Should We Have Stayed Farmers?
Explaining the Modern Economy "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. " Thomas Hobbes. I recently finished a book called “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Harari. It’s a very intriguing book with a lot of concepts and theories that will make you think about us as a species, the good and the bad (and there’s a lot of both.) One particular claim he makes, though, really made me sit back and say “whoa!” He suggests that we were all probably better off as . . . farmers? In his opinion, we gave up the agrarian life that humans had led for thousands of years, a period when we “just” had to go grow our own food then enjoy the simple pleasures of family and friends (and living until 40?) Thomas Jefferson, noted urban hater, would agree. He said , "Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to