The Vance Crowe Podcast

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In this episode of the Ag Tribes Report, host Vance Crowe welcomes Ryan Cooper, a startup farmer and founder of Milkmen Coop, to discuss the evolving landscape of agriculture and food distribution. Ryan shares insights into his business, which sources high-quality food from local farms and distributes it within his community.

The conversation kicks off with a discussion on Thomas Massey's controversial stance on ethanol mandates and their impact on food prices. Ryan and Vance delve into the complexities of ethanol's role in agriculture and its economic implications.

The episode also covers the USDA's billion-dollar initiative to combat avian flu, exploring whether such financial interventions are effective or merely exacerbate market imbalances. Ryan shares his skepticism about government spending and its impact on the agricultural sector.

Vance and Ryan then turn their attention to the role of the USDA and its current leadership under Secretary Brooke Rollins, questioning the effectiveness of her initiatives and the overall size of the department.

In a bold proposal, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggests using the post office for census duties, a move that could significantly impact rural representation. Ryan and Vance weigh the pros and cons of this idea.

The episode wraps up with a discussion on Bitcoin's fluctuating value and its implications for land prices, as well as a philosophical exploration of the Peter Thiel paradox, where Ryan shares a belief that challenges conventional thinking within his community.

Finally, Ryan discusses his worthy adversary, Dr. Kyle Gibbs, the superintendent of his local school district, highlighting the ongoing debate over property taxes and community resources.

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The Ag Tribes Report is brought to you by Legacy Interviews,   a video service that captures people as they really are so the future knows who they really were. Listen to Legacy Interviews guests Dan and Kathy Brooks on the unexpected   experience they had sharing stories from their lives.  

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I learned a lot about you that I didn't know. Oh.   Oops. Oh my goodness. All the things about his youth. He doesn't talk a lot about it. And if somebody were on the fence about doing this, what would you tell them? Don't overthink it. Just do it   because we were really nervous about coming. I wish I would have known more about my mom and dad and and you've said that too that you wish you would have known more about your family   history.  

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Wow. I have no idea.  

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Welcome to the AgTribe's report, a breakdown of the top stories affecting the culture of agriculture with your host, Vance Crow.   The report begins in three,   two,   one. Let's begin.  

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Welcome to the Ag Tribes Report. I'm your host, Vance Crowe. Each week, I bring on a new cohost that represents one of the many ag tribes that collectively make up US and Canadian agriculture.   And this week, we have Ryan Cooper, a startup farmer that is working to build community into his rural life. Ryan has both pasture land and operates a business called Milkmen Coop that sources food from local farms, ranches, homesteads, gardens, and kitchens, and together with his community shares the burden of finding high quality food for their families.   Ryan, welcome to the podcast.  

Thanks for having me, man. I'm excited. How is, how is the business going right now?  

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Good. Good. It's a good good time to be starting a small regenerative   food distribution business.  

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Yeah. Why is it such a good time? Seems like culture is changing in that way. Yeah. Real fast.  

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I I hear a lot of people talking about what's our food that I've never thought I would talk about before.   Probably political climate. A lot of its conversation at a high level. You know, RFK could probably help a lot of that.  

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Yeah. I think the Maha movement's a big one. And then, like, we're gonna talk about this week,   Thomas Massey is, kicking stuff up. So   we are going to, this week, talk about Thomas Massie's post on x about ethanol mandates making food more expensive. We'll look at the USDA's   one billion dollar pledge to fight avian flu off. We'll also talk about FFA super officer secretary,   Brooke Rollins taking a lot of hours,   to do photo ops, but not much else. And we'll discuss commerce secretary Howard Lutnick   floating the idea of using the post office for the census.   This is a bold idea that could shake up rural agricultural   representation. So we're gonna do all of this. We're gonna talk about the Bitcoin land price report. We're gonna hear Ryan's take on the Peter Thiel paradox and his worthy adversary, and we're gonna do all that in just thirty minutes.  

