Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Liz <liz@allslash.org>]

At 09:03 PM 12/25/2007, you wrote:

> create millions of good
> paying occupations and restore rural prosperity,

This is what I keep coming back to when I talk to people about buying 
locally, and about the false economy of "efficiency" (as it's usually 
defined). The use of machinery to do jobs previously performed by 
people is touted as one of modern society's great benefits. I say 
it's one of the worst things that has happened to modern society. 
Yes, machinery has made some occupations much safer than they used to 
be, and good for that. But in the hands of people whose only 
definition of efficiency is a greater profit margin, mechanized 
labor, particularly agriculture, has eliminated millions of jobs. 
They weren't high paying jobs. But they put food on the table, 
dignity and a sense of accomplishment in people's souls, and 
sustained a stable local economy for thousands of small towns and 
villages across the country. That's the true American dream.

Liz in SW VA
http://life-as-a-spectator-sport.com