German Farmers’ Tractors Roll for New Economic System
Dump the Agriculture (Military) Financial Complex!
by Robert L. Baker
Thousands of tractors roll – sending powerful message to lawmakers
Jan. 17—The mega Week of Action Jan. 8-15 in Germany, with a 100,000 tractors, trucks, farmers, and allies, holding convoys, rallies and other protests in all 16 states, is a world-significant event. The “drop that made the barrel not just overflow, but burst”—as one rally leader said, was the Federal government plan to up the price of farm-use diesel, tax farm machinery, and impose other hits on farmers, they can’t take.
The population rallied to the farmers, and the mass protest went way beyond so-called agriculture issues and brought out all sectors in the protest—truckers, railway men, skilled craftsmen, workers all along the food chain, from shops to big hotels, and more.
Production Is the “Issue”
The common fight is to end the reign of the incompetent, immoral government which has, in recent years, taken down the electricity, nuclear plants and fuel base of the nation, caused industry to shut or leave, failed to keep up or expand infrastructure, gut health care, and meantime impose measures intended to reduce agriculture, done in the name of the Green Deal Farm-to-Fork (issued by the European Union in May 2020), to “save the planet.” Government directives order farmers how to farm, what inputs to use or not, while costs of production are soaring. Families on 15 generation farms are faced with ruin.
On top of this has come economic re-militarization demanded by London, the USA, and Global NATO. The national budget lines for military and green spending are up, while the axe is out against the physical economy and public good. The banners and signs on the tractors, trucks and grandstands showed the public disgust. “They Don’t Sow, They Don’t Harvest, But They Think They Know Better.” And “Without Blood, One Turns White; Without Air, One Turns Blue; Without a Brain, One Turns Green.” People have signs in their front windows, “No Farmers, No Food.” “No Farmers, No Future.”
For the first time, the two main farm organizations worked together to bring off the astounding Week of Action. The long-standing German Farmers Association ( DBV, bauernverband.de/English,) and the newer Countryside Makes Connections (lsvdeutschland.de).
It was super well-organized, with full collaboration, and also praise, from the police.
Beginning on Monday, Jan. 8, were tractorcades, rallies and other actions in Munich, Mainz, Stuttgart, Berlin and many major cities.
On Jan. 10, the railway workers started a three-day national strike. Dutch farmers came to the borders; and Hungarian and Polish farmers sent support.
U.S. Farmer Support for German Farmers:
Let the Tractors Roll!
A message of support signed by U.S. farm leaders was distributed in German and received with cheers when read out at the Stuttgart rally, and many other places. “Let the Tractors Roll,” it stated, “We U.S. farmers and ranchers send our support and admiration to German farmers and co-demonstrators…You have the guts and courage to defend the right to produce food, and demand a productive economy for all citizens…” See: https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2024/eirv51n03-20240119/eirv51n03-20240119_005-german_farmers_and_allies_lead_n.pdf
The Real Face of the Agro-Financial Complex: BlackRock and State Street Corporation: The Real Face of the Military-Industrial-Financial Complex (larouchepub.com)
The common enemy is what is best called the agro-financial complex, with the controlling powers in it being the very same as those of the military financial complex. If you look at which firms are the major shareholders in the top agriculture and food multinationals (seeds, chemicals, fertilizer, food processing, retail) you see BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street, Goldman Sachs, and a few others, from ADM to WH Holdings/Smithfield. These are the very same as the top shareholders in the military industrial complex of Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrup Grumman, and the rest.
Greed, which is bad enough, is not the worst of this network. These companies are part of the core London-Wall Street banking circle, with its satellites, e.g. Chicago and Amsterdam, the IMF and all, whose practices loot and impoverish economies. This crowd is dominating the governments in London, Washington, Brussels and Global NATO. The “Third World” was never allowed to develop. The “developed” world is in breakdown, after deregulated speculation, mega-bank bailouts, green financial rip-off bubbles and worse.
New International Security and Development
Architecture: https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2023/eirv50n49-20231215/eirv50n49-20231215_008-keynote_to_dec_910_conference_th-hzl.pdf
The Global Majority Alternative
The alternative is seen in the rise of the “Global Majority.” This refers to nations of the “Global South” and especially the leadership formations such as the “BRICS”—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa—which as of Jan. 1 became the BRICS-9, adding in Egypt, U.A.E., Iran and Ethiopia. These nations are on the move for mutual-benefit trade in non-dollar currencies (as against speculative, sanctions-prone U.S. and EU financial relations), for credit for infrastructure building, and collaboration in building up all nations’ agriculture and industry.
In particular, these nations and dozens more, are voting in the U.N. and pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza and Ukraine. South Africa on Jan. 11 presented an air-tight case at the World Court in The Hague, that Israel is violating the 1948 Convention on Genocide, by carrying out genocide in Gaza. It’s way past time to get the negotiations going to stop the Ukraine conflict and override the London/Global NATO demands for indefinite war. If not stopped, this means nuclear annihilation for civilization.
Let’s Confer: The New System
What will guarantee a safe and good future? There are solutions if we act in the common interest with the Global Majority and the people of the U.S. and Europe, not the rotten financial axis. We can take heart from this month’s dramatic actions by the German farmers hitting the streets, and South Africa standing up for all humanity.
Let’s confer on what the new system must be, respecting differences from nation to nation, but dumping neo-colonialist London/Wall Street. Parity pricing? Anti-trust against the multi-nationals, from farm inputs to retail. Re-regulate banking, on the Glass-Steagall principle.
Hold onto your cowboy hat! It’s going to be a hard ride in 2024, but we can make it.
Limit to Tyrant’s Power – https://larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2024/eirv51n03-20240119/eirv51n03-20240119_003-no_there_is_a_limit_to_the_tyran-hzl.pdf
Robert L. Baker, Agricultural Research, Executive Intelligence Review, Thank You, Call or Text Bob at 703-554-5397, bb888k@gmail.com