Author Topic: Farmers and Peasants (Read 715 times)

shin · « **on:** January 04, 2015, 11:21:41 AM »

I'm curious as to what folks think of the following statement (from a book on building cob houses I saw an extract of):

'I once heard a Chilean named Ana Stern give a speech on "The Difference Between Peasants and Farmers in Mexico." Peasants, she said, satisfy their own basic needs: they grow their food, build the houses they live in, often make their own clothes. Most peasants collect medicinal herbs, treat medical emergencies, supply their family entertainment. They have time - they feel joy. Their culture is integral, it makes sense. Farmers by contrast grow things to sell. With what they earn from their products, they buy their groceries, building materials, clothes, entertainment, and medical insurance. They must also buy into a system which demands that they drive to market, pay taxes, perhaps send their kids to agricultural college. Increasingly they must buy machinery, seeds, farm chemicals. Farmers have no time to directly enjoy satisfactions; they buy ready-made clothing and "convenience" foods.'

Nadir · « **Reply #1 on:** January 04, 2015, 02:57:46 PM »

From my limited experience and knowledge of the world - I don't know Mexico and there is no real peasantry in my country - I would say that this statement is fairly close to the mark.

I recently visited a farmer and these people grow nothing but milk. Their costs are horrendous and their debts are insurmountable.

I have lived similarly to the life described as peasant for 14 years and I loved it. I could not be a farmer though.

Marlelar · « **Reply #2 on:** January 05, 2015, 10:54:14 AM »

By her definition being a peasant certainly sounds preferable to being a farmer. I think I would like being a peasant.

Marsha

PereJoseph · « **Reply #3 on:** January 05, 2015, 10:22:19 PM »

I like this distinction and explanation, as well. There's nothing nice or even very wholesome about modern agribusiness. One can see how soulless it is from a five minute conversation about nature with the average farmer. There is hardly any connection to the land. It's viewed as dumb matter to be manipulated with mechanical devices and sterile instruments; animals are a nuisance; chemicals and machines and a dollar are a quick fix to something that is treated as if its being broken were a given.

As one farmer who was treating bison like factory-farm cattle once said to me, "I just wanna make a buck." My own "peasant" heritage of the near past involved quite a different mentality, namely the growth of natural things and the preservation of them -- families, commodities, traditions, etc.

"with usura, sin against nature,
is thy bread ever more of stale rags
is thy bread dry as paper,
with no mountain wheat, no strong flour"