So let's get started.   First up, Thomas Massey kicked a hornet's nest when, he decided to go after ethanol. On February 25, Massey took to x to post his thoughts on renewable fuel standards   that require ethanol to be blended into gasoline.   Quote, using corn to make fuel increases the price of food. This is not disputed, yet some Republicans   are insisting on keeping costly ethanol provisions in the Democrat New Deal in Republican budget reconciliation   plan. He later posted a write up from, the AI system Grok on the   question, do ethanol subsidies and mandates increase food, prices?  

And Grok, after a long explanation,   summarized it with, yeah, ethanol mandates and subsidies generally nudge food prices up. How much depends on harvest markets, policy tweaks.   Without them, corn might stay cheaper, but gas prices would climb until,   oil steps in. So,   Ryan, this was a huge,   fight on x. It brought in the idea of DDGs and their importance in the feedlot system. What do you think? Are ethanol mandates making food more expensive?  

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Obviously, they make things more expensive.   And time, you have have competition in the market to make things more expensive.   Maybe there's, maybe there's there's a sense for that, but certainly  

[00:04:30] Unknown:

Yeah. It seems like, when you say all of the gasoline in all of these different states are gonna be blended up to 15%,   into ethanol, that, of course, is gonna do that. You're making so much more demand. I've actually talked to a lot of, farmers during their legacy interviews when they say, actually, it was when we started, you know, the ethanol plants being built and all of that that going into the system,   it made it so corn prices were buoyed.   Do you see can you steel man ethanol at all? Can you find a good reason why we should be adding it into our gasoline?  

[00:05:02] Unknown:

I can't. I I haven't spent a lot of time trying to, though. We've had some conversations with past you and I   about having farmers grow fuel versus just food.   It doesn't seem to work long run. I do want one industry   that's built on them at this point. You know? It's gonna be very difficult   to put any industry on the   path. There's gonna be struggles.  

[00:05:29] Unknown:

Yeah. I mean, if I were gonna steel man it, I think, one of my buddies would like to say, like, there's gotta be some additives to it. There's, certain amounts of smog that we get out by being able to add ethanol in. There's certain things that it does to the engines that are while people say it's all corrosive,   he'll talk about how there's actually some some benefits to it. But, I mean, to me, the the reason that you know that this system does not free float on its own is that, you know, if the government wasn't there mandating it, it wouldn't have happened. And now there are people that'll come out and say, well, actually, the now that ethanol is so ubiquitous, all of the infrastructure has been built. Even if the mandates came off, the gas companies would continue to want to use ethanol in this way. I sense that that is is not the case. I think that there would be a lot more defectors if there weren't the government intervention there. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. So. If people stop stop paying, they do see something. Typically, most of them stop doing it. And I think that's what this really comes down to is recruiting,  

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a shrinking   community of farmers   to grow something that isn't being consumed by their their communities or their country.  

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Alright. We, there was a whole lot of discussion there. People talked about how even though it's, the corn is being used for ethanol, it gets turned into DDGs, the dried distillers grains, which then can be put into the feedlot system. And there was a lot of talk about what the conversion is and, because now you're able to feed these cattle   with   this, much more refined system.   Any thoughts on that, feeding cattle,   DDGs?  

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I'm probably not deep enough down the finishing rabbit hole to be really educated on it. I know there's a lot of different ways people like their cows raise. There's more efficient ways to raise cows in   a a a huge setting, and that's probably what's  

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really efficient about,   about those type of products, I would think.  

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Alright. Well, let's head to the next story. Talk about efficiency.   The egg industry is about to get a billion dollars. The US Department of Agriculture is allocating,   up to a billion dollars to combat the ongoing outbreak   of, avian influenza, h five n one.   This funding, announced on the twenty sixth, aims to address the severe impact of the virus, which affected over a 60,000,000   birds, primarily poultry,   like hens since '22.   The outbreak has led to significant   egg shortages and driven egg prices to record highs prompting,   urgent action. The USDA plan includes several initiatives,   including enhancing biosecurity measures on poultry farms with up to 500,000,000   to prevent further spread, providing   400,000,000   in financing relief to farmers who have lost their flocks and increasing egg imports while reducing exports to stabilize domestic supply.  



