Quote:
Originally Posted by Xist
The Amish farm sustainably, therefore they inherently farm more efficiently.
Did I need to take the time to use caps lock to show that I am right?  |
Neil claimed the Amish were "more efficient from a productivity standpoint". Clearly, the Amish are not more productive. I made no claim about other measures of efficiency. Nobody farms sustainably. It's a fictional pop culture term. The claim of sustainability is meaningless without being qualified by some objective definition of what is being sustained and for how long.
That isn't to say we should not explore ways to do less environmental harm, but we have to be honest about what the opportunity cost is when we choose to do something one way over doing it another. There is a price to pay for lower crop yields, and the wealthy may not have a problem paying more for food, but the poor will suffer.
The Amish yield much less food for their hours of labor. They also don't have their own teeth due to lack of modern dental hygiene. I'm sure many are quite happy; perhaps more happy than modern folk.
Are we more likely to shift American culture towards Amish lifestyles, or can we expect people to always want more? Anyone wanting to live a simpler lifestyle is free to do so. I could be very happy living simply, except for my nagging habit of needing to know how everything works and desire to experiment.