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Fun fact: in the US, farmworkers have always equalled or outnumbered farmers, including today! https://twitter.com/UrOrientalist/status/1378673871944040454
For those asking "but aren't farmworkers the REAL farmers??"
That's one of those things that ~feels~ woke and is actually one of the best tools US respectability politics has for erasing & controlling farm labor.
It's a fucking trap. Don't fall into it.
That's one of those things that ~feels~ woke and is actually one of the best tools US respectability politics has for erasing & controlling farm labor.
It's a fucking trap. Don't fall into it.
In American socioeconomic realities, "being a farmer" is synonymous with owning land.
The Jeffersonian idyll is about having your own piece of land. Nobody homesteaded and "became a farmer" with the goal of working someone else's land.
The Jeffersonian idyll is about having your own piece of land. Nobody homesteaded and "became a farmer" with the goal of working someone else's land.
Farmworkers self-identify as labor.
UFW is for United Farm WORKERS.
CIW is for Coalition of Immokalee WORKERS.
They're not running around calling themselves farmers.
So why are you?
UFW is for United Farm WORKERS.
CIW is for Coalition of Immokalee WORKERS.
They're not running around calling themselves farmers.
So why are you?
American culture tends to treat "farmer" as an honorific.
They're the "real" people who are worthy of "real" respect.
That's why people are so bent on declaring farmworkers the "real" farmers.
Because deep down y'all think being a worker isn't as good.
They're the "real" people who are worthy of "real" respect.
That's why people are so bent on declaring farmworkers the "real" farmers.
Because deep down y'all think being a worker isn't as good.
That plays right into wealthy landowners' hand.
As long as people don't realize there's actually a HUGE difference between being a farmer & being a farmworker
then farmers (landowners) can appropriate their own workers' struggle & use it to get more federal money.
As long as people don't realize there's actually a HUGE difference between being a farmer & being a farmworker
then farmers (landowners) can appropriate their own workers' struggle & use it to get more federal money.
That's not an abstract theoretical.
The farm lobby's been actively using that confusion to fan anxieties about a "farmer suicide epidemic."
It's fake. Farm owners' suicide rates are par for their demographic (~40 per 100K, the US norm for older white men.)
The farm lobby's been actively using that confusion to fan anxieties about a "farmer suicide epidemic."
It's fake. Farm owners' suicide rates are par for their demographic (~40 per 100K, the US norm for older white men.)
It's farm WORKERS who are experiencing a suicide epidemic- ~120 per 100K, the highest occupational suicide rate in the entire US.
If you've ever seen reporting about a US farm suicide epidemic, congrats: you've seen farmworker erasure in action.
If you've ever seen reporting about a US farm suicide epidemic, congrats: you've seen farmworker erasure in action.
Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6903a1.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/suicide/rates_1999_2017.htm#Table
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/suicide/rates_1999_2017.htm#Table
In case it's not clear from the statistics
"farmer" and "farmworker" are very literally different jobs.
They're in different DOL categories. "Farmers" are in the owner/manager category.
"Farmworkers" are in the wage labor category.
"farmer" and "farmworker" are very literally different jobs.
They're in different DOL categories. "Farmers" are in the owner/manager category.
"Farmworkers" are in the wage labor category.
"Farmers are capital, not labor" isn't a theoretical axe I'm grinding.
It's the publicly acknowledged economic & statistical reality.
Most people just never heard that before.
That's bc farmers really, really want you to think they're labor! Even though they're management!
It's the publicly acknowledged economic & statistical reality.
Most people just never heard that before.
That's bc farmers really, really want you to think they're labor! Even though they're management!
And now we get to the part where someone says
"But but but I WORK on my family farm, and I'm overworked, and my dad/grandpa/uncle doesn't pay me shit! How dare you suggest I'm not an oppressed worker"!
"But but but I WORK on my family farm, and I'm overworked, and my dad/grandpa/uncle doesn't pay me shit! How dare you suggest I'm not an oppressed worker"!
Here's the deal.
Your struggle is real.
And it's not because you're an oppressed worker.
