Was the emergence of capitalism a preordained affair? Was it natural and inevitable that capitalism developed in England and spread to the rest of the world, as conventional accounts would have it? Or was capitalism’s emergence contingent, arising out of social conflict in the countryside? Marxist scholars Christopher Isett and Stephen Miller explore what the history of agriculture can teach us about class society in general — and capitalism in particular, even more so with the introduction of industrialization of the modern farming world, you can replace just about any task by very well capable machines, some of which you’ll find on Fastline.com and some others more specialized to the specific task of every given farm.

Stay Away from Debt

Debt is a farm killer. Many farmers find that they have to give up their land when they can’t pay their debt. While it may be easy to use a loan to purchase equipment for the farm or the land itself, this isn’t the best way to begin a farming career.

The only time farmers should take on debt is after they’ve generated reliable cash flow. Before this happens, however, it’s important to steer clear of borrowed money.

Embrace Failure

No one wants to fail, especially when pursuing a new business endeavor. However, it’s a part of life. When building a farm from the ground up, one has to live unafraid of failure.

Even the most experienced of farmers find that their plans fall through or a crop didn’t do as well as it was supposed to. Instead of giving up, these farmers embrace failure and keep going.

Resources:

Christopher Isett and Stephen Miller, The Social History of Agriculture From the Origins to the Current Crisis Rowman & Littlefield, 2016