Farming is probably the *hardest* profession, not to mention hardest work, through which to make a living. There are so many variables to juggle, many impossible to predict with confidence, and some of the most critical are completely beyond human control. But not beyond government meddling, alas! It may sound weird but I commend Clarkson's Farm to those who think dropping seeds in holes yields easy profits. He frankly acknowledges he can only continue farming because he has other (massive) income streams. Most of us do not, but it is still very much worth it to embrace the challenge.
There's a reason Eden was not a city but a garden.
My wife's aunt and her husband owned a small farm, around 60 to 80 acres I think. He did the maintenance, that is mechanical repair, at the local school. He bought two junk corn pickers, and he and his son made one working corn picker out of them. Try that, Mr. Bloomberg.
Spot on, David. Those who are dependent on the goods, services, infrastructure, municpalities, mass transportation, convenient delivery services, and other citywide systems, like myself, should realize that the farmers and rurally located people would likely fare much better through a war, as they are much more self-sufficient, have strong community ties and trading partners, and often have a life foundation of faith and family. In my estimation, they are generally better equipped to endure difficult times than those of us not accustomed to their way of life. Of course, that is precisely what makes them a target of the federal government, which has declared a war on farmers (that I won't elaborate on here), because they know these are the very people who can get by without them.
"'...rural life - without agricultural culture, community, or land...'"
I'm going to split hairs because I can, and her comment demands it.
"...agricultural culture..."
Might she mean to say, agrarian culture? It isn't pedantic in the least - if one is going to make a career in a field where language, words, and speech are absolutely critical, then one ought to have a better than average grasp of such.
When I was growing up, the kids from the country arrived at school in big, yellow buses. All of us were exposed to the same curriculum.
"...the leaders there, although soaked in socialist type thought, are not stupid, they must have a pragmatic side."
Reasonable man that you are, you can't be faulted for such a conclusion - and as much as any other reasonable man would think similarly, it turns out to not be true.
I lived in Chicago from 1990 until 2019. In that time the city had two mayors - Richard (Richie) M. "Shortshanks" Daley, and Rahm "The Dwarf" Emanuel. Both were capable of acting rationally vis-à-vis each one's own political survival, but otherwise completely devoid of any pragmatism.
Having lived in and traveled throughout the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war (1984-85) and seen first-hand that which modern Marxism has wrought, what Chris describes is a beautiful ideal. Ironically, it is a truly free market that makes that ideal as much a reality as is possible. That is because even in a socialist state, there ARE market forces at work, albeit severely constrained ones, but thus nonetheless.
I beg to differ. There is NO good case for socialism, which inevitably does become domination "by a privileged few". Elections can be and are easily fixed. The solution is to allow maximum decision-making by individuals, so no small group gets significant power over the rest.
Farming is probably the *hardest* profession, not to mention hardest work, through which to make a living. There are so many variables to juggle, many impossible to predict with confidence, and some of the most critical are completely beyond human control. But not beyond government meddling, alas! It may sound weird but I commend Clarkson's Farm to those who think dropping seeds in holes yields easy profits. He frankly acknowledges he can only continue farming because he has other (massive) income streams. Most of us do not, but it is still very much worth it to embrace the challenge.
There's a reason Eden was not a city but a garden.
My wife's aunt and her husband owned a small farm, around 60 to 80 acres I think. He did the maintenance, that is mechanical repair, at the local school. He bought two junk corn pickers, and he and his son made one working corn picker out of them. Try that, Mr. Bloomberg.
Spot on, David. Those who are dependent on the goods, services, infrastructure, municpalities, mass transportation, convenient delivery services, and other citywide systems, like myself, should realize that the farmers and rurally located people would likely fare much better through a war, as they are much more self-sufficient, have strong community ties and trading partners, and often have a life foundation of faith and family. In my estimation, they are generally better equipped to endure difficult times than those of us not accustomed to their way of life. Of course, that is precisely what makes them a target of the federal government, which has declared a war on farmers (that I won't elaborate on here), because they know these are the very people who can get by without them.
That's why Stalin killed the Kulaks and starved the Ukranians.
"'...rural life - without agricultural culture, community, or land...'"
I'm going to split hairs because I can, and her comment demands it.
"...agricultural culture..."
Might she mean to say, agrarian culture? It isn't pedantic in the least - if one is going to make a career in a field where language, words, and speech are absolutely critical, then one ought to have a better than average grasp of such.
When I was growing up, the kids from the country arrived at school in big, yellow buses. All of us were exposed to the same curriculum.
"...the leaders there, although soaked in socialist type thought, are not stupid, they must have a pragmatic side."
Reasonable man that you are, you can't be faulted for such a conclusion - and as much as any other reasonable man would think similarly, it turns out to not be true.
I lived in Chicago from 1990 until 2019. In that time the city had two mayors - Richard (Richie) M. "Shortshanks" Daley, and Rahm "The Dwarf" Emanuel. Both were capable of acting rationally vis-à-vis each one's own political survival, but otherwise completely devoid of any pragmatism.
Having lived in and traveled throughout the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war (1984-85) and seen first-hand that which modern Marxism has wrought, what Chris describes is a beautiful ideal. Ironically, it is a truly free market that makes that ideal as much a reality as is possible. That is because even in a socialist state, there ARE market forces at work, albeit severely constrained ones, but thus nonetheless.
Lived and traveled through the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war? Wow, that must have been an experience.
Aye! It was indeed!
I have stories...
dave - thank you for this. Bless you for this!
You get it.
As long as the economy is dominated by an unelected, privileged few, the case for socialism will exist." ~ Chris Hani
Socialism replaces the unelected privileged few with a group of unelected privileged few who have more unrestrained power than the originals.
I beg to differ. There is NO good case for socialism, which inevitably does become domination "by a privileged few". Elections can be and are easily fixed. The solution is to allow maximum decision-making by individuals, so no small group gets significant power over the rest.