When I express my thoughts in "Land Minds" I often wonder about the thoughts of you readers. Generally my intent is to stimulate your thinking, even to encourage a response. So my thanks to the reader for his comments in the March 19/26 issue of The Land.

The reader, in a kindly fashion, questioned some of my comments in my March 5/12 "Land Minds" when I wrote about our slide into socialism and my thoughts that entitlements are becoming an expected happening for more and more Americans.

I especially appreciate his honest comments about handouts. He said, "... I admit that I have taken hundreds of thousands of government handout dollars from various farm programs."

He also said, "We farmers and our lobbyists have often made it quite clear to our legislators that socialism and its accompanying federal dollars are essential to our well-being. In fact, socialism has long been essential in our American way of life."

Such candor is seldom heard from farmers. This open admission, I think, is vital for the future of agriculture. Why? Because the farm voice is being challenged more and more by politicians at all levels of government. The Minnesota legislature has only three members who are farmers. The disconnect between we "aggies" and the non-aggie world continues to widen. So maybe even more socialism, regardless of the titles and language used in writing up the 2012 farm bill, is indeed needed for the continued welfare of the American farmer.

He went on to rationalize that if he hadn't taken the farm program handouts, he would have been "unable to compete with other farmers who also suckled this taxpayer motherlode." Now that's good writing; shades of Alan Guebert and his "Farm and Food File" ramblings in The Land. He also wrote that at this time, government job creation increases wealth and stimulates demand and demand is what is in short supply in our economy.

Pray tell me where the government is creating jobs, other than within their own bloated bureaucracies, attempting to "administrate" another layer of government spending? To the contrary, government spending has made nary a dent in unemployment. Even the "partially employed" segment of our total population seems to be increasing.

Yes, new car sales zoomed up last month, even for Toyota, which seems to be squarely in the bull's eye of the Obama administration's auto czar. But was this sudden demand government created? Hardly. Most Americans have been so hunkered down about spending a buck for so long that the auto industry had become desperate. Throw enough discounts and "cash refunds" out there and people realize this is indeed an opportune time to buy a new car.

It's ironic that as I write this (April 7), the Minneapolis Convention Center is bulging with thousands of irate, irritated and indignant Minnesota taxpayers listening to U.S. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Alaska's Sarah Palin. Does this audience represent the heart and soul of the American conscience? I think so, in a big way. More and more Americans feel disenfranchised by their own government. The Tea Party movement is millions of free-enterprise citizens wanting to be heard. Their voices will be heard next November.

Ronald Reagan captured the hearts of many American's with his down-to-earth thoughts about government. Like when he said, "Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

Reagan also was quoted as saying "The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program." Another Reaganism: "I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress!"

My wrap today is this item of history: Back during the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover ordered the deportation of all illegal aliens in order to make jobs available to American citizens that desperately needed work. Harry Truman deported over two million illegals after World War II to create jobs for returning veterans. And then again in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower deported 13 million Mexican nationals; the program was called Operation Wetback. It was done so World War II and Korean War veterans would have a better chance at jobs.

If they could deport illegals back then, why can't they do it today? Instead there are rumblings that eventually this alien population will be entitled to social security benefits. Thus this e-mail flip: "Don't forget to pay your taxes - 31 million illegal aliens are depending on you!" That is why the Tea Party movement is exploding across America.

According to census data, 7,000 Americans reach retirement age daily. By 2030, there will be only two workers for every Social Security recipient. Are we looking at a train wreck in the making?

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Dick Hagen is staff writer of The Land. He may be reached at dickhagen@rswb.coop.