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TechnoratiIn Praise of Peasants
"Our lives are dependent on the sacrifice of the Campesinos"- Cesar Chavez
On April 17, 1996 1,500 members of Brazil's MST, the Landless Peasants Movement, having been evicted from their farms two years earlier, marched to the state capitol in Para to demand a return of their land so they could again feed their families. Instead of meeting with government officials they were surrounded by police, who, using machine guns, killed 19 and seriously wounded 69.
Farmers, peasants, the indigenous and the landless are entitled to land only until the government or the corporate interests find a better use for it.
La Via Campesina, the international movement of the small farmer celebrates April 17 as the International day of Peasant's Struggles. The struggle against the evictions, oppression and marginalization of the farmer. The commemoration of the struggles of Cesar Chavez, the United Farm Workers and the indigenous peoples of the world.
Those who farm in the US distance themselves from the term peasant, thinking it connotes a tenant, sharecropper, a small farmer or mere farm worker. I am a small farmer, a peasant and proud of it. Remember, roughly half of the worlds population are farmers who work the land and tend livestock. While I am a minority in the US, worldwide, I am part of the majority.
The vast majority of the worlds small farmers and farm workers continue to struggle against trans-national agribusiness corporations (TNC's) that control the worlds food supply, they struggle against oppressive government policies that wish to convert local farming to industrialized agriculture.
The peasant farmer struggles for the right to grow what they wish, for access to water, land and credit and for the rights of women farmers who grow most of the world's food. They struggle for protection from subsidized foreign imports and to protect their crops from contamination by Genetically Engineered seed. They struggle to eliminate food from international trade agreements, because food is different, food is a human right, not a commodity.
US farmers are ambivalent to this struggle, but are we really so distant from it? Do we really control our own destiny? An Iowa farmer notes that in his state most farmers own about 20% of the land they farm, they are tenants.
We have no control over our market prices or our input costs, but the TNC's do. We have no control over land prices and government programs dictate what crops we will grow. We compete with farmers worldwide to see who can work the cheapest while the TNC's eliminate local food production.
Americans are not so very different than the peasants of the world. We are all at the mercy of the TNC's. When three corporations control our meat processing and four control the worlds grain supplies, who really decides what we will eat and what we will pay?
Those who do not work the land are still connected to it and to the peasant. The farm worker grows our fruit, our vegetables and our livestock, without them we would all go hungry. Most of the world knows this, yet in the US we are slow to learn. Still, the White House garden, a window box in Brooklyn or a community garden in Los Angeles, we are catching on. We all have the farmer, the peasant, somewhere inside and we are destined to be part of the struggle.
There is no shame in being a peasant, a farmer, in struggling to control your destiny, for manual labor and working the land are not demeaning. Feeding your family, your community and resisting the globalization of food are the struggles all farmers, all people must share whether they grow millet and rice in India, herd cattle in Africa, grow tomatoes in a Brooklyn window box or fish the North Sea.
We must control our food supply, we must decide what will be grown to protect our health, our culture and the environment. We are all part of the struggle, for we are all peasants, or, all in need of peasants. April 17 should, at the very least, be a day to consider our connection to food and to those who struggle to feed us.
33 Comments so far
Show Allrtdrury___it would be good to know what you do for a living, are you one of those happy and healthy peasants? I considered myself one for about 40 years working on a small diversified farm with my family beside me. After those years of backbreaking 12 hour days of labor, we finally got in better shape, but have continued to farm on a smaller scale and rent out some land, still living on the old farm. It is certainly nice to be one of the elites, like those CEO`s drawing 20 million a year for playing golf. Could you be one of those parasites that are all hat and no cattle?
Speaking for The American Peasant, I'd remind my friends on the CD site that 95% of us go to some job or another...which makes us 95% working class. It's a short hop to the realization that we are, most of us, just one or two paychecks away from absolute disaster...like peasants. In the words of John Prine, mailman-songwriter "like happy sailors dancing on a sinking ship" I suggest we accept our peasant status and fight our battles against the ruling class as such. Who knows, we might wind up with humane national health service...or a congress which represents us...not Lehman Brothers.