[00:08:30] Unknown:

Ryan, what is your take? Is a billion dollars gonna stop this, pandemic, and is it the right direction to go? I don't think it's enough. I think we need a lot more. You know? We need a lot more money raining out on this market.   I'm a pretty consistent. I don't like market manipulation,   and I I think, I think every market is heavily manipulated.   So if we're going to back off of the manipulation, it's painful. It's gonna hurt her. I get really rooted out seeing as much money getting dumped into   vaccines.   I've I've I'm I'm I'm more of   the let things aggress naturally,  

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try probably.  

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What do you think, man? I mean, is this a real problem?   You got people one side standing. It's a total joke. You got people one side standing. You know, we need to,  

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close down everybody's hearts so migratory birds don't spread out.  

[00:09:24] Unknown:

You know, I there's certainly, avian flu is a real thing.   And, but the funny thing is so I know three egg producers, and all three have not been impacted by this. And, all of them say, yeah. It's, you know, pretty serious, but, you know, it's not gotten us. On the other hand, when you talk to people that are hunters, I've I've known people that were out doing some,   waterfowl hunting, and they said, this is terrible. When you would spot dead birds, there'd be, like, hundreds of them everywhere. Mhmm. So it's clearly an issue, but, you know, I'm I'm with you. Like, I can't imagine that you can rain more money on this and and have it come out okay. It also seems to me that if Doge is trying to cut out, you know, employees and all sorts of waste and fraud and manipulation, I mean, dropping a billion dollars into this industry means that they gotta go make more cuts somewhere else. It seems like it's kind of,   disjointed from from the work that the government's trying to tell us they're into right now. Yeah. I mean, I  

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I don't think that they're actually gonna be spending anything a lot, and money's coming in. I think it's kind of a false narrative that inflation is gonna,   you know, be be brought out of control.   We've got a $36,000,000,000,000   for the debt, and the third order needs to be refinanced   real soon. We're we're   we're gonna put a lot of money. We're gonna drive that and we're gonna devalue the dollar. I think that's what this is.   I think they could probably expect to see a lot more of ridiculous spending in in your mind.  

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Yeah. I mean and the question is, like, should they even be doing it? If money was actually something that would stop this, what is $500,000,000   going to do? I know that the government has had a pretty heavy hand in killing off birds. So they've said, like, hey. There was a bird,   you know, an an outbreak, I think, you know, a mile or two from here, so we're gonna cull other birds that are not related to that farm. And I don't know if that's really smart biosecurity or what you need and when you have such intensive,   chicken raising. But it also does seem like if the government comes along and says we're killing all your birds even though they're healthy,   somebody probably needs to be compensated for that. But, you know, we're we're just dumping more system more money into those systems. So it just seems like, pretty out of out of balance. Yeah. I just layer in a minute.  



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The the government will show you. Kind   of make things better after they build block will  

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Hard to spend then. But but understandable. Yeah. I mean and then there's the other case. There's an another group of people out there that are saying, hey. Actually, the way we get through this pandemic is we allow survival of the fittest. There's no amount of money you're gonna be able to stop here. If these birds don't have immunity inside of these hen houses,   maybe what you should do is just let it rip through the country, and then whoever is still surviving,   will be able to rebuild the flock from, and then you won't have to worry about vaccines and huge amounts of   money. Do you think that's an actual, like, possible solution throughout this problem?  



[00:12:24] Unknown:

Yeah. I think it's possible solution.   I don't think it's a problem one. You know? I I I I think any any government   come up with a reason to   get their opinion in the mall, they will. And I I think this is gonna be the same. They played over and over again.  

