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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> >A couple questinos:  do you have an estimated time frame for that, and 
> what do you see that would cause their failures?

In the case of agribusiness, three years before the effects are sharply felt. 
 Agribusiness is .. well... a business.  It depends on capital, loans, 
investors, loans ... and did I mention loans.  Look at Zimbabwe.  It had a 
thriving 
agribusiness that was far and away its main source of wealth.  But it 
depended, like ours, on industrial engineered seed, heavy equipment, fossil 
fuel 
derived fertilizer, and diesel.  All those things were had by means of 
international loans.  When all the farmland was seized, the international 
loans dried up 
(what are the odds) and the farms fell into complete ruin within a season.

Such land seizure isn't going to take place here, but food production is just 
a business.  When it ceases to be profitable, or there is something else that 
looks like it is more profitable, the investors and lenders simply go some 
place else and the agribusiness companies get out of the business.  

In that case what do we have to replace it?

Not likely?  Look at the recent debacle with biofuels.  We were perfectly 
willing to devote agribusiness output to motor fuel an double and triple the 
price of food simply because it was more porfitable.  We'd do it again and 
worse 
in a heartbeat.


>  
> >Do you mean some form of statist society?
> 

That's entirely possible.  But I am more concerned (addressing, actually, I'm 
not all that concerned) with the nature of it rather than the source of it.  
As a mild example, our society has evolved into very framgmented family 
units. 
 We look on the norm as children all leaving home when they are 18 and living 
separate lives and establishing separate households.  Economic necessity is 
already breaking down that paradigm.  I see us becoming more like our 
sojouning 
Chinese and Mexicans here with a family acting in consort for several 
generations and though several extensions.

James