THE PRIVATE SECTOR DOES IT BETTER

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 400

So here I go again . . . Yes, in many of the previous 399 editions of these columns I have reported instances in which private non-profit organizations simply accomplish better results for far less money than does the government. And I hope our 2 Paragraphs Family members have taken note. So here is another one that concerns The Nature Conservancy. TNC has gone to the potato-growing hub of Idaho and shown a farmer that if he raised his crops differently he would not only get better results, but he would make more money. How so? Instead of using fungicides, insecticides and synthetic fertilizers, he should plant companion crops that he could grow alongside of his potatoes. This builds up what TNC calls soil biology that will naturally protect the potatoes from disease. Thus farmers will spend less money on fuel and chemicals and save time in the field. (And, of course, cause far less pollution to the environment.) So all of this makes the farmer’s crops more profitable. But TNC isn’t stopping with just one farmer because it has created a 45-acre demonstration farm where that farmer now shares his techniques with others.

Have you ever heard stories like this about the Department of Agriculture? In fact, have you ever heard stories like this about any government bureaucracy? But these stories from TNC abound. For example, TNC has worked with fishing communities all around the world and shown them that if they use more conservation techniques their fishing industry will prosper. It has also worked with groups of people in Mongolia, which resulted in an agreement being signed last April to protect and conserve more than 74 million acres of land. And TNC gets these results by using its decades of experience in land and water protection, innovative finance, and the recognition that people are an integral part of all successful conservation plans. Fortunately there are many other non-profit organizations that are just as successful. So, once again, let’s abolish FEMA and simply contract with the Red Cross when our country faces emergency situations; let’s get government out of education and bring back competition from the private sector to achieve the excellence that all of our students deserve; let’s reduce financial aid to foreign government programs and encourage groups like Doctors Without Borders to handle disease, starvation and wartime injuries. The list can go on and on . . . I hope you agree, and support the process.

Story for the week: Recently a lady said that she had just been too lazy to go out and buy a costume for a costume party, so she simply wore a slip, and wrote the word “Freudian” on it.