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And you're still cynical even though the Trump administration's in there.  

[00:12:44] Unknown:

Dude, where's the Epstein West?   I, Yeah. I'm a little bit cynical. You know? I wasn't cynical yesterday or probably less cynical the day before becoming more and more cynical as,   as days go by.   I I I you know, I voted 15.   I I'm getting some of the things I voted for,   but we're still gonna get more of this. No. I think we're about to talk about that more.  

[00:13:13] Unknown:

Yeah. So up next, speaking of cynical, what does secretary Brooke Rollins do all day? This week, secretary ag secretary of ag, Brooke Rollins,   posted photos on x of another meet and greet. This time, she was checking out the biosecurity measures of an egg laying facility.   Quote, it was important for me to see firsthand an egg laying farm facility implementing strong biosecurity   measures. We have lots of work to do as we combat avian flu, help our poultry industry recover, and bring the price of eggs down for all Americans.   More to come midweek on this.  

So as I look at, secretary Rollins, I see somebody that is going around doing what typically a national FFA officer does, where they show up, they smile, there's a lot of photos,   they make a big pomp and circumstance,   but it doesn't seem like this ag secretary is, getting her hands dirty, trying to make changes.   Doesn't seem like, the USDA is being rooted out of all of its, you know, nonproductive workers.   What do you think, Ryan? Is it just me, or is this position seeming like the, the FFA super officer?  

[00:14:21] Unknown:

I'm actually gonna crowd out on you because   I have all of the group calls   a whole lot. When she was named   secretary of the USDA, I did a little bit of digging. Quickly realized she was a pick that I wanted, and I kinda,   ignored her past couple weeks. What would you like to see out of a USDA   secondary in the first week or two?  

[00:14:45] Unknown:

Well, I mean, it's my strong belief that the USDA   is is probably 80% too large. And I know when I say that, there are people that are like, well, they run programs that we need, and there's all these conservation stuff and contracts that need to come out. Alright. Well, I think that the way that we should sort this out is move the USDA to Kearney, Nebraska,   make it so that the only people that are allowed to work there are willing to live in a in a city that doesn't have any nightlife, is not connected to the rest of the bureaucracy.   And then whatever programs are needed in order to be able to coordinate some larger agricultural system,   I would have the minimal amount of of USDA that you could have. So for me, the person in there is a slash and burn. We're gonna like, whatever we need to do to keep the the system going is what we're gonna do, but absolutely no more. Yeah.  



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And then there was a lot of names that have been uploaded out there, secretary of USFDA before the pick.  

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What were the big problems that you were excited about?  

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Yeah. I mean, nothing really. The you know, there's a little bit of time where,   where RFK was being talked about as being ahead of the USDA, and I I don't love that. I think that, that that's like,   it may be too much rocking the boat.   But then outside of that, there was nobody that I was sitting there being like, yeah. That that'd be a that'd be a person I think that will execute this. I think what we have now is is basically a Trump loyalist that is just waiting to be told what we should do next in the USDA. Yeah. Yeah. And he'd like he'd like some action.   Alright. Headline number four. The commerce department,   may utilize the post office for census. We're gonna play a quick clip here. This is commerce secretary Howard Lutnick   floating an extraordinary idea that I think could impact, agriculture in a pretty big way.  



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I'm sitting with president,   and, and the cost of the post office, like, it was a $7,000,000,000.   And he said, can you do something with it? And I said, sure. So I saw him the next day. He goes, okay. What do you got? You know, he gets me the whole twenty four hours to figure it out. And I said, well, the department   does a census,   and we spend $40,000,000,000   every ten years doing the census. And And that means we hire 625,000   people, and they go and they rent cars and gas and pay food. And you know what they do? They go to every household in America and count the people.   What department   do we already have that already employed 625,000   people? It's got cars, already has gas, goes to every household.  

