do as we please. We have responsibilities not only to ourselves, but to future generations and to the overall good of society. Besides, history shows that any society who does as it pleases—culturally, economically, and morally—does not remain free. I fear America is on the crux of that phenomenon. I think holidays are an excellent time to reflect on not only the theme of the holiday, but on our lives as it pertains to the holiday as well. There’s a reason why we remember our deceased loved ones more during a holiday season (memories of past holidays, etc.). Whether it be Christmas, Easter, or the 4th of July, holidays are a time to reflect. Today, let’s think about what contributes to freedom—real freedom—for the most people. Let’s think about the vision our forefathers had for a not only free, but a morally grounded society with the ability to keep those hard-won freedoms. Let's think about what you and I can do to live "as we ought" in order to carry these liberties forward for future generations. Happy Independence Day, and that’s the View from the Country. Quotes worth Re-Quoting ~“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”― Eleanor Roosevelt Kelly's definition: "Freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want. Freedom is the strength of character to do what is good, true, noble, and right. Freedom without discipline is impossible."

How Food Affects the Environment

Earlier this week was what we call “Earth Day” in the United States. Born from a growing concern for our environment in 1975, Earth Day is fifty-five years old. And while some things have improved environmentally, some have become much worse in the past 55 years. Human interaction with earth’s environment has a dismal track record spanning thousands of years. But mankind has been more effective at destroying the environment in the last hundred years than ever before in history—due to mechanical and chemical farming, along with unprecedented technological advances in other areas of human life. But let me focus, as usual, on food and farming. Deplorable Conditions – Decades-old hardwoods like Ash are dying and will soon be extinct. Soil conditions across the nation are going from deplorable to downright barren, and it’s not even mentioned in the media. In the course of the past eighty years, “feed-the-world” industrial agriculture has eliminated an unparalleled number of plant and animal species (many of which were beneficial in ways we don’t even understand). I’m not saying we shouldn’t strive to feed to world, but the mantra has been used as an excuse for ever-more-abusive agricultural practices, and is still used as such. The Rise of Environmentalism – As a result of this deplorable abuse and destruction, the environmentalist movement has grown exponentially, supported by a real concern for sustaining the environment. That can be expected when people realize that the environment we so enjoy and depend on is being destroyed. This concern is admirable in its own right and translates into growing memberships for environmental organizations like Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, and many others. While I can see why people express their concern by joining these organizations, I suggest it’s not the most effective means toward actual solutions for the environment. I would go so far as to say more often than not the donation dollars are vastly misguided and/or misused. Macro vs. micro - Environmental degradation is, for the most part, not caused by large-scale events, but by micro decisions made by many individuals on a daily basis. Things like how the farmer decides to use the land in his care—what products he decides to use, how he manages his animals, and so forth. And yes, what the eater decides to eat—where food is sourced and whom it supports. Yes, some or many of these daily actions are instigated or led by misguided government policy, less than stellar information, bad science, etc., but they are still carried out by thousands of people around the country. Modern day environmental organizations are largely focused on the macro level and pay little attention to the micro—or practical everyday—level of stewardship. What’s more, much of the efforts go to what I call “freezing the environment”, which is to say locking it down and making it inaccessible for farming, timbering, or any other stewardship-level of human interaction. There is almost zero effort to educate farmers and consumers—actually, food and farming often isn’t even a priority on environmental organizations agenda. Most of the agenda is about lobbying, changing laws, etc., and not about influencing people to make better daily decisions. Farming for Destruction – I believe food and farming affect environmental degradation in this country more than anything else. Yes, there’s pollution from burning fossil fuels for transportation and manufacturing. There is chemical contamination from commercial endeavors. There’s usurpation on the population level via unbridled consumerism. But wrongly applied food production practices top all of these—both in scale and longevity. Degradation caused by agriculture is not solely due to applying toxic chemicals to the land, although that plays a part. It’s not furthered only by the fact that agriculture is the largest consumer of fossil fuels in the United States, although that is true. I suggest most of what has led to present-day ruin stemming from farming and food production is the lack of questioning the status quo. It’s plowing of fields that shouldn’t be plowed—causing erosion. It’s the mindless application of extremely toxic substances like broad spectrum glyphosate-based herbicides—killing soil biology and aquatic life. It’s repeated unmanaged over-grazing of grasslands—causing desertification. As an aside, I believe all the deserts in the world are manmade, and could be made productive again with proper stewardship, responsible management of cattle, and time. I don’t say this solely for the purpose of knocking farmers (I am one, BTW). The abuse of natural resources is caused by many factors ranging from a lack of good information and proper teaching, unquestioned farming tradition, bad government policy, and on and on. We all Eat - But ironically, it’s not merely a farmer problem. As Wendell Berry said, Eating is an agricultural act. If that’s true—and it is—then we’re all culpable for supporting bad agricultural practices in the name of cheap mass-produced food. Yes, we didn’t know. Yes, these things were largely hidden from us. But at the end of the day, we were all naïve and ignorant. We were distracted…unthinking, and were poor stewards. Whether we’re Bible-believing Christians or not, we all have a stewardship mandate. We all want the best for future generations. We want to leave this place better than before we came. And that in itself is a stewardship mandate. Stewardship is more than just farmers out on the land, or loggers, or fishermen. It’s anyone who has a dollar to spend, and how that dollar is spent. Ignorance vs. Responsibility - Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is responsibility. When our natural resources fail, we all suffer. Yes, breaking from the ultra-consumer mindset and making wiser choices is difficult, but we must ask, as a true steward, what’s the alternative? Poor health stemming from eating second-rate food? Dwindling yields when our soils are gone? Importing more and more food from abroad (we’re already at 20% - 1 out of every 5 bites) where we don’t know how it’s raised? Truth be known, there is a consequential tab when a nation usurps its natural resources, and not only is it unbelievably long and pricey, but it’s also not pretty for the population living through it. Let’s apply ourselves to stewarding rather than destroying, conserving rather and usurping, seeking wisdom rather than ignorance. And that’s the View from the Country.

Freedom and Risk

Quotes worth Re-Quoting –

More from the blog

Can MAHA Succeed?

What is Freedom?

How Food Affects the Environment

Join Our Newsletter

Pasture to Fork