Neo-Liberalism's Zero Hour in the Heartland

Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders speaks at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday. (Dennis Van Tine / MediaPunch / IPX)

....This is the year of the anti-establishment. Bernie Sanders’ meteoric rise in the polls since New Year’s Day means he can no longer be ignored. .... America’s corrupt political class is in a panic.

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In one way, however, Iowa is just like the rest of 21st century America: The people of Iowa work very hard, but their gains tide them over only until they’re back in the fields. While others make big profits from their labor, what they produce magically morphs into a financial instrument that can generate spectacular gains for—guess who? The 1 percent. .......The Hawkeye State is, of course, a land of spectacular agricultural efficiency. Viewed from space, it is the centerpiece of the best-operating and most important mass production “factory” on earth, annually generating the most bountiful harvests in human history. As such, it is one of the—if not the—most important assets of the American imperium. So, how have Iowans been doing farming the land, which, unlike manufacturing, cannot be off-shored?

The past five years have been generally good for Iowa farmers, as cheap oil and record-low interest rates have kept overheads down, resulting in profits. American farmers long ago adjusted to the era of corporate domination following the great crisis for family farmers in the late ’70 and early ’80s. So while things have been OK for the farmers themselves, most of the gains go to Big Agro.

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So, things are working out well for Iowans, right? Guess again. Just like the rest of the country, in the words of University of Iowa professor Stephen Vlastos, “There’s long-term income stagnation; and people feel they are working too hard, with too little security, for too little.”
......Where does all the wealth that Iowa generates go? As mentioned, agricultural profits flow mainly to corporations. And then there’s the role that the breadbasket of the world plays in speculative finance.

.... like virtually every part of that global economy, Iowa’s production becomes financialized, as both a salable commodity and an instrument for speculation. In 2007-08, Goldman Sachs was accused of causing a global food crisis by manipulating the price of wheat on what was then called the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (since renamed the S&P GSCI)—and, you might recall, the Arab Spring of 2011 was largely sparked by higher prices for food staples, due to financial speculation in food commodities. Tragedy and geopolitical instability? Goldman Sachs could not care less. The company made a killing.