You can save your post commitment. Can you count the people in the house? What day can you do the census? Monday? Could you double check on Tuesday? How about Wednesday? Goes every day. So we can only save $40,000,000,000   or 4,000,000,000 a year, and we'll do a better job. And you know what else we could do with the post office? They can go to your house when you have a baby and give you the form for Social Security and then 20,000 Social Security offices that we have. We just don't need them. We actually can do real customer service. Go right to your house. Someone died. Here's the forms. You can fill it out. I'll bring them to your house. Customer service. Why? Because we've got those people. Let's use the assets   of the government   to make us better and save us money. We could  

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What do you think of that idea, Ryan? Is that a plausible idea? Do you want the post office to take over census responsibilities?  

[00:18:11] Unknown:

I think it's a great idea idea. I don't know what else they're doing.   You know you know,   it seems like a lot a lot of huge agent stations that were intended to do a thing thing, and they don't do that anymore. Or at least   don't do it the way it was originally intended.  

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And don't know what we're gonna do with the agent,  

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except maybe find something new to a new world.   I don't know what else I can do with the postal service. I'm in the room. I was in something postal.   I'm in in it.   If if my wife life depends on that. Way.   I don't know what year experience was.  

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Yeah. It's gotten worse and worse. You know, there is, I've I've gotten wedding invitations, like, weeks afterwards. Even when I get something from the IRS, it takes weeks longer. You know, they'll put it on that it came on this date and it's gotten so much later.   I mean, for what all I'm concerned about with the post office is you're not allowed to turn the post office off. So we pay tax dollars to have most of what gets sent to me is junk mail that I'm not allowed to turn off, which I hate. So if there's any way to make the post office more   valuable, then I'm all for it. You know, I don't know that I necessarily like the post office now counting people in my house. Just the image of it itself is not my favorite, but, you know, cut out Social Security, cut out census people. I'm I'm loving the sounds of that.  



[00:19:33] Unknown:

Yeah. I I have a friend who actually   he runs a a postal service out here. They they in the office. They they ask the manual of the building and continue running it. And it's just been a terrible experience for him. They're they're exactly how you imagine getting some federal bureaucracy.  

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Well, I, I'm getting notes that we're getting feedback on your on your microphone. I think it's something through my on my, end here, but I apologize. So I am hearing your notes, guys, about that. Alright. Thank you for the stories. These are the stories that we're doing on, the Ag Tribes report. If you have stories that you think we should cover, you can always send them to me on x at Vance Crowe. I got a bunch of stories this week from you all, or you can always send it to [email protected].   Alright. Now we're gonna move on to the Bitcoin land price report. Bitcoin went on sale this week. Oh my, oh my. It is a glorious time for Bitcoin believers   because there's nothing quite as good as a long term holder watching the price drop because it doesn't hurt. You're not planning on selling, and, you know you're shaking out all the soft hands and all the tourists.  

And the only people that benefit,   from this price action are the ones that are just, are are comfortable with the price going down and then and then deciding to buy when, there's a buying opportunity like this. So last week,   Bitcoin was at 98,400,   and this week, we are sitting at a very cool $84,369,   which is down 14%.   Ryan, I know you're a Bitcoin guy. What did, what did it feel like as the price dropped down 14%?  

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I didn't know.   I know that's a little bit appreciated. With Bitcoin. I really don't watch it. You know, I I work very hard,   seven days a week usually, and I save save up my money in Bitcoin, and I'll know. I'll continue to do that wherever it is.  

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And, normally, we, we ask people, what is an acre of land cost in, in your county?  

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Yeah. Yeah.   I did a little bit of research.   10 where where it's getting listed at right now. For good ground. And you can probably find find find some for, like, 8.   But it's Okay. Expensive. I'm I'm a I'm a I'm right right South South Lewis. Lewis. So   people really like farming farming here.  

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So it sounds like, what is that then?   You could buy with one Bitcoin, you could buy 8.4   acres of good high quality,   ground where you're at. How does that sit with you?  

