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The unsettling of America: Culture and agriculture
Focus on Books
b u t ignored the character of a firm's propriet o r - t h e traditional standard of credit worthiness--Dun's ratings encouraged the extension of credit to the larger corporations at a time when such businesses were treated with suspicion. If Dun was not a father of the modern corporation, he certainly ranks as a godfather to the growth of the business firm in the United States. Based on the Dun & Bradstreet archives, which include an unpublished four-volume history of D & B that Norris has used judiciously, this is a solid study of the development of a key service on the American business scene. Its major shortcoming is that it does not fully explore the way in which the agency's system was employed. The extent to which users of Dun's services may have limited credit to only the best rated firms, for example, or the influence of vested interests among the agency's correspondents in determining credit ratings is not examined. B u t as a case study of the early development of the foremost credit-rating service in the United S t a t e s - a n d a prototypical modern corporation-Norris's study has much to offer anyone interested in the historical dynamics of American business. [ ]
THE UNSETTLING OF AMERICA: TURE AND AGRICULTURE
CUL-
by Wendell Berry San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1977 New York: Avon Books, 1978 The reviewer, Albert Ruesink, is an associate professor of biology at Indiana University.
In The Unsettling o f America: Culture and Agriculture Wendell Berry presents a distinctly unsettling review of much that he feels is misoriented and corrupt in American society, and he outlines some alternatives. Piece by piece, he builds the thesis that many of our problems result from our having lost touch
with our agricultural roots, that We are now exploiting land as a means of generating as much food and as many dollars as possible without entering into the nurturing relationship needed to maintain the long-term health of the soil and the cultural sanity of our society. As a solution he suggests changing to smaller, less mechanized farming units. In one sense the b o o k is old-fashioned, suggesting a return to many earlier agricultural practices, yet Berry quite specifically proposes changes in total arrays of activities that are new. The b o o k is broad in scope and full of ideas; one must read carefully and devote considerable time to it. Berry is a visionary and collects ideas from many sources, molding them into a unified whole. Most of us are unaccustomed to evaluating a totality of evidence drawn from so many disciplines at one time. To some, the b o o k may seem much like the writings of the counterculture rebellion of the 60s. Aiming directly at the undesirable aspects of the present agribusiness enterprises dominating agricultural t h i n k i n g - t h e petrochemical firms and the big machinery m a k e r s - t h e b o o k dictates major changes. And it takes a very personal approach to broad ecological problems. It differs from much of the counterculture writing, however, in generally being more carefully reasoned and argued. The counterculture has often measured achievement in terms of media coverage, not progress toward stated goals; Berry is obviously primarily concerned about the goals. While echoes of countercultural voices continue to attack science and technology directly (e.g., Theodore Roszak in Person/Planet), Berry argues for the use of technology in new ways, pleading particularly for attention to the technology of smallness as it could be used in agriculture. Upon whose ears is this plea intended to fall? The scope of this b o o k implies "all ears." Certainly those involved in farming and agribusiness are asked to reevaluate their situations and change their priorities, b u t in addition Berry argues for cultural modifications that would affect all of us. His audience
APRIL 1980
79
Focus on Books
80
includes everyone, especially that unusual farmer who could really appreciate Berry's concerns and decide to implement some changes. The changes sought can be grouped into four areas: Farming practices. Enumerating the ways that "modern" agriculture is hard on both people and the soil and describing the present disincentives for smallness in agriculture, Berry makes an impassioned plea for a return to small farming operations, where the emphasis would be upon maintaining and nurturing the soil rather than exploiting it. The maintenance of soil quality would become more important than the immediate yield. Interestingly, while this book was being written, data was being gathered in Wisconsin indicating that even under good m o d e m farming conditions, one inch of topsoil is being lost every ten years. Rates of soil regeneration are about one inch every one hundred years, so the quality of agricultural land in the United States is definitely deteriorating just as Berry warns. A diverse agriculture, with abundant crop rotation and with small fields of different crops growing next to each other, would also eliminate some of the pest and fertility problems resulting from present