Prudent And Simple - But Not Fun At All
Inflation is still a problem, the nation’s debt and deficit are soaring, the country is polarized...
Bill Gates: What Is He Thinking?
Buy land, they’re not making it anymore
– Mark Twain
No one knows what Bill Gates loves for dinner, which sports team he roots for, or his favorite movie. But the author he respects most is Mark Twain. We know this because he keeps following Twain’s advice and buying land like crazy, particularly farmland.
Gates owns more acres of farmland than the entire acreage of New York City – much more. In fact, with more than 275,000 acres across 19 states, he’s the largest owner of farmland in America. So why has Gates, who made his fortune and fame in high tech, switched gears and become so heavily involved in farmland? What is he thinking?
Author and investigative journalist Seamus Bruner suggests a fascinating answer in his new book Controligarchs. In it, Bruner devotes chapters to various billionaires, Gates included, and offers a theory that explains his motives. If he’s right, the answer has nothing to do with saving the environment, healthy eating, or lowering pollution.
Tough Times For Farmers
Farming always was hard work and, while not always profitable, it was rewarding in other ways. That’s changed! These days, many farmers are barely hanging on, and many others were forced out of the business because of soaring costs and the intense financial pressures they had to deal with.
Take property taxes, for example. Those have increased 20% since 2017 and are continuing to climb. At the same time, so have the costs of fertilizer, labor, seeds, and other items essential to farmers. Despite all of their hard work, many farmers find it increasingly difficult to remain in business, and if someone makes a reasonable offer to purchase their land, many will happily accept.
A point about billionaires in general and Gates in particular: It must be fun when someone has many billions at his/her disposal. But there’s also a downside, and in this case, it’s being the object of conspiracy theories and wild charges such as spreading viruses or trying to depopulate the world. Not only is Gates not an exception to this, but he’s a lightning rod for them. That said, let’s get back to Bruner.
According to The New York Post, Bruner’s research “uncovered Gates’ efforts to buy up American farmland and invest in synthetic dairy and lab-grown meats in the name of preventing climate change.” However, his real motive is to make more money, not to reduce carbon emissions.
“First, it was patented seeds and patented fertilizers, and now they are patenting meat alternatives. Banning cattle would grant effective monopolies to the alternative protein companies and benefit investors such as Bill Gates, Jeff, Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and even BlackRock. Fake meats are (really) about controlling the food market, not saving the planet,” Bruner told Fox News.
Author Peter Schweizer wrote the foreword to Controligarchs, and in it he wrote, “the book peers into the future and provides a haunting and revelatory expose of the leftist elite’s playbook for the next five years.” Included in that is a war on farmers. And in one chapter, he argues that tech powerhouses like Gates are “monopolizing the nation’s food supply.”
Schweizer continues: “The takeover of the food system … began with the Rockefellers and was advanced by Bill Gates. Like most of their monopolies – from oil to software and eventually to biotechnology – the takeover of food is all about controlling the intellectual property of food production through trademarks, copyrights, and patents.”
Charity Begins At Home
According to The Post, Nebraskans are concerned about what Gates’ next move will be - and not just out of curiosity. Nebraska Republican State Sen. Tom Brewer said that if Gates’ farmland were given to a non-profit – potentially making it exempt from property taxes – it would decimate the counties involved. Why? Because taxes on other farms would skyrocket to make up for the shortfall in revenues, and farmers are already barely hanging on. Some would be forced to sell, even at prices below market value.
Gates has been investing heavily in plant-based foods, which has been estimated to be one-third cheaper. The “This Is John Williams” report says Gates got in at the bottom, when market valuation was low, and acquired large blocks of plant-based foods. Subsequently, meat prices rose and many people could not afford to purchase real meat for their meals.
Certain parties had ideas for them. The CEO of Kellogg said people should eat cereal for dinner. The Wall Street Journal, of all places, said people could save money by skipping breakfast. Gates has a different idea: Buy plant-based meat alternatives, which cost 33% less than traditional food. Meanwhile, he is cornering this market and keeps acquiring more swaths of farmland.
Gates is confident that fake meat will eventually offer very good alternatives to consumers. Some companies are already including Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Upside Foods. Their products are said to taste like meat while reducing animal-based consumption, which apparently is important to him.
John Williams believes that if plant-based food becomes really popular, this would place a great deal more pressure on farmers and many may be forced to sell their land – not only in Nebraska but across the country.
Doing Just Fine
Going forward, the top 1% will continue to eat organic meat, chicken, and whatever else their hearts desire. But many others will be forced to eat food they would prefer not to because they cannot afford anything else.
“If there’s going to be a compression of farmland, farmers and the meat products we want to purchase, then more cash will chase a smaller amount of quality food. The price of food could increase not by eight or ten percent, but by 300, 400 or even 500 percent over the next five years. This may seem far-fetched, but this is the direction we’re going…
“Look at the direction the world is heading in and prepare for a massive transfer of wealth in the coming years. Those that have been preparing for it will do extremely well, but those that are ignoring what’s going on in the economy and in the world are going to wake up and find themselves in a nightmare.”
Theories that Gates and others want to control the food industry and that prices could skyrocket are just that – theories. But considering that there may be some truth to them, it’s prudent to prepare for such a possibility. All of us thought times were tough when oil, gas, and electricity shot up. If the price of food goes up as much as Williams anticipates, we’ll all look back on these times nostalgically, aka the good old days.
As this article is being written, the horrific fires in Texas are still spreading and wreaking terrible damage. The Texas Agriculture Commissioner said it’s likely the fires have already killed tens of thousands of livestock and have also destroyed massive amounts of grain in storage bins. As a result, beef prices across the country are soaring. Readers may want to bear this in mind when shopping and planning ahead.
Sources: economiccollapseblog.com; foxnews.com; nypost.com; YouTube: This Is John Williams: The Frightening Motive Behind Bill Gates Farmland Buying Spree; Seamus Bruner: Controligarchs
Gerald Harris is a financial and feature writer. Gerald can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
