4 ms·

> Before the industrial revolution, most people were farmers. That's not really true. OK, perhaps it was only true in Europe. There were many other things on

by hasenj 16y ago

> Before the industrial revolution, most people were farmers. That's not really true. OK, perhaps it was only true in Europe. There were many other things one could be: craftsman, trader, and many other occupations.

InclinedPlane 16y ago
Most people were still farmers. Greater than 90% of the population had to be farmers, because if that wasn't the case the people would starve, because farming was so inefficient. While many improvements in agriculture throughout history had vastly increased the agricultural surplus and the capacity for non-farm work nevertheless the bulk of the population had been farmers. Only since the late 19th century has that changed.
- hasenj 16y ago
  > Greater than 90% of the population had to be farmers, because if that wasn't the case the people would starve That's quite a bold statement. Do you have a source to back it up? If that was the case, there wouldn't be such a thing as a city or a civilization. From what I understand, most people in Europe were peasants because the ruling class wouldn't let them be anything else, not because it was the only sustainable choice economically.
  - biotech 16y ago
    > Do you have a source to back it up? It seems unreasonable to expect others to provide sources when you don't source your own information.
    - hasenj 16y ago
      I'm not the one who came up with an outrageous claim.
      - akgerber 16y ago
        It's pretty much at the level of common knowledge that for most of human history, the primary human occupation was food production.
        hasenj 16y ago
        "Before the industrial revolution" is only like 150 years (or so) ago.
  - rfrey 16y ago
    Do you have a source to back it up? 1790: US Total population: 3,929,214; farmers 90% of labor force. 1840: Total US population: 17,069,453; farm population; 9,012,000 (est.); farmers 69% of labor force http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farmers_land.htm http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farmers_land.htm
    - hasenj 16y ago
      That's only in the US,this doesn't prove it was a global phenomenon.
  - nowarninglabel 16y ago
    http://www.ncpa.org/pub/bg146?pg=3 http://www.ncpa.org/pub/bg146?pg=3 That took too long to find. The data backing that up is also available in Global shift by Peter Dicken http://amzn.to/avt5eU http://amzn.to/avt5eU I didn't think the statement was bold at all, but granted I was a TA for a course on Global Food & Hunger.
  - arethuza 16y ago
    I think you are thinking about serfdom - which ended at different times (15th Century or so for what is now the UK) and a recently as 1861 in places like Russia.

by hasenj 16y ago

InclinedPlane 16y ago

Most people were still farmers. Greater than 90% of the population had to be farmers, because if that wasn't the case the people would starve, because farming was so inefficient. While many improvements in agriculture throughout history had vastly increased the agricultural surplus and the capacity for non-farm work nevertheless the bulk of the population had been farmers. Only since the late 19th century has that changed.

hasenj 16y ago
> Greater than 90% of the population had to be farmers, because if that wasn't the case the people would starve That's quite a bold statement. Do you have a source to back it up? If that was the case, there wouldn't be such a thing as a city or a civilization. From what I understand, most people in Europe were peasants because the ruling class wouldn't let them be anything else, not because it was the only sustainable choice economically.
- biotech 16y ago
  > Do you have a source to back it up? It seems unreasonable to expect others to provide sources when you don't source your own information.
  - hasenj 16y ago
    I'm not the one who came up with an outrageous claim.
    - akgerber 16y ago
      It's pretty much at the level of common knowledge that for most of human history, the primary human occupation was food production.
      - hasenj 16y ago
        "Before the industrial revolution" is only like 150 years (or so) ago.
- rfrey 16y ago
  Do you have a source to back it up? 1790: US Total population: 3,929,214; farmers 90% of labor force. 1840: Total US population: 17,069,453; farm population; 9,012,000 (est.); farmers 69% of labor force http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farmers_land.htm http://www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/farmers_land.htm
  - hasenj 16y ago
    That's only in the US,this doesn't prove it was a global phenomenon.
- nowarninglabel 16y ago
  http://www.ncpa.org/pub/bg146?pg=3 http://www.ncpa.org/pub/bg146?pg=3 That took too long to find. The data backing that up is also available in Global shift by Peter Dicken http://amzn.to/avt5eU http://amzn.to/avt5eU I didn't think the statement was bold at all, but granted I was a TA for a course on Global Food & Hunger.
- arethuza 16y ago
  I think you are thinking about serfdom - which ended at different times (15th Century or so for what is now the UK) and a recently as 1861 in places like Russia.