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  • From: Don Bowen KI6DIU <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Irish potato famine was: Localism
  • Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 18:42:51 -0800

At 2/23/2008, you wrote:
The potato famine is not an example of the failure of a localized and
diversified economy. Relying almost entirely on a single crop is
certainly not diversification and in the case of Ireland, where the
famine was most acute, the control England exercised over the country
forcing the Irish population onto smaller and smaller plots of
marginal land (necessitating reliance on the single crop that could
be cultivated on such land) while forcibly maintaining the exports of
food from Ireland while people were starving is not an example of a
'local' economy. Moreover, the current program of globalization has
nothing in common with ancient population migrations. Globalism, in
its current form of political/economic philosophy, specifically
excludes the free motion of labor (people, that is), as do most so
called 'free trade' programs.

The Irish Potato famine is an example of a lot of things with many contributing factors. One was overpopulation caused by large families and the subsequent small plots for food growing. Larger plots were not available, the greed of the rich made sure that there was no land reform. In England, enclosure laws were forcing peasants off the land but various laws restricted movement of the now landless in order to restrict the growth of city slums. Corn Laws restricted the import of food. The new mills needed wool so English farmers grew sheep and imported food from Ireland. Irish farmers grew grain for export forcing locals to grow food on ever small plots.

I believe it was the early economist Ricardo who pegged the price of labor to the price of food. It took several years for his arguments to cause the removal of the corn Laws. Land owners still held the power in England until quite late in teh 19th century.



Don Bowen Awl Knotted Up KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com



  • [Homestead] Irish potato famine was: Localism, Don Bowen KI6DIU, 03/01/2008

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