NativeSon and Kernelz seem to represent the two contestants in the grand-daddy of all wars, the class war. NativeSon represents the people and Kernelz represents the elites. The people's interest is basically security for an independent way of life for individuals, families and local communities, with inter-dependence between communities, which is a form of dependence that seeks to minimize itself, a sort of safety net only used in emergencies. Communities that suffer crop damage rely on their neighbors' surplus. It's a give and take with the ultimate goal of keeping all communities healthy. Not only food independence but general economic and overall independence. The people recognize local independence as necessary to limit the elites' concentration and abuse of power, their building of class hierarchy and oppression of the people. Kernelz seems to have bought a stake in the elite establishment so is obliged to defend it. There seems to be something of value in the elites' rackets. USans are allowed to benefit from the elite's exploitation of cheap Asian labor. This exploitation actually drives Asians away from their independent local communities thus weakening those so the Asians in those urban factory districts evolve like USans before them, from low-rung cogs in the great machine, to become coordinator cogs, not free but dedicated to serving the machine. The machine prefers the minimum variety of food sources: three grains, three vegetables, three fruits, three meats, eggs, milk and cheese. So you can choose between those. Never mind the amazing diversity of nature. The central planners in Chicago will provide your inputs, including proprietary seed, synthetic fertilizer, and credit to buy them, and they offer you a single market with a single price to sell your harvest. All the decisions are made for you so you can concentrate on driving the tractor. This is oppression. The imbalance of power favoring the elites over the people is hardly different than that in feudal societies. Surely we can all see it's now time to bring the power back home.
Nice contrast analogy.
By the way, about the T-Baggers.....as far as I can determine, its mostly rural, about 400,000 is a really good estimate of those attending, there was a good bit of grass root attendence and it seem though they were carrying signs about taxes mostly, most of the real talk was about spending.
I also noted that the crowds was mostly white and older....something no one has mentioned, I would think that was pertinent myself.
No more ice cream for me, it is so "unnatural" , I can`t stand the thought of it anymore. Just one question__How do some people that have consumed milk their entire lives live to be 100 years old? I am sticking with beer, pizza, red meat, taters & gravy, candy bars, and all that natural healthy stuff. Thanks for the lifesaving information!
"because food is different, food is a human right, not a commodity."
When did it become a human right? Who gave it to us? And who will defend it if someone tries to take it away from us?
Not rhetorical.
If GOD had designed us to be alive with food, then your point wouldn't have been valid. However, without food we starve so food is a GOD GIVEN RIGHT and overcharging it is morally reprehensible !
And who will defend it if someone tries to take it away from us?
Well, we get out there and fight for it tooth and nail and let God empower us with justice for good cause. Besides, they can't take all our food away from us. I'll be happy to donate and even push forth the idea of growing hemp in Africa to cut down on malnutrition although it's all a long shot no doubt. I'll probably prefer to get some people aboard to protest Monsanto out here in St Louis.
I have made it a point over the years to ask 'Dairy Farmers' ---the highest subsidized members of the highly subsidized Agribusiness section: how do you justify the entirely unnatural aspect of your 'industry'?
You take an ungulate, artificially reproduce it to artificially produce products that are a very recent addition to the diet of Human beings---who essentially are still bound by the "hunter gatherer's physiology"----and please name one other mammal that consumes milk (or milk products) after being weaned?
Agriculture as presently practiced is a very far removed 'industry' from its origins, and consuming milk or milk products after infancy----is unnatural, and unhealthy.
The Native Americans as a whole i.e. North, Central and South America,cultivated/introduced more than 120 food plants from Natural sources----and did not consume milk/milk products after infancy---and were on average healthier than the European invaders---just not immune to their diseases. Now, unfortunately we are the most unhealthy of all of the ethnic minorities in the Americas.
The fact that a "dairy farmer" would be given space on an international forum such as CD---is no wonder.
Aw, shit, I forgot, we're talking about the Euro/Americans aren't we------
well they ARE on their way out anyway. So after the "fall" we will eat those Dairy Cows, and use the hides for our lodges, when we ride through those empty cities on our Horses (that the Europeans brought "back" to us).......
Good Luck America, you really need it.
The Masai subsist on milk (and blood). Mongolians and Tibetans are milk drinkers. Also Indians (from Asia) use cheese and Middle Easterners love their yogurt and laban. Mexicans use cheese in many dishes. Humans are adaptable and capable of doing well on many different food patterns.
Joe
You know, I forgot that sometimes the audience here at CD, like you and TMoore need things simplified---to almost the elementary level.
So, here goes.
Humans are adaptable, this is true, but the consumption of "milk" and Milk products after being weaned is UNNATURAL for MAMMALS-any MAMMAL--but then you most likely do not recognize HUMANS as MAMMALS---so I can't help you much there. Unless you are "one of those" that thinks "God" made Humans the "exception"to the natural order--if that is the case, forget everything else: Jesus is coming back any day now, and you and Thomas will go to heaven and have "milk shakes" with him.
By the way, "Mexicans" ARE Native Americans---you must have skipped class that day.
Good Luck Joe & Thomas you really need it.
I always read your posts and am surprised and puzzled that you express such contempt for me? Just because I challenged a view about consumption of milk? Or maybe I don't understand how you are using the word "natural".
