I love Texas. I really do! The warm climate is nice, the smoked meat is outstanding and the people are among the world’s best. Texas is the one state where there seems to be a wealth of people who think very similarly to the way I do, thus there are an abundance of folks in that state for whom I have the utmost respect and whom I consider to be friends. Not that we agree on everything, but many of the values I consider to be of utmost importance are commonplace in Texas culture. Kids raised with manners and respect. Adults addressing each other respectfully. Self-sufficiency and independence. A strong support of agriculture! Texas is the state that frequently talks about secession when US politics are leaning too far to the left. Those ideals strike a strong chord with this liberty-loving, free-market, live and let live Wisconsin boy! While my Texas brethren may not always agree with my “to each their own” ideas concerning social issues, we generally see eye to eye when it comes to economics.

There has been a lot of social media action revolving around the grand champion steer at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this past week. The steer fetched a whopping price of $1,000,000 in the livestock auction! One might think, “Why so much money for a single market steer? Wow! What is that kid going to do with a million dollars?!” Not so fast. The exhibitor of the steer can receive a maximum of $75,000. The other $925,000 is used to fund other programs! The reason this steer (and the other animals in the auction) can fetch such a premium price is because the bidders and buyers are using the livestock auction as a fundraiser to support agricultural programs for youth through a wide variety of offerings. Most notably, there are a lot of huge scholarships funded from the auction proceeds. One has to be impressed by the way Texans support their youth in agriculture! I am not aware of any event, anywhere in the US that generates near the amount of revenue for agricultural youth as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The folks involved in putting this together and generating this kind of financial support from the business community are to be highly commended! Except for just one part…..

Here in Wisconsin, we have our “Governor’s Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction” at the Wisconsin State Fair. Similarly to what’s done in Texas, the champion market animals from the show are auctioned off with a percentage going to the exhibitor and the rest being used to fund scholarships and other programs. It wasn’t always that way. Up until around 20 or so years ago, the exhibitors received the money from the sale of their animals at the auction (minus a few small sale expenses). So what changed? Large sums of money always attract attention. Auction prices getting higher and higher, combined with repeated success of a few families caused some to question, “Why should one kid get all that money? How much does one kid really need? Why does it seem like the same families every year are getting all this money?”

Like moths to a flame, the socialists came in droves with plans to redistribute these windfall auction proceeds so that many “deserving” kids could benefit from the money instead of just the exhibitor that actually owned the winning animal. Never mind that the exhibitor and his/her family invested all the time, money and hard work to complete this great achievement. There was no better example of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” that I had ever witnessed in my lifetime. I argued against these proposed changes. I pointed out the socialist ideals that were being so vehemently promoted. Very few listened. I was labeled a “radical”. Twenty-some years later, there are many espousing the benefits of all the scholarships and programs that benefit the livestock kids.

I don’t know the history of the HLSR or any of the Texas majors, but I can imagine that they might have followed a similar path as our Wisconsin State Fair. There is no denying that the amount of money raised is impressive and no doubt that those scholarships have benefited a lot of people. So why are so many Texans complaining on social media? Maybe because, like me, the method used to fund these scholarships offends their sense of free-market capitalism. Maybe because, like me, they feel it all the way down to the core of their being. Many have stepped forward in defense of the current system, pointing out that they themselves and many others have benefited from those scholarships. Isn’t that the classic socialist trap? Spread the wealth to as many as possible to gain their support for the continuation of the system. Others have pointed out that the animals would not generate nearly as much money if the buyers knew that all the money was going to just one kid. They are bidding higher because they know they are funding scholarships. Well I would hope the bidders and buyers are fully aware. To do otherwise, to let them believe that they are actually rewarding one kid for his hard work and dedication to produce that champion animal, all while planning to use most of the money to fund other programs? Well that would be absolutely fraudulent and borderline criminal.

What are we actually teaching these kids? We are teaching them to readily accept the basic principals of a socialist society. We are indoctrinating them from an early age. We are letting them know that it’s perfectly normal to sell an animal for a million dollars and receive only 7.5% of the proceeds while the other 92.5% is given to other “deserving” kids. Many have pointed out that the payout limits from the auction were published for everyone to read. Everyone who participated in the show should know in advance what the process was and how much they would potentially receive if they won the show. If they didn’t like it, they didn’t have to participate. Go find somewhere else where they can receive $75,000 for a champion steer! Doesn’t that make it even worse? We’re telling these kids that their choices are to participate in the show and accept the socialist redistribution of the auction proceeds, or simply don’t show at all. We’re using their love of showing livestock to indoctrinate them to socialism.

I’ve come to expect this in Wisconsin and other Midwest states. It has been apparent to me for a very long time that the rapid march of socialism is not going to be stopped. I stopped publishing political rants long ago as they only resulted in me feeling angry and frustrated. In Ayn Rand’s classic novel “Atlas Shrugged”, the most talented and productive members of society withdrew when they were being exploited by the socialists. They escaped to a secret location called “Galt’s Gulch” where they were free to live by their own means in a capitalist society. While there is no Galt’s Gulch in real life, I always thought that of all the places in the USA, the one place where capitalists could still “escape to” was Texas. That’s why hearing about this socialist system in the Texas agricultural community hurts my soul. I believe that Texans can do better.

How could the livestock auctions be changed in order to facilitate a true capitalist system while also funding all the scholarships and other programs that benefit so many? It’s clear to me that there are a lot of smart and talented people who have worked tirelessly to bring these events to where they are today. Surely those same talented people can come up with a better solution. Clearly the Texas agricultural community fully supports these auctions and programs and will happily continue funding them. If they will bid on a champion steer, would they bid a million dollars on a scholarship fund donation animal? Can the exhibitors sell their animals in the auction and receive the bid price (minus sales expenses) while other donation animals/items are auctioned to fund the other programs? Are there other methods for the bidders to donate and receive the same publicity? This Wisconsinite doesn’t claim to have the solution, but I feel very strongly that for all the valuable lessons the children are learning with their livestock projects, we are failing miserably with the final lesson they are learning at the conclusion of the project.      

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