Potatoes and Freedom: How America Controls Your Life Through Potatoes

So, Potatoes. You love em right? Chips, mashed, fried? Did you know they are a great metaphor for how American Institutions control your life?

The potato industry is rigged. There’s a cartel that manipulates the supply and price of potatoes in the U.S. The United Potato Growers of America has been accused of price fixing, artificially inflating the cost of potatoes by controlling supply, similar to how OPEC manages oil.

What does this mean? It means that even in something as mundane as potatoes, there’s a power structure shaping your life without your consent.

Ever heard of the Federal Marketing Order No. 948? Probably not. It’s a piece of legislation that allows the government to regulate the size, grade, and quantity of potatoes grown and shipped. The government literally tells farmers how many potatoes they’re allowed to sell.

When the government can control a basic food item like potatoes, it shows how deeply they’re embedded in every aspect of your life. They may not tell you what to eat, but they influence the choices available to you and how much those choices cost.

Do you ever think that most of the mundane aspects of your life are touched by the state? A simple potato is controlled because at scale, there’s millions to be made by those that control the market though force.

So what’s the solution? Decentralization. The removal of regulations that control the market. Removal of subsidies so that farmers are not beholden to bureaucrats to live. Most importantly, growing your own food when you can. Either in your own yard, or reaching out to neighbors and starting community gardens. Take actual steps to secure your own food sources. Make friends and spread the word on how government controls your Freedom Fries.

Next time you buy a bag of Lay’s, remember: someone, somewhere, decided how much you’d pay for it. And it wasn’t you.