Of course humans are mammals. But that does not mean that they cannot have their own species particular behaviors, like every species. I mean how many kinds of mammals write books or make jewelry? How many species of mammals spar with head horns? Only a few. Does that make mountain goats' behavior unnatural?
In case you didn't understand my intent, I was listing a variety of old established human groups from all over the world who drink milk from cows and other ungulates. I'll bet cats would drink milk if only they could figure out how to extract it from a cow with their fat paws.
Why in heaven would one want to label the peaceful and beautiful African Masai culture, for instance, as "unnatural"? It seems like a negative judgement of people who are using their environment to survive. Calling their food culture unnatural seems like an outsider opinion and the Masai would be within their rights to challenge that pronouncement. Cultural bias can come from those who have been victimized by it. To whit Israeli Jews.
Your post misinterprets what I say and then attacks your own misinterpretations. I have no defense against that. I am aware that most Mexicans are Native Americans, and they use a milk product, which just makes my point stronger, I think. Or are you saying that they have adopted this unnatural practice from the European invaders?
By the way, I wonder why you link me with Thomas More. We disagree more than we agree on several important issues including labor and immigration. But we do so respectfully.
Joe
I have been thinking - perhaps the origin of your condemnation of milk drinking NativeSon is that dairy farming in this country is seen as part of the massive land grab and commodification of food. Is that it? If so, I agree on that part. The cultures I mentioned usually have local small scale herds of milk producers, not big business farms.
By the way, Thomas More and I disagree on Global Warming too.
Joe
"The Native Americans as a whole i.e. North, Central and South America"
Oops, I missed the fact you were using "Americans" to refer to North, Central and South America. Skip the Mexican/ native part.
Americans is a designation for North Americans as a rule so I thought of that.
Doggone NativeSon, let me simplify right back. I take exception to your constant attacks on my faith when I certainly have not attacked you faith or lack thereof.
Mexicans aren't native to any part of the United States as it stands now. They arrived as priests, military invaders, settlers in all areas. They did occupy Texas before the Commanche got here, but there were already an indeginous population present. I was in class.
Who was it that were the first slave owners in America by the way?
Wheres the love (lol)
Honey, I think you must have skipped a class or two. If ignorance is bliss, you must be very happy.
Good comment!
The American middle class is now The New Peasantry. Let's go serfin'.
Sioux Rose
This article brings to my mind the original film (Lina Wurtmueller's version), "Swept Away." Briefly, it focuses on an arrogant wealthy woman who insists that a servant on her yacht take her out in a dinghy to a nearby island. The servant wants to argue the tides don't favor this endeavor, but he cannot challenge "his master." He turns out to be correct, and the two find themselves castaways on that island. Now the power structure alters because he knows how to fish and find ways to survive. She does not. Now she must show him homage to get the food she needs in order to survive.
This metaphor may prove prophetic for modern societies as the paper currency loses actual value, but all find they still need to eat. Then it may well be the subsistence farmers (peasants) who hold a new hand in the game of life.
"The meek shall inherit the earth."
Just a note ... "The Admirable Crighton" is another amusing version of this role reversal.
I believe it was the 70's when 70% of African American farmers in the south lost their farms due to a sudden calling due of easy money loans.
Farmers depend on a lot of oil to produce all the food they do. You might want to take a look at TheOilDrum.com to get some perspective on peak oil.
Yes, let`s go back about 100 years, when when our grandparents were peasants and had the good life. Park all that machinery and pick up those hoes and get back to farming as it was in the good old days. I well remember when I was growing up how much fun it all was.
While we are at it, we should also go back in time with the rest of our lives. Get rid of those cell phones that take pictures and text and sext, get out the old buggy and the horse and junk that gas guzzler that pollutes the air, throw away that TV and computer that just mess up our lives and keep us out of the fields and gardens, boycott all stores that are not mom and pop size, process your own meat, make your own clothes, etc.
By the way, where I live, (midwest) we cam grow any crop we want, so you must live outside of the USA. You go on being a peasant, Jim, but I am going to continue as a farmer in the 21st century, and yes , we have a garden and enjoy it.
One last question___Do you refuse to take advantage of the cheap foreign made consumer products that we trade our surplus food for as a matter of principle?
What friggin planet are you on? Me, mine, I, and all by myself. You arrogant twit!
Did it ever dawn on you that we could not survive very long on our own? We are all interconnected. Eventually dumbass this will be coming to a neighborhood near you.
Trading OUR food, when people in this country are starving. Hello‼! Stop already! You are not a farmer. You THINK you are a farmer. You said it yourself, you have a GARDEN.
