September/October 2024 - 32

AG LABOR REVIEW
Transformative versus performative
The flight of America's food
I
n the late 1700s, our nation experienced something
that was truly transformative. The American
Revolution, which threw off the shackles of bondage
to a monarch in Great Britain for many good reasons,
transformed what were then colonies into a nation. And
that nation, and the democratic model of government
created by that revolution, transformed not only our
nation, but other nations around the globe.
This past July 4, we celebrated the 248th anniversary
of the signing of our Declaration of Independence from
the British despot. We celebrated the transformation
and the freeing of our people from the moniker of
subjects to that of citizens.
Similarly transformative was the edict issued by
President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, as our nation
approached its third year of bloody civil war declaring
" that all persons held as slaves " within the states that
had seceded from our union " are, and henceforward shall
be free. " Interestingly, even though the proclamation did
not apply to all enslaved people within our borders, it set
the stage for that to rightfully subsequently occur.
My home state of Wyoming, at the time not a state
but a territory, transformed the political landscape by
allowing women the right to vote in 1869 just a few years
after the Civil War. It was a radical notion, derided by
many, and took a while to catch on. However, 50 years
later the 19th Amendment passed the Congress, and it
was ratified by the states the following year.
Following the Great War of the early 20th century,
reparations were required of the instigators to be
paid to their fellow combatants. In our country,
fears of becoming embroiled in conflict outside our borders
dominated the discourse. The taxing of the losers of that
conflict sowed seeds of resentment that found fertile
soil among the population footing that bill and allowed
for the rise of hate towards them. Whoever they were.
America struggled to stay away. But as the
conflict inched closer and its horrors were laid bare,
transformation began to occur. America began to aid
the efforts to turn back the aggressors but was still
reluctant to jump headlong into the fray.
An early December morning in 1941 completed the
transformation and the greatest ever nation led by its
greatest generation rescued our world from the abyss.
production to our foreign competition
accelerates. "
Each of these political transformations required
several things I witness every day in my dealings with
America's farm and ranch families - vision, courage
and leadership.
Sadly, today much of the political behavior we
witness in Washington, D.C., is performative rather
than transformative. There is a big difference between
political behavior that is transformative and that which
is performative.
Politicians raise a kerfuffle and pose with a waving
finger at those who are on the other side. Instead of
joining together to transform things for the better, elected
officials perform for an audience they hope to outrage.
This situation is one of the causes behind the fact
that agricultural labor reform is so difficult to achieve
in our nation's capital. The losses of legacy family
farming and ranching operations are irreplaceable.
The flight of America's food production to our foreign
competition accelerates.
Politicians who are so wont to perform need instead
to display vision, courage and leadership. And with one
of those pillars of our transformative democracy, an
election in the offing, the governed have the chance to
turn the page.
We must get out and vote because, after all, there
is a big difference between political behavior that is
transformative and that which is performative and we
need more of the former and far less of the latter.
Michael Marsh has led the National Council of
Agricultural Employers since 2017. A Wyoming native
and certified public accountant, Marsh worked for a CPA
firm with farm and ranch clients investigating fraud.
He was director of finance for the Almond Board of
California for 7 years and for 15 years was CEO of the
largest U.S. dairy producer trade association.
32 | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024
September/October 2024

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