Totalitarian Agriculture

Totalitarian Agriculture is a term coined by author Daniel Quinn for a form of agriculture predicated on the notion that all food on this planet belongs to humans exclusively; thus:
*food dedicated to human use may be denied to all other species
*any species that would compete for human food may be destroyed at will
*food needed by other species may be destroyed at will to make room for the production of human food

Quinn attributes this particular style of agriculture to a single culture, which he has dubbed the "Takers" and describes totalitarian agriculture as originating in Near East with an agricultural revolution about 10,000 years ago.

The key difference, according to Quinn, between Totalitarian Agriculture and other forms is that it is not sustainable.

Limited Competition and Agriculture

According to Quinn, since the dawn of life 3.5 billion years ago, all successful species have followed the Law of Limited Competition. Those who did not became extinct due to the mechanisms of evolution, which systems analysts would refer to as negative feedback loops. To say that agriculture itself was invented 10,000 years ago during what is known as the Neolithic Revolution is a mistake, according to Quinn. Many different methods of agriculture were in use, independently, all over the world (specifically in early China, India, Indonesia, and among the native peoples of the Americas) when the particular method of agriculture he denotes as "totalitarian" emerged. Abandoning the Law of Limited Competition, the adopters of totalitarian agriculture eliminated competing species. For example, the people wanted meat, so they had cows graze on grass. Other grazing animals competing with the cows for nutritious grasses were hunted or chased away - eliminating the cows' competition. Some species of grass are favored by the cows; therefore the people eliminated the grasses that the cows don't like so that the favored grass species have less competition. They also remove any other vegetation that competes for water and soil nutrients. Any disease or insect that might use the favored grass is also eliminated - they eliminate the grass' and the cow's predators and diseases. All that remains is their food and their food's food - all others are eliminated.

pread of Totalitarian Agriculture

Fueled by the enormous food surpluses generated uniquely by this style of agriculture, rapid population growth occurred among its practitioners, followed by an equally rapid geographical expansion that obliterated all other lifestyles in its path (including those based on other styles of agriculture). This expansion and obliteration of lifestyles continued without pause in the millennia that followed, eventually reaching the New World in the fifteenth century and continuing to the present moment in remote areas of Africa, Australia, New Guinea, and South America.

ustainability of Totalitarian Agriculture and the Future

One of the major problems of totalitarian agriculture is the decreased biodiversity it, by definition, relies upon. With extinction and/or endangerment of the various species competing for land, food and water sources, crops and the humans and livestock which rely upon such resources are at greater risk for famine and drought. Species specific pathogens (as in potato famines) and invasive species (such as locusts) stand poised to wreak havoc on individuals and civilizations based on the cultivation of afflicted species. Current measures in totalitarian agriculture include genetic modification of crops and livestock, further isolating crop and livestock species from biologically diverse systems, increasing risk by species specific antagonistic competition. Pesticide resistant insect species are beginning to decrease crop yields worldwide. Despite these dangers, totalitarian agriculture is spreading into previously unfarmed regions, such as the Amazon, Indonesian and equatorial African rainforests. Increased farming and crop yields lead to increased populations, demanding further increases in farming. Systems analysts would refer to this as a positive feedback loop. Ultimately, the long-term sustainability of totalitarian agriculture in the context of global society is called into question.