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What would be possible in a post-capitalist world-system where job prospects did not dominate the agendas of educational systems? Different macroeconomic and technological conditions allow for different educational systems and possibilities. So __when considering what is "the best educational system possible," we must ask whether this means the best possible now, or the best possible in all possible social worlds.__
Education in a Time Between Worlds
Zachary Stein
Being upset or angry about something is just a failure of perspective
You're a speck of dust on the grand scale of the universe
You don't matter
Your problems don't matter
And in 1,000 years, there's a 99.9999% chance no one will remember your name
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The Green Revolution's Impact on Small Farmers in India
Key takeaways:
- The Green Revolution is a product of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations and American agri-business.
- John Deere sells tractors to the developing world, benefiting American businesses.
- The majority of farms today that produce biofuels and fodder for animals are products of the Green Revolution.
- In India, the Green Revolution had both positive impacts, such as increasing rice productivity and ending famine, and negative impacts, displacing small farmers and causing social tragedy.
- Between 1960 and 1980, around 20 million people in India were displaced by industrial agriculture.
- Many of the displaced farmers and agricultural workers migrated to cities, but faced unemployment and homelessness as a result.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
The Green Revolution is a product of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations. It's a product of American agri-business. John Deere starts selling tractors to the developing world. It's very good for American businesses. This is the long story behind American biotech in Monsanto, why there are so many farms that are so large around the world. But of course, it's not the majority of farms. It's not even the majority of farms that produce the majority of the world's food stuff. It's the majority of the farms today that produce the majority of our biofuels and our fodder for animals. They're all products of the Green Revolution. In India, the Green Revolution is really a social tragedy. So it's both a wonderful revolution in terms of productivity of rice and ending famine in India once and for all by driving down the price of rice. And it's an unthinkable tragedy to the plan of making India a nation of small farmers. After all, all of these land reforms have just been passed, newly independent India. And there's a profound spirit of hope in 1947 at Independence that India is going to be a nation where poor people can rise through hard work and they all have these small farms. Well, as the measures of the Green Revolution are introduced, cheap irrigation goes to the biggest landholders. And they drive down the price of wheat and rice. And many, many small farmers go out of business in the process. So over the years between 1960 and 1980, roughly 20 million people are displaced by industrial agriculture in India. 20 million people are leaving their homes in the countryside. They're leaving their farms. They're leaving their posts as agricultural workers because they can't make a living anywhere in this era of thirsty seeds and big John Deere tractors. And they're very often migrating to cities where there are no jobs for them, where no future awaits. They become a legion of squatters. They don't own their home in the city by being pushed off the land. They're not being drawn by jobs.
Long Land War W/ Jo Guldi
The Dig
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