TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2022 - SOYBEANS AND THE ECONOMY - PART II

 TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2022  - SOYBEANS AND THE ECONOMY - PART II

This is a continuation of yesterday’s blog looking at soybeans - using Russian fertilizer, then the soybeans get sold to China, which is eaten by their livestock.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

I have not followed the Russia-Ukrainian war much. (No television).  But, some of the images show buildings demolished.  While I don’t know the cost to build an apartment building or a school in Ukraine - the cost to build a new apartment building or school in the United States runs into the millions.  Plus other infrastructure issues - roads will need to be fixed, electric distribution will need repairs, and water, sewer, mail delivery, and more have been disrupted. 

In the long run, there will be a high price to rebuild Ukraine, and a high price to stabilize the Russian economy.  

There will be a higher price in terms of human relations as (assuming most of the military casualties are men) and wives will be without husbands, children will be without dads, jobs will be short workers.  There WILL be (and already is) crying in the streets over lost loved ones.

Another headline:

“United States Will Welcome Up to 100,000 Ukrainian Refugees, European nations under stress from three million new refugees.

And …

“ U.S. authorities stopped another 178,840 unauthorized migrants at the southern border in December, a 2 percent increase over the previous month.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures now show that more than 2 million unauthorized migrants came across the Mexican border in the calendar year and were apprehended or turned themselves in – in addition to those not stopped or detected.

“The US unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 percent in February of 2022 from 4 percent in the previous month, a new pandemic low and below market expectations of 3.9 percent. The number of unemployed persons edged down by 243,000 to 6.270 million.”

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Trying to put these facts and figures together can be a challenge.  

The US farm economy should be good this year (especially for soybeans).  From other reports, there aren’t enough farm workers to fill the jobs and so farms are growing bigger and mechanization is increasing (like John Deere autonomous tractors).  

When I drive through my area, I see a lot of “Help Wanted” signs.  These might not be the $100,000 a year jobs - but they are jobs that need filling. It seems like even my little job in a senior housing facility is essential (I sure wouldn’t want to live on what I get paid).

The Russian economy seems to be suffering from the war on Ukraine.  The Ukrainian economy seems to be suffering from the war as well.  Across Europe, migrants are being welcomed and even in the United States (although we won’t welcome people on our southern borders).

Refugees aren’t free.  They come into a country without jobs, without housing, and without money.  The new country has to host these immigrants until they get on their feet.  It will cost something to fly the refugees to the United States, to feed them, teach them English, get the children into schools and get the adults into jobs. (Hmmm - how many refugees will be in the Austin area - and the Texas area?  How many refugees will end up in Nebraska and South Dakota?) 

From the tablet on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

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Going back into my ‘cave’, I am not a global decision-maker.  I trust my first-century Jewish rabbi who said “The poor you will always have with you.”; he also said, “Love your neighbor as yourself, and even love your enemies”. 

If we could foster a world built on love, might this help the world’s situation?  Karen says “Maybe”. 

But, my view on war is that war has few winners.

Families lose children, children lose parents, employers lose workers.  War is hell.  (And the unanswered question - why did Russia invade Ukraine?)

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.  He that loveth not, knoweth not God.  Beloved, let us love one another. I John 4:7-8

(I learned this as a song - using the old King James Version of the Bible - so loveth and knoweth were in the version I learned)

“I can only love God as much as the person I love the least”, Dorothy Day

LOVE WINS!!

Karen

March 29, 2022