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Eight eight Acres of ground for Bitcoin? Bitcoin? Yeah.  

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I don't I honestly haven't thought of thought of that way that way.   It seems, it seems like a pretty good deal. Deal.  

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Yeah. I think right now, I'd rather have the Bitcoin.  

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Well, I will. I would too. I'm I'm   I I would too. Too. At at least right now.  

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Yeah. That's not always. I just think that the price appreciation is gonna go up. Last Friday on x, I went out and asked, how many Satoshis does it cost for a dozen eggs? And so for anybody that doesn't know, a Satoshi is the smallest unit of a Bitcoin. It is   point   zero zero zero zero zero   zero zero   one Bitcoin because there's a hundred million,   bit Satoshis in a Bitcoin. So,   we were asking people, how much does a dozen eggs cost in Satoshis? And what is that for you guys? On on the Milkmen coop, how many Satoshis for a dozen eggs? 14,000.  

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14 thousand satoshis, dozen eggs.  

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Yeah. And is that a pretty stable price?  

[00:23:12] Unknown:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We do we do delivery,   so we're probably gonna have to raise it. Honestly,  

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if eggs continue to go up.   Because right now, we're delivering   far and fresh, so that you can you can,   cheaper than you can buy.   But, yeah, we we, we lock it in, and we do a lot of our sales in Bitcoin, probably about   40 to 50% of it. We sell to a lot of Bitcoiners.   They're very intentional about where they get their food, and we've really tapped that market.   And, so we we lock in our our satoshi prices.  

[00:23:43] Unknown:

Well, that's great. Yeah. Everybody was tossing in on how many,   Satoshis   a a,   a like, it would cost you to buy a dozen eggs. And, I think that, Rob Long came in with I think it was 12,000.  

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And so Do you think the billion dollars getting pumped into the egg industry will,   will affect the Satoshi price of eggs?  

[00:24:05] Unknown:

I don't know. I mean, I think a billion dollars going into that is gonna just create a giant bubble. It's gonna create all sorts of incentives for people not I mean, I think there's a bunch of people building chicken barns right now. There's a ton of egg production   going into the market right now. But with that much money coming in, they're gonna way overshoot,   and you're gonna have so much production. It's gonna drop the the the price way down when you have so many more eggs available.   And I think that this is just another reason why the government should stay as far away from,   messing around with commodity prices as possible because all they do is create bubbles. It's not possible for them to do anything   other than create bubbles. Yeah. Yeah. Especially in food. Especially in food, people. Come on. Leave us alone. Yeah. I mean, I think that we could have really rough egg prices for a while there, but the cure for high prices is high prices. And as soon as the government starts throwing money around, there's gonna be all kinds of people that do whatever they can to get that money as fast as they can, and it won't be high quality production. It'll be speed to production. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Now we're moving on to the Peter Thiel paradox. This is where I ask Ryan. Ryan, what is one thing that you believe that almost nobody in your tribe agrees with you on?  



[00:25:16] Unknown:

Yeah.   Circling around a little bit to us being Bitcoiners,   I I I've I've I've   struggled with this for a couple of years to really represent this, but I really believe that we're,   exponentially   getting   better and better at producing everything we need and eat and consume.   And I think we're,   exponentially getting poorer,   at the same time. And, I don't think we we really understand that well.   I think   that,   people   we measure inflation, but   I   I the the way I I paint this picture is if you imagine, like, the nineteen sixties, a brand new vehicle cost about $5,000.   I should pull this from a book called Super Abundance, which is a great read.  

