40 / CHRONICLESnLetter FromnWisconsinnby David TillotsonnDan Rather’s Troubled LandnIf it did nothing else, the farm depressionnof the mid-80’s has demonstratednthat our current agricultural leadershipnis simply not quick enough to dealnwith all the monkey wrenches in anpolitician’s tool box. This is not surprising,nsince farm people are used tonwaiting and adjusting to growing seasons,nto slower things, while the politiciansncontrive and connive with bothneyes fixed on tomorrow’s headlines.nAt least in the short run, politiciansnare nimble enough to manipulate farmnboys (and girls) at will. Pegs on thencribbage board.nOne of the television’s favorite farmnladies, a Mrs. Massey of Dodgeville,nWisconsin, told WMAQ radio in Chicagonthat people sending help to hernfamily (after Tom Brokaw publicizedntheir forced bankruptcy sale) “arenangry with the government for lettingnthis happen to our farmers.” Lettingnthis happen?nWhen the farmers asked for lowerntaxes, Wisconsin Governor AnthonynEarl — a quintessential Midwesternnpolitician—responded by calling innthe media and heading out into hipdeepnJanuary snow to “pick corn.”nAnd a few years back, when farmersnasked for “God’s Time” and a strongernvoice in the legislature, the politiciansngave them daylight saving, gerrymandering,nand a vote for the numerousnurban 18-year-olds. For more sauce onnthe pudding they changed the tax laws,nbrought in new assessors with newnformulas, and reassessed the farmers.nFarm taxes skyrocketed. Yet when ruralnland values plummeted 50 percentnbetween 1980 and 1985, the lawmakersnnever got around to orderingnanother reassessment.nBut there were conferences, mentalnhealth gatherings, hot lines, pam­nCORRESPONDENCEnphlets, and politically sponsored “rapnsessions” all over the rural boondocks.nAnd while these things are as chancynas a lotto ticket for the farmers whonexpect some payoff, they are potentialnwinners for those with the right politicalnagendas.nFarm Bureau protests have beennmere whispers in the wind. Poorlynorganized tax revolters went down likendominoes.nBut newcomers like American Agriculturenand Farm Unity Alliance, andnold standbys, like the National FarmnOrganization and the Farmers Unionnare rediscovering the attractions of then”Command Economy.” Because thesenfarm-labor organizations were so thoroughlynpoliticized, they were easilyn”understood” by the left and quicklynwelcomed as part of the centralizers’nagrarian chorus.nWhen on February 24-28 DannRather and CBS sojourned to selectednhustings to hear about Trouble on thenLand from “the farm people themselves,”nfarmers were mostly silent.nLarger forces, “La Forza del Destino,”nmany of them in one way or anothernpropelled by the disproportionatenpower (and wages) of Big Labor, havencrowded into the limelight, and so farnfew politicians have dared label themnas part of the farm problem. It wasnpainful to watch as Dan and the farmersnhe selected for interviews skirtednthe subject.nViewers were told that even agribusinessnyuppies with $100,000 tractorsnand combines and 5,000-acre operationsnconsidered themselves thenvictims of government loan agencies,nbanks, and the Secretary of Agriculture.nSomething unspoken, beyondnreason, something ideological must benoperating here.nOn Monday Dan told us about annIowa couple in hock for $600,000; inncontrast, on Tuesday Dan showcased ansuccessful rancher from Strasburg,nColorado. Left undiscussed were thenreasons—except for sheer size—fornthe success of the Colorado ranch:nnnWas it overpumping of aquifers?n”Free” irrigation water? Instead, wenwere given threadbare snatches ofnThomas Jeflferson’s views, a one-linernfrom Hawkeye poet Paul Engle, anbucolic glimpse at Grant Wood andnother landscapers.nWednesday there were statistics onnforeclosures and liquidations in LBJncountry; Thursday, it was another successnstory, with California computersnkeeping herd on 1,600 cows, whilenhi-tech vineyards likewise flourish. Nonmention on Thursday’s program ofnmassive tax subsidies for the waternprojects that benefit Western agribusinessmen,nnor of how these subsidiesnhurt agricultural competitors innthe riparian Eastern states and creatennew crop surpluses.nDan introduced us to a young couplenfrom Everly, Iowa (CBS never tiresnof Iowa, our Midwest Massachusetts),nwho are prospering because they borrowednbig at a propitious momentn(with help from parents), and to ansecond couple who are going undernbecause they did the opposite.nOn Friday Dan left Odybolt, Iowa,nbut listened in as other tall-corn activistsnwarned that the day was comingnwhen it would be “us against them.”nOne rural woman declared theyn”weren’t going to take it anymore.”nGoodbye, goodbye, to American pie.nA “command economy” is in thenworks and on Tom Harkin’s desk.nIt doesn’t have to come to this, butnthe mindless momentum and recklessnrhetoric of an election year are buildingnup storms of ominous statistics andnfarm-belt hyperbole. No one, it seems.nhas the time or the abdity to sort thingsnout, to encompass and consider muchnthat’s new.nIt isn’t just interest rates and farmncredit policies as Dan Rather suggestednon his first segment of Trouble on thenLand. It’s a hundred other thingsnshort-shrifted by the six o’clock bunch:n