Markets and States

Markets and States

Much of Robert Bates’ book, “Markets and States in Tropical Africa,” is about the use of imported crops more so than the domestic crops. He points out that farmers who are not “elite” are losing out on money because the government has a love affair with farmers who are in it just for the money. There are policies that say that farmers cannot export goods, although crops and other goods are quite frequently imported into our country which is putting domestic farmers in a hard financial position. It was very interesting to see that this has always been a problem and it is not just a recent problem that our country and its farmers have experienced. Unfortunately, farmers today are not only experiencing lost wages because of imported crops, but they are also experiencing lost wages from genetically modified crops. Bates seems to foresee that this problem is only getting larger and will not get better. It is toxic to our local farmers because people are now realizing that fruits and vegetables that they used to buy from their “neighbors” can be bought for much cheaper from places such as Ukrop’s, Wal-Mart and Food Lion because they are imported from places such as Spain and Mexico and many other countries. This is unfortunate because it is clear that we cannot be one hundred percent confident that crops from these other countries are completely healthy for our consumption. An example of this is our recent scare of tomatoes from Mexico and several other places having salmonella. Personally, this makes me want to only get my goods from local growers.

Bates shows that he did a lot of research into this topic, but it is also obvious that he is a bit biased in his research because he does not seem to fully investigate the positive effects of imported crops. Sometimes it is probably best to import our goods. The reason it may be good is because some crops are able to grow better in climates that are unavailable in the United States and if they can be grown in the United States it is on a seasonal basis. Other countries around the world are able to grow certain crops all year long because their climate does not experience changes as drastic as some of the areas of our country. As much as I like to support my local farmers, I sometimes find that it is difficult to pay their high prices when I can easily go to the store and by the same thing for a dollar or a couple dollars less.

This type of event happens in countries all over the world; especially when economies are experiencing low points in its growth, such as our country presently. Markets are a huge part of any countries financial income. Farmers and other producers rely solely on the selling of the goods they grow and produce. If everyone was to start buying goods only from importers, there would be no way for our economy to exist because these farmers and producers could not pay taxes because they would have zero income once people stopped buying what they were selling.

I must make it known that Bates is writing on Africa’s economy and not the United States economy, but it is very apparent that they are very similar in the views of exporting and importing goods. Throughout this paper I have referred to our country as the country under the microscope, but without Africa, would our country really exist to the extent that it does exist today? The answer to this question would be no because half of our populations income is based completely on African-Americans who came to America to work hard and achieve the American Dream. Another question to pose for the reader is what exactly is the American Dream? Does anyone really know what the Webster Dictionary definition for American Dream is? No, the American Dream is greatly different with every person that is trying to achieve it. Some people view it as simply getting to the United States and making some kind of living and having a family that is happy, healthy and educated. Another definition of the American Dream would be to become wealthy and live in the biggest house in the neighborhood and have the best of everything and to make sure it is better than that which their friends have.

I do not feel that the leaders who make these decisions are intentionally trying to ruin the local textiles, but I do feel that all their intentions have to deal with saving money by importing all the goods that they could grow right there and not have to fly planes and pollute the