paraphrastic redux - sfa - August 2004 Frank's Kansas Chapter Four - Verns, Then and Now --------- [paragraph# (page# first word)] 169 (p78 it) [Frank quotes a paragraph of historian Vernon Parrington that attributes economic degradation of farmers in the 1890s to farmers' political carelessness and voting for those whose policies worked against them.] 170 (p79 from) When Parrington was a boy living in Kansas, it was typical of Kansas farmers to irrationally prefer free-markets, until Populism arose there and a class-consciousness grew among farmers. [Frank quotes a paragraph of Parrington's describing a Populist reversal of established Kansas politics.] 171 (p80 Vernon) Parrington's book is evidence of much change in the Midwest and the country as a whole during the 70 years since its publication. There are still activist farmers and class-conscious workers in Kansas, but nowadays they demand the end of Progressive Era reforms and promote privatization and more power for financiers. 172 (p80 Parrington) Widespread irrational support for laissez-faire has returned and is stronger than ever. Vernon L. Smith, 2002 winner of the "Nobel" prize in Economics. 173 (p80 Smith) Smith was raised as a socialist but now promotes market economics, and his preference for market economics if based on faith rather than reason. It is "natural", upon encountering Smith's arguments for privatization and his complaints of inherent incompetence of government, for a person to assume that someone taking such positions is insincere and is doing so at the behest of some interest that is paying them to. 174 (p81 but) The WSJ once published an essay written by Smith that blamed state regulators for the California electricity disaster which is usually attributed to deregulation. The essay was entitled Power to the People. 175 (p81 or) Koch Industries, mainly an oil business based in Wichita, is the second-largest privately held US company. It's founder was Fred Koch, who was charter John Birch Society member. One billionaire son of Fred, Charles, founded the Cato Institute, and another, David, ran as a Libertarian for vice-president. Some "Koch money" was given to Triad Management Services [see para 163]; and some was spent to support GW Bush's campaign; and some supports the development of ideas and free-market policies for hampering government and helping business. Each of the following five is rightwing organization: Reason Magazine; the Manhattan Institute; the Heartland Institute; Citizens for a Sound Economy; the Democratic Leadership Council. Some "Koch money" has spent "propping up" these organizations. The Koch's influence is well-known in DC. 176 (p82 Koch) Vernon Smith's career in academia has been advanced n various ways by some Koch money, too. The website of the Reason Institute presents as evidence for Smith's generally being right the fact that Smith got the "Nobel" prize in economics. 177 (p82 the) [Frank describes a concrete sculpture garden in Lucas Kansas built in the early 1900s by JP Dinsmoor, mixing biblical material with Populist political iconography.] 178 (p83 the) According to the Backlashers, Jimmy Carter gave away the Panama Canal. 179 (p83 I) [Frank describes new collection of striking caricaturist sculptures by MT Liggett near Mullinville, Kansas, which expresses political and social views espoused by Rush Limbaugh.] 180 (p84 Kiowa) Liggett's sculptures are located in Kiowa County, which has become sparse, the population having dropped almost a quarter during 1980 to 2002. 181 (p84 there) Frank did not discern among Liggett's sculptures any that caricatured the economic forces that reduced Kiowa County's population. Appropriate subjects would include Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, and 1the Koch brothers. Much of Kiowa County are enraged at the very government that prevented the economic collapse of the area; and about 29% of personal income in the County comes from government payments or transfers, including crop subsidies. Liggett's art represents a desire to be left alone by liberals; indeed, Kiowa County voted in 1992 to secede from Kansas, presumably to escape the influence of Topeka. 182 (p85 let) [nothing significant] 183 (p85 in) In 1888 the town Ulysses, Kansas, issued $36,000 in bonds, the proceeds of which were spent securing the county seat there. It's economy collapsed soon thereafter, its population falling from 1500 to 40. 184 (p85 in) The bonds matured in 1908, and the townspeople could not afford to pay. 185 (p86 what) So they moved the town's buildings out of town to make them unforecloseable. 186 (p86 the) Nowadays corporations use their mobility to threaten departure from locales that do not support them with public monies and privileges. Kansas cannot afford to resist these threats. Meatpackers in Garden City, Sprint in Overland Park, and various businesses in Kansas City, Missouri, have all succeeded in using this power. 187 (p86 the) Boeing, Wichita's largest employer, has long succeeded at getting city support through this threat. In 2003 Boeing instigated a competition between the states Kansas, Washington, Michigan, Texas, and California for the place where 7E7s would be built. 188 (p87 the) Boeing required that the community where the planes would be built provide good schools, encourage good attendance by workers, tax the company only lightly, provide with with land for cheap, and otherwise provide municipal support for manufacturing. 189 (p87 plainspoken) Boeing required Kansas to lend Boeing a half-billion dollars or be eliminated from consideration for hosting 7E7 production. Kansas's legislature, during a budget shortfall, issued a bond for the amount, arranging for the loan to Boeing to be interest free, and instead to count the state tax of 7E7 workers toward the interest on the bonds. 190 (p88 quite) Part of the design of recent free-trade agreements signed by the US has been to make cities vulnerable to these tactics. 191 (p88 Boeing) A Boeing memo leaked to a Seattle newspaper indicated that Boeing was considering the possibility of selling the plant that was necessary to Wichita's prosperity. =========