I have never, once in my LIFE, seen or heard a farm worker say "Actually, WE'RE the real farmers."
Or engage in a pissing match over who "counts" as a "real farmer." If they're hiring farm workers, that's a farmer!
Don't make this more complicated than it has to be!
What farm workers ask for is WORKER PROTECTION LAWS.
Not "Hey, could you guys argue some more over what the definition of a farmer is?"
Arguing over "who's the real farmer" is just.... so far removed from the actual point.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk 🙏
Reminds me of my confusion the first time I saw an industry article using "miner" to refer to a mining company.
The point of saying that the real farmers are those who work the farm, is to advocate for land reforms ("the land belongs to those who work it").
So, I'm not sure that it's so far removed from the actual point ?
@lienrag That might be true in some places, but not the US.
What Americans generally mean when they say "the workers are the REAL farmers" is it's a quick way to stop uncomfortable conversations about how farmers are behaving badly.
We have a culture that farmers are sacred & can't be spoken ill of. So instead of holding farmers accountable, we just do word games about "Who's a REAL farmer?" and call it a day.
It's a good way to SOUND pro-worker, while doing absolutely nothing for workers.
@lienrag I would also point out- as a farmer who is married to a historian- land reform movements are way more likely to end in horrific bloodshed for the peasants they're supposed to "help," than to actually help anybody.
"Don't take muh land!" is the one threat wealthy landowners are actually well-prepared to respond to & fight back on.
It seems like people who actually care about helping peasants might pay attention to that.
@lienrag Wealthy landowners are often incompetent at everything else, like "putting their property to work effectively."
Which means that basic measures like "Yes, you have to pay inheritance tax. Yes, on your land too. Yes, really" are way more likely to break up estates, make farmland accessible, etc over the long term than the more dramatic tactics that people usually mean when they say "land reform." In the USA certainly, & likely elsewhere as well.
@lienrag My feeling is if one is serious about breaking up estates & other land reform goals, it's best to wage that campaign on territory wealthy landowners struggle on (putting their property to work).
Rather than try the one approach that wealthy landowners have a good history of winning on, e.g. the conventional approach of "we're taking your land."
@lienrag Which brings this discussion full circle!
"Workers are the real farmers" feels smart to the person who says it! But if its main benefit is pushing for land reform, which is a tactic with a weak track record of success & a strong one of getting farm workers killed...
Who are we really saying "Workers are the real farmers" for?
It's almost like... there's a reason farm workers, at least in the US, DO NOT go around telling people "We're the real farmers." It's a tactical dead end!
But we do live in this world now…
"Details of Scott Bessent's soybean farms revealed" https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/21/treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-sold-soybean-farm/87830117007/