In
Latin America a farmer with an "hacienda" of 50 or 70 cows is
considered wealthy. Even in Puerto Rico such a small cattle farmer will do
fine. But, I was shocked by the
hard work and miserable life that those small cattle/dairy farmers had in
Wisconsin. Their children before going to school, and after coming
back from school, had to help with the farm chores. Often with frigid
temperatures and walking knee-deep on the snow. And yet, despite all this
family effort, I never saw so many
dirty and decrepit houses, as I saw in Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and some
other Wisconsin counties. I have seen people on Welfare fare much
better, and with a lot of less effort on their part.
In
1998 I lived for a few months in St. Cloud, MN, and I saw and heard about the
plight of the hog-ranchers. It brought me memories of the misery I
had seen in Wisconsin -ironically and from what I saw- suffered by the
people who could not work any harder. It was not fair!
Those scenes made me move back
to my socialistic roots! |
I
I was a pioneer in the development of software for micros and PCs.
Articles about the database engine that I had created (to keep control of
herds in dairy farm operations) appeared on several newspapers and
magazines, and I was invited three times to appear on television in Puerto
Rico. From 1980 to 1985 (in Puerto Rico), and from 1991 to 1993 (in
Wisconsin) I had very close contact with dairy farmers. I met personally
most of the 600 registered dairy farmers in Puerto Rico, and probably 300
cattle farmers in Wisconsin. |