Now a brand new vehicle, top line vehicle, could cost about a hundred grand.   And   I I really believe that a brand new car in 02/2025   should be about $600.   And it's so radical. I mean, no everybody thinks I'm crazy when I say it. But if you think about that $5,000   vehicle in the sixties   and you consider   every year, we're getting better at, mining our resources,   producing   our parts, assembling our parts. We're developing skills.   We should consistently   be more and more efficient at delivering the end product, which we have been. We have been, you know, for the past eighty years when things have gotten better and better and better.   And and yet, we pay a hundred thousand dollars for a vehicle. And so I really want people to think about that and think about like, there was a huge amount of productivity   that we, as a society,   developed since the sixties, and it's all been stolen from us. It's it's all been stolen from us. The entire the the whole,   delta between a $600   car in 02/2025   and a hundred thousand dollar car, all of that   All of that's been stolen to do all those projects that you were talking about a little bit. And I think if we really grasp that,   we would be much less tolerant of a lot of the monetary nonsense that gets played with our economy.  



[00:27:27] Unknown:

Yeah. So I I think you've done quite well here. If you just if you'd have framed it, I think a new car, hot top of the line, should be $600.   I would have immediately disagreed with you. But, I mean, I, a %, follow your case on the way the government has been able to pay for all these things that they want that they didn't wanna have the taxes for was they just kept printing more and more money.   And all that did was make things that should have been getting cheaper get way, way more expensive.   So, I totally agree with your your argument here. I mean, I think that that's and it's a great example.   And imagine living in a world where things got dramatically cheaper like that.  



[00:28:03] Unknown:

Yeah. It's hard to imagine. You have to spend a lot of, like, like, thousands of hours imagining that world because we're so brainwashed that this is the world we exist in. But it really is a strange, manipulated   economy that we're in. And those numbers came came from this book again, Super Abundance. I highly recommend it. And and it really lays out this,   this theory that things should have just been we should be so wealthy by now. All of the advancements that we've collectively,   come about using free markets.   Where did it all go? Where did it all go?  



[00:28:37] Unknown:

Alright. Well, I'm gonna give you a solid seven five. It was good. I like the idea, but, I mean, you kind of already knew that I was gonna get in on the, on the on the anti inflation,   rift.   So we're gonna keep going now with the final section. This is where I ask Ryan about his worthy adversary. Who is one person   that you respect   but you strongly disagree with?  

[00:29:02] Unknown:

Doctor Kyle Gibbs is the new   superintendent of our school district here in Farmington, Missouri.   And, I I I met with doctor Kyle this morning.   He, they're they're working to raise our property taxes to pay for some more programs, etcetera.   And I'm I'm pretty opposed to it. I'm a homeschooling dad. I got kids in the school district. I pay property taxes,   but I don't I don't use any of these these programs. And it seems like they they always want to   offer more and more programs, which I   I respect, and I'm learning.   My dad keeps telling me work to understand and not so much be understood. And I go into a lot of these meetings very frustrated. Like, hey. It's not complicated. My position is just that we shouldn't raise taxes. That's it. We just shouldn't raise taxes.  

And, the nuance comes from the other end, and I have to take a lot of time and really try to understand that. I do think a lot of these decisions get made   out of a out of good intentions. You know? They do they do believe that this is the best way to support our community. I could apply this to a whole bunch of our conversations tonight.   But at the end of the day,   it   it shouldn't be allowed. The government shouldn't be allowed to to,   to reallocate resources from its local economy. I think it's wrong. I think it's really immoral.  

[00:30:28] Unknown:

And so the superintendent   that you're dealing with, he's a he's a person of respect?  

[00:30:33] Unknown:

Well, I   he seems to be. He doesn't seem to be a terrible person. You know? He seems to be hardworking. He seems to really care.   You spend time talking to these people and you realize, like, I I really believe they think   I really believe they think that America is the American government   providing services to its citizens.   You know? And you realize that, and it's, it's very difficult to even really have a a conversation,   let alone, like, get on the same page. So I can still respect him, and I I I respect   I think his energies into the community. You know? He he he puts them there out of a good place, but we certainly cannot raise property taxes. We can't. We can't. It's 02/2025.  

Honestly, I thought it was a joke when I first heard it. I mean, can you imagine being the guy to had just gotten a new job and be like, hey. We should raise property taxes this year, 02/2025   in this climate. You know?  

