Home on the Range

Tip to Powerline for this condescending Kristof op-ed about reclaiming the plains for future buffalo-burger

It might be argued that with massive surpluses of food piling up, we're not doing anyone any favors by continuing to subsidize and protect our agricultural industry. But to say this was a "150-year mistake" is bizarre by any standard. What were our parents and grandparents supposed to eat, for crying out loud, when the wheat boats from the Argentine didn't make it into port? Sure, we get winter grapes from Chile now, but it wasn't always thus.

Also, I imagine that Kristof imagines that we'd be returning the plains to some pristine, pre-human state. This, too, is more than a little absurd. The prairie used to be forested (although the plains never were), and the Indians created that million-square-mile buffalo run by keeping the place burnt down.

I'd also note that in the time of Lewis and Clark, grizzly were common on the plains, rare in the mountains. Now Kristof supports gun control. What does he expect me to do when my car breaks down on the drive on Highway 2 to Glacier National Park, and that griz pops up from behind the nearest burial mound?

Finally, is Kristof also willing to reinstate buffalo hunting when the Great Herds have successfully reclaimed their land? Why do I think not? No, it would be a protected nature park.

If the plains are emptying, anyway, at least in part because one man on a combine can now harvest what 400 of his closest friends could do 50 years ago, let it happen. But for Kristof to somehow pretend that he actually cares whether than town of 6 survives? As my neice would say, puuuhh-leeeeze.

UPDATE: Deacon suggests that Kristof might want to move Israel there. Personally, I think he wouldn't want Israel taking over North Dakota's nukes, although he'd probably support a binational state with the Sioux.