Basic HTML Version
"rhe good o ld days" and a few o ld
rimers are Jefe.
Rural ourmigrarion in mid-Amer–
ica is, admirredly, a natural our–
growrh of rhe exisring economic and
social pressures of a changing sociery.
Fewer and fewcr farmers are needed
to
bring in rhe sheaves, as farming
be–
comes more mechanized and indus–
rrialized. T oday rhe breadbasker and
corn bin are serviced by machinery.
Farm boys consequent!y migrare ro
ci ries for jobs as mechanics or facrory
workers. Many go ro college.
They
usually don' t recuro ro run Dad's
farm when
he
retires. So, Dad sells or
renrs his land ro a big operaror who
farms wirh machinery and capital
what used ro be five or ten separare
family farms.
Once i n che ciry, however, farm
boys soon find che suburban "good
life" is not wirhour irs own sour
grapes. Smog, rraffic congesrion, lack
of peace and quiet, and che framic
pace of movemcnr and change are
driving many ciry dwcllers up a wall
of rension and frusrrarion.
Many people líke che services, con–
veniences and economic status offered
by berrer paying jobs in ciries. Bur
rhey also wanr rhe peace, quicr, and
community li fc-sry le of rural commu–
nities. So far, sociery has nor been
able ro offer borh ro che vasr majoriry.
The affiuenr American suburbia gen–
erally offers only a traer home wirh a
small parch of green. Ir offers little in
che way of true communiry li fe and
nor much peace and quier.
Of course, chis scene applics nor
o nly ro che
U
ni red Srares, bue also ro
narions che world over.
The
W
o rld Follows Suir
Anorher area of che world where
further urbanizarion is being urged is
conrinenral Europe. Wirhin rhc Euro–
pean Economic Communiry roday,
rhere are sorne síx million farmers.
(Sorne farrn workers aren'r included
in chis figure.) The official goal, ac–
cording
ro
Dr. Sicco Mansholr, Presi–
denc of che European Cornmission, is
ulrimarely ro reduce chis figure ro
36
one-renth its presenr size, rhar is, ro
only 600,000 farmers. And in che Fed–
eral Republic of Germany, che num–
ber of farmers muse be cut in half by
1980, if irs agriculrure is
ro
remain
profirable.
Today, Iraly roo is experiencing a
rural exodus. Sourhern peasanrs and
villagers flood norrhern Iralian citíes,
seeking higher paying jobs. In che
ciries rhey earn higher wages, bur
muse spcnd more for food. shelter and
che ameni ries of ciry life. Thcir
ex–
pecrarions increase, roo, once rhey get
a rasre of affiuence. They clamor for
bettcr schools, roads and public ser–
vices, which all cost money, man–
powcr and cake rime ro buíld.
Fewcr rhan
8
perccnt of Australia's
popularion lives and works on rhe
land. Grearer Sydney alone houses
close ro 3,000,000 pcople - o ne
fourrh of Australía's coral population.
The rural exodus cominues as a ner
effecr of mechanization, droughr and
an
economic slump in che wool mar–
ker.
South African cicies are also
Aooded by whire rural out-migranrs.
"The lack of job opporcuníties in our
own placteland means che mass cmi–
gration of young people co rhe ciries,
where congesrion of humans is al–
ready a major problem," reporrs
South Africa's
Farmer's I'Veekly,
Au–
gusr 19, 1970.
Ag ri culrurc also suffers frorn low
prices, high producrion coses, in–
creascd mechanization and fewer jobs
on rhc farms.
Hercin líes one of rhe central rea–
sons for urbanizarion. In Europe and
elsewhere síncc World War II , indus–
try has grown ar annual rares of 5%,
6% or even
lO%
in sorne cases. Bur
Europcan agriculture, for example,
has grown ar only 3%. Oacqucs
De–
souttcr in
Scimce et Víe,
July 1971.)
Industrial growrh rares are largcly de–
pendenr upon inpurs which are man–
made or manipulared and are largdy
independenr from che presenr cycles
of narure. However, agriculrure de–
pends upon biological processcs, che
cydes of narure, che seasons, rainfaU
and orher variables nor readily con–
trollablc by man. This fundamental
difference becween merhods of pro–
ducrion in indusrry and agriculru re
accounrs. in pan, for rhe apparenr ag–
riculrural lag.
Officials are attempri ng co raise ag–
riculrural ourpur
per man-hour
of
labor ro a leve! commcnsurare wirh
indus trial producrion, a neady irnpos–
sible goal and one which makes
exces–
sive dcmands on che biological
processes governing agriculture.
Third
W
orld on che
M
ove
Many underdeveloped narions ex–
hibir rhe maladies associared wirh rhe
rural-urban migrarion at its worsr.
One
has only ro visir major cirics of
"Third World" nations ro undersrand
che presenr crisis condirions resulting
frorn che rwin maladies of popu larion
explosion and rural migrarion ro
CltlCS.
Rings of sc¡ualor cncircle rnany
Sourh American ciries such as Sao
Paulo, Lima and Santiago. In rhese
arcas, thc populacion g rowth has far
exceedcd che ciries' capaciry ro pro–
vide new jobs.
Yer rural people conrinually re–
ceive a barrage of informadon luring
rhern ro che city. Transistor radios
proclaim che "good life" ínto nooks
and crannies of rhe conrinenr
formerly cut off from civil izarion.
Truck drivers pass rhrough vi llages,
painring prerry picrures of ciry life.
(They also collccr a good fee for
mo-v–
íng
pcople rhere, as wcl l. ) Lerrers
from rdarives in ciries also draw
peoplc from che ourback.
To rhe peasant who is already
locked in ro a sysrem of rural poverry.
wirh lirrle chance ro rise above ir on
his small, worn-our parch of ground,
rhere is only one simple solurion:
"Movc ro rhe city and lifc will beber–
rer. Ir couldn'r be worse."
Farmcrs trade woodcn plows for
hammers and hardhars as they trek ro
rhe city. Ofren, rhe very building sites
rhese migrants are employed ro creer
form temporary, unfin ished quarters
for sleeping.
PLAIN TRUTH Oecember 1972