Time to test the power of statesmanship

Anger, abuse and repression have not helped the government find a solution to farm impasse, but magnanimity might

With each passing day, the government seems not only to be losing ground in the battle over the farm laws but bizarrely, it also seems to be turning its firepower on itself.

The laws, themselves, are not necessarily the evil instruments of repression that the farmers have portrayed them as. Other governments have talked about similar reforms and even this version of the legislation has the support of many economists, not all of whom are fans of this government.

But the battle is now less about economics than it is about politics. The government has retreated so far on the laws themselves