There are a couple of phrases that bounce around my brain frequently; one is what the headline for this story was paraphrased from (“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants”), and the quote from John F. Kennedy telling citizens to “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
Countries that purport to cherish freedom must be strong and vigilant in order to keep it, and apathy and entitlement will not. And anyone believing that their personal inconveniences are something that must be dealt with by the government is really, as one pundit put forth, doing life wrong.
The latest iteration of this is a claim from a college student in California who said (quite rightly) that burrito shouldn’t cost $20. I agree with that wholeheartedly. Any burrito that costs $20 should come with a free car wash and movie tickets.
Instead of this sparking any debate on the root causes, it instead became a point of contention between politicians, political parties and internet wise guys. Blame has been cast on inflation, COVID-era policies, predatory business owners, probably even moon phases; some of those actually may be correct, but I’m sure we’re missing a few of the more important points.
The fact that this argument has gained the kind of traction it has shows a deep misunderstanding of many things, such as wants vs. needs. There have been many statements out there condemning the complaint as entitled garbage — the person making the complaint was admonished to eat ramen or make their own like everyone else.
It also highlights the need for people to demand someone, anyone, solve their problems so they can float through life with a minimum of discomfort. In my experience, that means that the government must step in and solve the problem — either by enacting some sort of special program for inexpensive — yet still tasty — federal burritos, or by doing something about rampant inflation by passing more laws or signing executive orders.
If I were to be full-on ridiculous, there probably will be congressional hearings, testimony from people recounting the incredible trauma and fiscal injury caused by Big Burrito, protests and marches by people trading Palestinian flags for Taco Bell banners, and ultimately, the Federal Association of Jalapeno Infused Taco Affordability (FAJITA) will be created to assist the public through this culinary crisis.
All of this, including the original comment that started this, is surely brought about by frustration. I get that, and even support that. What I don’t support is that it has become a societal and political football, because nothing good ever comes from that. We can complain about inflation, food costs, and whatnot, but in my mind, until we get state and federal fingers out of the free market, nothing will change.
Prices are based on underlying costs, and since there has been so much meddling on the part of short-sighted legislators on every aspect of business, those will be high. When you do things like set a high minimum wage, make workplaces comply with ever more stringent rules for hiring, safety, quality and service, while indirectly affecting costs of shipping and storing food, among others, the costs of the final product is going to change, that is until the regulatory nature of government forces businesses to close.
By that measure, the law of supply and demand rears its ugly head, and burrito scarcity will cause prices to balloon out of control.
For years, this dynamic has played out — Problem A exists, politicians attempt to solve it, the solution ends up making the problem worse, politicians then attempt to solve the problem that was caused by the first solution, which then causes more problems, which then calls for more solutions, ad infinitum, until the government either bans it or takes over. A perfect example is the “solution” to affordable health care. We’re all living with that fiasco, and not one politician will admit that they were wrong and reverse their direction.
There currently is legislation proposed — the ROAD to Housing Act — whereby the federales are looking to lower housing costs. Not once in this debate will anyone point out that government meddling was what drove prices up in the first place through things like tariffs, code requirements, loan programs and regulations on everything connected to the housing industry.
An article from the Cato Institute titled “Who Pays for Politics” highlights this paradigm, naming it The Forgotten Man. In a nutshell, regardless of the motive, there always is a price, and that usually is paid for by common folk like us.
Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at tony@polkcountypublishing.com.
