Worth looking at the historical farm policies of different countries. But, for the US in particular, the key concept is agrarian myth. I present two comments an

Worth looking at the historical farm policies of different countries. But, for the US in particular, the key concept is agrarian myth. I present two comments and suggest reading Age of Reform by Hofstadter. > There is a general idea that somehow the fate of the United States is somehow bound to the fate of the agricultural community. There is a romantic appeal to the family farm as the symbol of the good life in this country. It stands for democracy in its purest and most classic form. This belief persists despite evidence to the contrary. [0] > The agrarian myth is the belief that the most desirable form of community is found in rural, specifically agrarian, village life. In the agrarian village, fundamental Western values such as a strong work ethic, independence, and integrity are supposedly fostered and passed from one generation to the next. Consequently, declines in the value of agrarian life and agrarian villages are seen as signals of an even larger decline of society itself. For those who believe in the agrarian myth, community type and morality become inseparably connected in the rural agricultural village. All other contemporary manifestations of community are incomplete or counterfeit. [1] [0] http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/36568/1/sp02re01.pdf http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/36568/1/sp02re01.pdf [1] http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/community/n10.xml http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/community/n10.xml