John mellencamp lyrics9/3/2023 ![]() How conservative is it to advocate for big agribusiness at the expense of family farms and living wages? Reason:ĭevastating! What more do I have to say about this Classic Mellencamp Rocker? You don't have to analyze John's Sad Farmer's Lament Rain on the Scarecrow-it's just there. This is, incidentally, the status quo advocated by so-called conservative politicians. We rely on factory farmed, genetically engineered, hormone-treated stuff. When people make less than subsistence wages, and we all have since at least the late 70's or so, regardless of how we perceive it, we can't afford real food. How conservative is it to advocate for big agribusiness at the expense of family farms and living wages? So the family farmer can only grow 5 acres of peas, which need to sell for, let's say, $2.00 per pound just to buy seed for next year and keep the farm going. ![]() A family farmer can't grow 10,000 acres of peas because he or she needs that land to grow other crops and also to graze animals. If you grow 10,000 acres of peas, for instance, you can afford to sell them at, let's say, $0.50 per pound and still make a profit. That's true, but it also kills local businesses and family farms.įamily farms have to charge more for their crops than big agribusiness due to the economy of scale. It's become a point of pride amongst the working class to eschew buying anything from any source other than Wal-Mart, because those who make enough money to avoid it aren't connected to the working class. We don't make enough money anymore to afford to shop anywhere but Wal-Mart, unless you're in the upper classes, and people wear this fact like a badge of honor. This has happened due to any number of factors, including demand for cheap food (driven by falling wages since the 1970s), government subsidies for big agribusiness that fuel factory farming as opposed to traditional family farms, and general apathy amongst the American people. ![]() If you're curious as to what the lyrics to this song mean, you need look no further than the vanishing family farms across the United States. This land fed a nation this land made me so proudĪnd son I'm just sorry they're just memories for you now I feel like dying like that scarecrow in the rain I think about my grandpa and my neighbors and my name and some nights Ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms Well there's ninety-seven crosses planted in the courthouse yard There'll be blood on the scarecrow blood on the plow When you take away a mans dignity he cant work his fields and cows Hey calling it your job ol hoss sure dont make it rightīut if you want me to Ill say a prayer for your soul tonightĪnd grandmas on the front porch swing with aīible in her hand Sometimes I hear her singing take me to the promised land He said john its just my job and I hope you understand The crops we grew last summer weren't enough to pay the loansĬouldn't buy the seed to plant this spring and the farmers bank foreclosedĬalled my old friend schepman up to auction off the land ![]() This land fed a nation this land made me proudĪnd son I'm just sorry theres no legacy for you now When I was five I walked the fence while grandpa held my hand I grew up like my daddy did my grandpa cleared this land Scarecrow on a wooden cross blackbird in the barnįour hundred empty acres that used to be my farm
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