THE FAILURE OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The industrial revolution has failed. Oh sure, it increased industrial production for the world, providing us with machines, technologies and things. But men assumed that living things could be industrialized. That potatoes could be planted, tilled, harvested and rotated in a way similar to the manufacture of cell phones. We have also assumed that humans would be happy working for others and living in city tenements. I think that has been sufficiently shown to be untrue.

The industrial process is basically extractive. That is, it takes materials, makes them into something else, uses that object, and in the end discards the item (and much waste along the way. But there are hidden costs to this approach which are typically not paid by the industrialists. The taking of raw materials leaves behind residua that the taker usually abandons: waste, extraction damage, pollution, and human dislocation to name a few.

Farming on the other hand is primarily a nurturing activity, where animals and plants are nurtured, cared for, used and recycled. Traditional farming has not only been about production and profit, but about home, pride of ownership, love and care of the land and property. It has, and is in much of the world, been practiced in a small community which provided support and connection. But when a farm is treated industrially the losses may be more hidden.

What is lost on an industrial farm (meaning essentially all farming in the United States today)? Some of the losses are topsoil, energy, homes, employment, exercise, human displacement, decay of country towns, water pollution, air pollution, food pollution, production inequalities and loss of pride of ownership and community. Even disregarding these costs, which are not covered by the corporate farms, American agriculture is one of the most expensive in the world. Corporations like to tell about their production. They do not like to talk about their efficiency.

This is all exemplified in the honey industry. But that is the next blog.