5/6ths

5/6Th's
Well, I think I pretty well vented my spleen the last few days. So right now I'm pretty calm. I'm so calm that the fact that it is friggin raining again after a week of same with another friggin week forecast like this is some craphole like Seattle instead of the damn desert where the sun is supposed to shine isn't really getting me too worked up. Just because the damn sun comes up at six and then the clouds roll in about ten o'clock just after my solar panel starts cranking out the juice, that isn't getting me very excited right now. No. I'm calm. So calm that I can report the following to you without any ill feelings. Taxes and rent of five sixths of crop yields.
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I just started reading The Age Of Arthur last night, recommended by the Druid Dude at www.thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com as an account of how the Roman Empire fell apart and entered a dark age. The process of collapse. Cool. If you do come across the book, don't be discouraged by reading the introduction. It comes off a bit stiff and boring. But once you start chapter one it reads just fine. I put in about two hours last night and then had to rest by brain. The first thing that stood out for me was that corn was mentioned. This is the second history of England I've recently read that mentioned corn. I always thought it was a North American crop that was domesticated in Mexico and didn't come to the Old World until after the Spanish conquest. I'll have to do some research one of these days. The next, more important thing that popped out at me was the report on taxes and rent. Now, keep in mind this the forth century. This was before the general collapse of the empire. And after the Franks had denied other regions as a bread basket to Rome, so that suddenly English grain was in higher demand than before and land owners saw increased prosperity. So these reported taxes and rents were high more out of greed than desperation, as in periods were hunger demanded such hurtful rates.
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It wasn't widespread, but in some areas the peasants working the land saw a combination of rent and taxes reaching a height of five sixths of their crop yield. That was so high that they couldn't afford children since they had no extra food. This was of course counterproductive as less workers were being produced. But it does highlight two important lessons. One, history is full of these examples where short term profit and greed trumpeted over common sense. And two, being a farmer can put you at the mercy of others. The first lesson is obvious. You see this repeated constantly from corporate CEO's literally killing a company for a few quarters of extra bonuses. Such as taking a name brand that had a hundred years of a reputation for quality and trashing that is a year or two. I think that was Maytag ( the commercials have the repairman with nothing to do ). The second lesson I keep trying to harp on and you ignore me.
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Everyone has bought into the myth that organically raising beets is the key to long term survival. But they don't take into account the fact that bandits will systematically exploit you for a share. Or, they acknowledge it but think after a small ten percent tax they will be left alone and on top of that protected by those bandits. More likely, you will be squeezed at a much higher rate. Perhaps as high as 5/6Th's. If you are really unlucky you also have to help fight the wars trying to steal your neighbors farm. You can't really use the history of America as a reliable guide. For one thing, there was so much fertile land that migration was easier than conquest. Or, the conquest was of stone weapon wielding indigenous people rather than fellow whites with firearms. For another, shortly after that process started, the Industrial Revolution was beginning and the way to wealth became factories rather than farming. That took the pressure off farmers from being exploited. A better model for your future will be the Arthurian Age or, closer to home, the South. You might even be a slave instead of an unreasonably exploited farmer.
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I'm not saying that it is foolish to farm. Long term, it is the only way to survive east of the Mississippi and the fertile regions scattered out west. You can only stockpile so much food, and that has to be protected. What I am saying is that you must be realistic in your expectations. You are going to be exploited by the new ruling elite. Also, you must stockpile food anyway. You never know about drought or even volcanic eruptions or whatnot. Yes, it is a perfect strategy for a Depression. It might not be so much for a collapse. I've covered this before, I'm just trying to give examples of historic farmer bondage. Ignore it at your peril. See, wasn't I so calm there? No screaming and ranting. I was good today.
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