[00:31:32] Unknown:

Yeah. It is quite an assertion for somebody to to say that I think that because you own more things, we should take more money from you. Like, it's it's, it's bizarre. But, one of the more things. I'm in not even more things. Like, I'm a I'm a poor  

[00:31:47] Unknown:

homeschooling   dad farmer guy. You know? I mean, I pay little property taxes on my, you know, meager   meager empire here. I'm not making $200,000   a year as a superintendent   of a rural school district. You know? I'm not driving the nice car. I pull up to those things with, like, hey, on the back of the truck. I'm trying to get into this meeting at 08:30 on a Thursday.   It's it's not it's not even envy. Like, that's the weird thing is you think, like, oh, they think, you know, you have more than me. I should be able to take some of that and help some special needs kids. It's just   they just   they're communist fans. They're communists. They think they think it's it's the collective. Like, hey. We're all gonna put into the pot, and it's gonna better us all.  

Can I can you respect communists? I don't know. I I do. I  

[00:32:39] Unknown:

I mean, I think the the I heard, I think Tucker Carlson of all people said this. He was saying,   respect is when you encounter somebody that can do something that you can't do. And that's when you're like, hey. I I I gotta respect that guy. He knows how to do something I I struggle with.   So I,   I I wonder, does the the superintendent meet that definition for you?  

[00:33:00] Unknown:

Well, he's a worthy adversary   in so much that I am going to be adversarial towards,   him trying to raise taxes on my population. And I will be respectful,   but,   but I I guess that's that's as that's as far down the respect rabbit hole I could probably go. I I don't know him personally. Maybe we'll get a chance to to eat a meal together.  

[00:33:19] Unknown:

Well, I, I love it. Good choice.   One of the things that Ryan does such a good job of is staying involved in his community. And if you ever see him pop up on x some some mornings, he'll hop on there, and he'll talk about how he's engaged in his community. And I have to say, it makes me be a better community member. It makes me wanna, you know, get involved,   show up at things, read the stuff that gets sent in the mail to me, and I think it's really amazing. So if people wanted to learn more about you and the Milkmen co op, where would you send them? Yep. Milkmencoop.com  

[00:33:51] Unknown:

or, or find me on x.   Ryan Cooper one one six.  

[00:33:56] Unknown:

Is that because there were a 15   people before you?  

[00:33:59] Unknown:

No. This is District 116,   and I I, I waged a a losing political battle for state rep this past year, and that's still my handle. I don't wanna change it again.  

[00:34:12] Unknown:

Alright. Well, thank you, Ryan, for coming on. If you've been listening, then, if you wanna support the show, there's a couple of great ways to do it. One is to check out Legacy Interviews. This is where I sit down to record   individuals and couples telling their life stories so that future generations have the opportunity to know where they came from. Today, I sat down with an absolutely wonderful couple from Michigan   who talked all about their values,   how they raise their sons, what they loved about their,   daughter in laws, and what it was like to be grandparents. It was a truly magnificent day. And if you would like to make sure your parents or grandparents are captured, go to legacyinterviews.com   to find out more.  

Also, if Ryan and I have made you curious about Bitcoin,   I'm always encouraging people to go out and get a lightning wallet.   You can do that. And if you send me a lightning invoice, I will send you now we are down to a hundred and 25 sat. So many people took me up on the 250 sat, so I will send you a hundred and 25   satoshis.   And if you're looking for what is a good wallet to get, the, River app, which is the group that's been sponsoring the podcast, you can go to river.com   and, download the app and send me your lightning wallet. I will also include a link to River in the show notes. So that way, whether you're buying them on an exchange or you're just getting that, lightning invoice, so I'll send you a hundred and 25 sats. It's a great way to support the show. Alright. That is going to do it. We will be back next week, probably with a Canadian because I think the tariff wars are about to heat up. So thank you so much, Ryan, for coming on. And as always,   feel free to disagree.