When the rest of it falls apart…how long do you think you will last? Where do you get your seeds from? Where do you get your water from? Where do you get those staples from that you do not grow? Who will support you when disaster strikes and you are flooded, or burned out or you have been hit by a tornado?
Build your” little” wall because the rest of world will not be kept out for very long.
You know perfectly well that it is not necessary to step back in time because we now have a vast array of technology upon which to call. It is past time when the prime mover should change so that, amongst other benefits, we should preserve the fossil feedstocks for industrial purposes. When our masters allow the electric vehicle to flourish at a reasonable cost I shall most certainly junk all my internal combustion engines and generate all the electricity I need from the sun or wind with the help of turbines, stirling engines or photovoltaics.
Kernelz
While you have some general points...."we cam grow any crop we want" that are certainly true, what do you do if you pick a crop that is not supported by government pricing controls....please don't tell me there are none...we both know what they are. What if you pick a crop to grow that is heavily susidized to Agri Corps? Prices you can't match?
I don't believe anyone was suggesting going back a hundred years, my take was the suggestion that concentration of power is not a good thing. And we all share common goals for our respective countries.
By gun or sibsidies, you can lose your land. Unless you are rich enough not to need a profit could be another point.
You, sir, are absurd. I did not see anything in the article that said we had to go back in time. I did see that it was suggested that having a few transnational corporations dictate what will be grown and how might not be the best thing for the great majority of people on the planet.
As to your question about refusing to take advantage of "cheap foreign made consumer products", my answer would be a resounding YES. I carefully read labels on produce in my local grocery store and do not buy food grown outside the country. I do my best to buy locally grown foods. Believe it or not we actually are apple producers at my little place [under 15 acres] and we don't buy from foreign sources. We support the farmers in foreign lands who would like to be able to grow food for their fellow citizens. Guess we're way different sorts of farmers than you....
peggyforpeace
"cheap foreign made consumer products",
I believe he was referring to non food products that we all use some of. Clothing, etc.
Thomas, I know what he was talking about. I also do my level best to only buy products from fair trade companies or clothing made in the US or Canada or Europe. Of course my favorite place is Goodwill and even there I check the labels. I do NOT buy clothing from China if there is ANY alternative available at all. It is of course becoming more difficult all the time. I also will not shop in WalMart for the same reason, they only sell cheap foreign made consumer products.
Call to action
http://www.usfoodcrisisgroup.org/
"... The US Working Group on the Food Crisis is an ad hoc group of organizations from around the US, representing various sectors of the food system, including anti-hunger, family farm, community food security, environmental, international aid, labor, food justice, consumer, and other groups. We do not view the food crisis as an unexpected, sudden emergency of the last year, but as the inevitable consequence of the development of a long list of misguided agricultural and food policies over the last 30+ years..."
In the US and Europe, land is an asset with a value. You can use land as collateral to finance your agricultural urges. Urbanites who do not have land as collateral, can charge it on their Master Card and bring their spanking new roto tiller down to the community garden.
Most peasants live in societies where there is no title to land; there is no collateral to land. Try getting a loan in a thrid world country without collateral or an uncle who is the prime minister.
In Ethiopia in the 1970s there was a 15th century feudal economy. You paid x amount of your crops to the landlord and there were several centuries of feudal relationships. One of my good friends was the Prince of Bale Provices, Oxford educated... we spent hours on horseback "reviewing" the peasants.
Come the revolution in 1974 and market forces took over. There was no land ownership - straight to communism. there was no credit mechanism and as the country devolved into civil war, there was no mechanism to ensure inputs to the farmers.
It's remarkable how often Communist and Agricultual Socialist countries have famine.
In Ethiopia, the whole agricultural system broke down in 1984. There was no security net. There was no credit to help you throuhg the tough time. 12 - 15 million people faced starvation. These are real peasants. They are not peasants with credit cards ( do any of us not have creit cards or mortgages - alas)
Peasants need land ownership. They need clear title to their land. They need to have credit facilities that will recognize land as collateral. They need to have lines of credit to pay for inputs and to serve as a safety net.
Micro loans can make a huge difference. If you want to diversify into new crops or crop varieties, a micro loan will let this happen. Improved tools, seeds and a small amount of money to transport your food to market - micro loans.
Most peasants do not have access to title, collateral and loans. They are doomed to a vicious cycle of servitude to their economic masters.
Who paid for the Whie House garden. there was not risk involved. If there is a potato blight, go on down to the near4est supermarket.
We are not peaants. we are hobby farmers.
My dear friend Jim~
I wonder if you know what 'token speech' is. And how rampant is its use in this country, this burgeoning global empire.
Perhaps even our dearest, latest President (Obama) does it.
Ya think?
your friend,
nedlud
p.s. in case you're wondering, 'token speech' is not something used by peasants.