I do not by any means subscribe to the theory of the noble savage. In our hunter gather tribes were were just a violent as we are today. We murdered and raped members of other tribes. Stole etc. but I can't shake the notion that farming has crippled life for mankind.
Since Farming became a way of life humankind has become less healthy (4 grain crops now represent the majority of our diet)
Farming gave rise to class systems since and societal free loaders, give rise to land destruction, erosion and famine.
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I think that modern farming has been more of a downfall and I say that even though my parents are farmers. If farming was more about a variety of products rather than mass production of corn, soybeans and wheat, our country would be healthier however the role of our nation's farmers is not to feed us but feed the world.
You should check out the Monsanto Documentary, scary stuff man. They are slowly gaining control of our entire food supply with their genetically modified seed.
Google - Monsanto documentary or go over to Breadbins blog and find the link.
I think standing erect was the beginning of the end...
www.animalvegetablemiracle.com
Yes, certain types of farming have hurt our civilization. Do you know how much corn grown by commercial famrs is actually edible? Not a whole lot. Most corn out there = corn syrup contributing to our national obesity.
Small farms that employ crop rotation and organic methods will save our civilization. One problem, they are not huge money makers for the government.
i think it was the beginning of civilization because then that was also the beginning of trade/barter etc
Hey now there was trade and barter that went back centries before farming was around.
The issues are not from an Agrarian society (not what we call a noble savage--the noble savage was not a farmer), but from mass-consumerism and the need to compete in a global market. If you were providing for only your community, the volume needs, the necessity to farm your soil raw, the pesticides and herbicides that pollute--all of that would be unnecessary. Farming itself is not bad--it is the bastardizing of farming (like, for example, every other kind of living one can make--from IT to Finance to even Health care).
Farming in its idealized, Jeffersonian-era agrarian society was a means of healthy production, self-sufficiency, peace, and barter. If today's farming included crop rotation, organic methods of pest control, manageable sizes, and lack of industrialized co-opted farms, it would be a lot healthier.
Grains are not bad for the diet--human beings are designed to live on just about anything--there is no evidence suggesting we were healthier when we were eating much meat. After-all, we were also dying at age 35, so who knows if ultimately it was less or more healthy.
Then how do you explain the fertile cresent being not so fertile? The ruling classes, over farming, land destruction go back much further then the Jeffersonian-era agrarian culture.
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