America’s vast expanse of farmland is being planted this spring and beginning to show evidence of the immense cornucopia of food it is preparing for harvest this fall as we remember those who have given their last full measure of devotion protecting the freedom that makes this bounty from the fruited plain possible.
We spent the last couple of days traveling up through Utah and Idaho for a much needed getaway this long weekend enjoying the beautiful scenery in this part of America. In addition to natural wonders such as the Snake River canyon with its waterfalls and Craters of the Moon National Park with its surreal landscape of lava formations, there were the massive expanses of lush and green farmland as far as the eye could see across the plains and nestled in the beautiful valleys along the way.
As we learned at the park, volcanic eruptions traced across southern Idaho from Oregon to Wyoming where the current hot spot lies in Yellowstone National Park. It was this volcanic activity occurring over millions of years that produced the rich soil responsible for the emerald green fields stretching across southern Idaho and northern Utah.
In his 1776 masterwork An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, better known by its shortened title The Wealth of Nations, Scottish philosopher Adam Smith argues that agriculture is the foundation of any economy and that an “invisible hand” exists through which society benefits by the interactions between individuals pursuing their self-interests in the marketplace. The Wealth of Nations is a challenging read due to the language of the time, but it breaks down into detail the mechanisms of free markets and the nature of human labor. One comes away readily able to grasp why the free enterprise system is so fundamental to the success of the United States and why communism cannot and will not ever work. Free men engaged in free enterprise to satisfy their own self-interests end up benefiting society by raising the standard of living to improve the lives of all. The farmers of Idaho and Utah prepare their fields and plant their crops with an eye to earning a profit at harvest and thus providing affordable food for their fellow Americans.
America’s Founding Fathers realized that the free enterprise system was the key to the survival and growth of this country, and they enshrined their beliefs in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Their vision was to ensure that Americans enjoyed the maximum amount of freedom to pursue the interests each believed would lead to profit. Along the way, free Americans went from discovery to the highest standard of living in world history in less than 400 years. We see the evidence of this in those emerald fields stretching across the fruited plain.
It’s not enough to have rich soil, personal liberty, and an invisible hand at work to create the wealth upon which a great nation is built. Something more is required, and that something is the tenacious will to defend that which is built from those who would usurp it by force rather than invest the hard work to replicate it themselves. Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who lost their lives tenaciously defending America and all for which it stands.
America fought a long and bloody conflict against two adversaries that threatened our freedom in World War II. We unleashed the Arsenal of Democracy tapping into the immense resources available to us to defeat the forces of evil that sought to subjugate us and plunder our country of its riches. Among those resources were millions of America’s young men and women who rose to the occasion to defend this great country with many making the ultimate sacrifice.
America has continued to defend its freedom in many conflicts since WWII including the Cold War against the Soviet Union intent upon imposing their flawed communist economic model on the world. In 1956, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, speaking to a group of western ambassadors at the Polish embassy in Moscow, stated “About the capitalist states, it doesn’t depend on you whether or not we exist. If you don’t like us, don’t accept our invitations, and don’t invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!“ In the end, the Soviet Union didn’t bury the West; rather the West buried the Soviet Union with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union.
The seeds of the Soviet Union’s demise could be seen in the 1970s when the Soviet Union was forced to come with hat in hand to buy grain from the United States. Despite the production of massive amounts of grain, the Soviet Union lacked the transportation infrastructure to move their grain to market and the production facilities to process it into food. Purchasing grain from America was indeed a humiliating experience for the Soviet Union and a precursor pointing to its eventual downfall. The free enterprise system once again proved its superiority to the flawed communist model and reaffirmed the righteousness of those Americans who fought to preserve it.
As we Americans celebrate Memorial Day remembering the sacrifices of our fellow Americans who fought and died to defend the freedom our country enjoys, remember also that the free enterprise system which our Founding Fathers embraced as the foundation of our country makes it possible for free Americans to engage in the agricultural pursuits that made possible the affordable food with which you celebrate this day and enjoy every other day.
Independent Conservative 