It's because your rich daddy/grandpa/uncle is a dick.
Give credit where it's due.
Your struggle is real.
And it's not because you're an oppressed worker.
It's because your rich daddy/grandpa/uncle is a dick.
Give credit where it's due.
Game theory wise, farm family members who work a lot & don't get paid enough
tend to be incentivized AGAINST voting or agitating for farm worker protections.
tend to be incentivized AGAINST voting or agitating for farm worker protections.
Why? Because most of them are doing it in hope of inheriting at least a piece the farm someday.
They don't want to be obligated to pay better wages when that happens.
They like to complain about their situation, but when push comes to shove they don't wanna fix it.
They don't want to be obligated to pay better wages when that happens.
They like to complain about their situation, but when push comes to shove they don't wanna fix it.
people haaaaaate it when you point that one out lmao
Anyway, that's why farm family members- even when they're in one of the many shitty farm families that push all their work onto a few relatives & don't pay them- are in a completely different boat than non-family farm labor.
Anyway, that's why farm family members- even when they're in one of the many shitty farm families that push all their work onto a few relatives & don't pay them- are in a completely different boat than non-family farm labor.
Again, shitty farm family labor situations are REAL.
If you're in that situation, you should be mad!
You should NOT waltz into political situations claiming that you "are a farmworker."
If you're in that situation, you should be mad!
You should NOT waltz into political situations claiming that you "are a farmworker."
You represent family labor's ugly underbelly. That's a related but whole different animal. Your situation has a lot more to do with in-family financial manipulation, domestic violence, & bizarre rich people* palace politics than it does the actual economics of labor.
*Yes, farmers are rich
that's a whole nother thread but farm households make more take-home pay than non-farmers
and the median farm family's net worth- aka wealth AFTER subtracting debts- is over $1M.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/farm-household-income-and-characteristics/farm-household-income-and-characteristics/#Farm%20Household%20Financial%20Indicators
that's a whole nother thread but farm households make more take-home pay than non-farmers
and the median farm family's net worth- aka wealth AFTER subtracting debts- is over $1M.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/farm-household-income-and-characteristics/farm-household-income-and-characteristics/#Farm%20Household%20Financial%20Indicators
Your family isn't treating you like shit because they're "forced" to by economics.
They're doing that because they're a shitty family.
Let them have the dignity of their choice, & make your own choices accordingly.
They're doing that because they're a shitty family.
Let them have the dignity of their choice, & make your own choices accordingly.
In conclusion: No, farmers are not farmworkers.
That's not an opinion. It's a fact: farmer & farmworker are concretely different jobs that are counted separately in DOL, USDA, and other demographic statistics.
That's not an opinion. It's a fact: farmer & farmworker are concretely different jobs that are counted separately in DOL, USDA, and other demographic statistics.
Tenant farming is a weird liminal space where you don't own the land- but you DO own your own equipment & client list, & often hire labor yourself.
Esp in today's farming where it takes a lot of capital to be a tenant farmer, it's mostly like any other contracting business.
Esp in today's farming where it takes a lot of capital to be a tenant farmer, it's mostly like any other contracting business.
Tenant farming pre-1980 is a whole other animal. If we're talking historical farm labor, tenant farming & esp sharecropping fall into the farmworker category.
But when we're talking modern farmworker activism, there's a big clear dividing line btwn who's labor & who's capital.
But when we're talking modern farmworker activism, there's a big clear dividing line btwn who's labor & who's capital.
In conclusion, "farmworkers are the real farmers!" is some grade-A capitalist respectability politics bullshit.
Farmers are capital. That's concretely reflected in US farm policy, lending policy, & labor statistics.
Farmers are capital. That's concretely reflected in US farm policy, lending policy, & labor statistics.
Farm workers are labor. They self-identify, organize, & call themselves workers. They DO NOT call themselves farmers.
It's farm *owners* who are pushing that "farmers & farmworkers are the same" narrative. It's capital.
Don't fall for it.
It's farm *owners* who are pushing that "farmers & farmworkers are the same" narrative. It's capital.
Don't fall for it.
