Farm or Die

In 1933, one out of every four Americans worked on a family farm. Stuart Chase, an economist who invented the term “New Deal”, credited these people with helping us get through the Great Depression. Chase said that “when the books don’t balance,” he can simply throw them out and pick up some peas .

And today? The Bureau of Labor Statistics poets claim that “agriculture self-employed” accounts for only half of the workforce. Another 8 percent is made up of manufacturing. Comparatively, one-tenth of Americans works in retail.

Pea pickers are on the verge of becoming the next dodo. That might seem okay, but it is not.

Many of us now have our first taste of scarcity. I remember going to Walmart in 2020 and seeing the meat department completely barren; we ate tinned beef and salmon for weeks. Formula shortages continue to affect poor mothers. Global market shockwaves will likely be caused by shortages of fertilizers. Europe’s grain shortages could also cause shockwaves.

Even though the U.S. can produce enough food for self-sufficiency, as we do, our main crops are grown in West .. Groceries in New York City have only about one week worth of food on hand at any time. All tractors could be shut down if our oil supplies ran dry. The field would see crops rot. The transportation industry would then collapse. Even if we were able to grow sufficient food, which we don’t, there would be no other way for us to get that food into our main population centres.

Now, economists from the left and the right are able to agree that the family farm should be abandoned; small-scale farming is unsustainable and inefficient.

That might still be true, but it could turn out to not. Someday, the books will not balance. And when they don’t, 80 percent of the country won’t have any peas to pick.

Economists claim that we cannot afford to maintain our family farms. They can’t be lost, I disagree. Conservatives are fond of romanticizing about American yeomans. Yes, I do. But the primary argument in favor of agrarianism remains pragmatic. Our citizens must be able and willing to eat. Right now we aren’t able to.

This is America’s most pressing economic crisis. Although it may seem that way, the supply chain and markets aren’t in crisis. If they do collapse, America will be a third-world country in a matter of hours.

Yes. We’ve been incredibly clever. Just over 2 million people work to feed a country of just under 330 million. That’s impressive. And I’m sure someone will point out that, while many farmers have been forced off their land, many more have chosen to leave. These farmers move to cities and towns in search of more income and a better life. They are not alone. It is difficult to farm.

Here’s the truth: We never stopped relying on this broad agricultural base. Sure, we may not need it right now. It’s like quitting your job to get a credit card.

Right now the United States lives off its credit cards. This is true despite our huge national debt. We also lack real jobs, which are those that create real wealth. These include food, clothing, shelter and shelter. We just have a lot of bullsh*t jobs, and they are not the same thing.

Look at the Forbes rich list. Tech, finance and retail are the most successful industries in America. They are all not even directly involved in the production of real goods. Elon Musk is the exception, but even then, he cannot eat Teslas.

It’s a bit crazy to even talk about the U.S. economic system. We don’t have one. There are a few guys who drive John Deeres in Indiana. The rest of us are just waiting tables, sending emails, and delivering Stranger Things Funko Pops to people who wait tables and send emails. This isn’t real. It’s not real.

That’s stupid. It is also insane that so many young people would like to leave the city and build their own homesteads, pick peas, etc. They can’t, though, because all of our arable land is getting bought up by Bill Gates and Xi Jinping. American capitalists work with Chinese communists to make sure that our dependence on large business and government remains utterly.

These men may be evil but also smart. Gates is buying up land for the same reason he didn’t let his kids use cell phones. Gates made his fortune by selling us poison, but now he is spending that money on milk and honey. This is technocracy and physiocracy, for the poor.

There are many ways that land can be made more affordable to ordinary Americans. Some might require intervention from the government, while others wouldn’t. But the main hurdle is convincing 25 percent of the country to embrace land work.

On one hand that sounds like a distant dream. It is also our best chance to get through another depression. We probably won’t. The United States will fall apart because of laziness, lack of planning and incompetence. It will be a mountain full of iPhones, Hydro Flasks, and polyester that ends the republic’s life.

The good news? Many millions of Americans can already withstand a depression. Join them. You just need to buy an acre in the country. You should choose a low-tax state, and one that protects your Second Amendment rights. Buy a couple of books on practical homesteading, like Jean-Martin Fortier’s The Market Gardener and Joel Salatin’s Polyface Micro. Get to work.

This may sound like prep stuff. It may be. However, I believe there’s a key distinction: it isn’t about self-preservation. This would not only help you and your family. Your country would benefit as well.

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Thomas Jefferson had it right.

Thomas Jefferson was right.

The United States of America is both a yeoman and a commercial republic. This is America’s history and it’s glorious. It is our history, and it will be our future, if there’s any.

Farm or die. Until it’s not, you have the option to choose.