"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands." Thomas Jefferson
Weird to "like" something so sad. Would be interesting to hear you relate this to UK land enclosures, Highland clearances, etc. Any creative ways to "push back"?
Hey Jim! Yes, I think there are many ways to push back, both on the state and federal policy levels and at the level of counties, towns, cities, and rural communities. Lots of interesting work being done locally to build (or as the case may be, re-build) ag and grocery co-operatives, food hubs, ag policy councils, etc. etc. These are all good, messy things that producers and consumers alike should lean into. With genuine community buy-in, I think there are real possibilities for lasting and just alternative food economies. I'm strangely more hopeful than I was, say, a few years ago. More about that another time.
Naomi Klein has a book coming out this fall about primitive accumulation at the end of the world: this weird moment we're living through where nation-states are fighting for control of increasingly scarce natural resources like fossil fuels and the minerals that power tech. Instead of, or in addition to, kicking off the peasants we're toppling regimes. What's funny about it (not in the ha-ha sense of funny) is that primitive accumulation is typically thought of as this pre-capitalist transition period where land and resources like water and timber are increasingly concentrated in the hands of private landowners and not the peasant class. And yet from a global perspective we seem to be living through another, more sinister period of PA. What comes after? I'm not sure.
Interesting! Data Centers as the "dark satanic mills" of our day...
Along these lines, this looks "fun": https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/epstein-geopolitics-and-the-age-of
"Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands." Thomas Jefferson
Weird to "like" something so sad. Would be interesting to hear you relate this to UK land enclosures, Highland clearances, etc. Any creative ways to "push back"?
Hey Jim! Yes, I think there are many ways to push back, both on the state and federal policy levels and at the level of counties, towns, cities, and rural communities. Lots of interesting work being done locally to build (or as the case may be, re-build) ag and grocery co-operatives, food hubs, ag policy councils, etc. etc. These are all good, messy things that producers and consumers alike should lean into. With genuine community buy-in, I think there are real possibilities for lasting and just alternative food economies. I'm strangely more hopeful than I was, say, a few years ago. More about that another time.
Naomi Klein has a book coming out this fall about primitive accumulation at the end of the world: this weird moment we're living through where nation-states are fighting for control of increasingly scarce natural resources like fossil fuels and the minerals that power tech. Instead of, or in addition to, kicking off the peasants we're toppling regimes. What's funny about it (not in the ha-ha sense of funny) is that primitive accumulation is typically thought of as this pre-capitalist transition period where land and resources like water and timber are increasingly concentrated in the hands of private landowners and not the peasant class. And yet from a global perspective we seem to be living through another, more sinister period of PA. What comes after? I'm not sure.