monoculture techniques. And the fossil-fuel energy input into farming could be greatly reduced. Cultural lifestyles. Devoting an entire chapter to the gains that might be expected in mental, physical, and spiritual health, Berry argues that we need to balance the person and machine aspects of society, because machines and the needs of machines have become devastatingly dominant. As part of his diagno: sis, Berry states that Americans have lost contact with the joy of honest w o r k - e x e m plified by a popular yearning for a future free of weariness and w o r r y - a n d he feels that a return to small farms could recapture it. General attitudes. Arguing that reestablishing close human ties with the land could restore what he calls "the American potential," he envisions a simultaneous return to
BUSINESS HORIZONS
solvency and thrift. We must withdraw our support of the agricultural specialists who seek to optimize only small parts of the food-producing enterprise and we must despecialize colleges of agriculture so as to turn their interests back to those of the general farmer. Berry closely connects wasting our bodies to wasting our land. If that be the case, the current upsurge in physical fitness may presage societal concern for our land even in the absence of the other changes Berry seeks. Berry argues compellingly that a close work relationship with the land weaves a strong web of fidelity and meaning between the married couple working on that land. They become equals in a significant, meaningful way; neither exploits the other. A few pages later, however, Berry suffers a rare lapse from reality when he argues that restraint is the only appropriate means of contraception in the new society he envisions, not acknowledging that such an approach to population control has proven totally inadequate in any situation where modern medicine has lowered the death rate. Governmental assistance. Though he pleads for the recovery of the independent farmer, Berry yet makes a strong case for the interdependence and interrelatedness of such a person with his neighbors and his surroundings. Without noting the inconsistency, he argues that strong governmental action is needed to establish this independence-tax incentives, low interest loans, and price or production controls. Recognizing the realities of modern American society, he pinpoints governmental action as the leading element facilitating change. Even the optimist who agrees with the need for the suggested changes must pause to consider if they can be implemented. Though the passage of time may prove that the book is highly prophetic in its diagnoses, any proposal for societal change that involves cultural and economic as well as agricultural alterations is almost impossible to achieve. It is disconcerting that Berry had so much trouble finding examples of success for the
F o c u s on B o o k s
small, pesticide-free, energy-sparing farm. Perhaps had he studied the European scene, he could have found convincing examples much more readily. My own analysis is that the availability of energy to operate agricultural enterprises will markedly shape the nature of American farms in the future. Under present conditions about 200 calories of primarily fossil-fuel energy are required to get 100 calories of energy in food ready to leave the farm. If no ready substitute can be found for petroleum as an energy source for farming, and none appears likely, then changes away from the huge, highly mechanized farms are inevitable. Berry seems to have missed this, or perhaps feels that this impetus for change will not come soon enough. Though he is concerned about the excessive energy usage on farms, he is concerned more for cultural than for economic or conservation reasons. Is this a case of being right at least in part for the wrong reasons? Though not doctrinairely or denominationally religious, this b o o k has strong religious overtones, as exemplified b y the following statement: "By understanding accurately his proper place in Creation, a man may be made w h o l e " (p. 98). Thus the b o o k goes b e y o n d the usual economic, agricultural, and sociological approaches to problems of food and the land. For some people, such an approach makes good sense because Berry is trying to establish societal goals built around the essential aspects of our existence. For others, those to w h o m religion connotes illogical, irrational thought, an appeal to religious principles will present a barrier to understanding. Hopefully such readers can ignore the religious appeals and wrestle with the other core elements of the b o o k on their own merits. Berry presents a convincing case for reevaluating the direction of our agricultural enterprises. At the very least his ideas must be heard and debated by Americans concerned about the future of the total structure of our society. El]
A D I S T A N T M I R R O R : THE C A L A M I T O U S 1,1 TH C E N T U R Y
b y Barbara Tuchman x
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1978 The reviewer, David B. J e m i s o n , is an assistant p r o f e s s o r o f a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and behavioral studies at the Indiana University S c h o o l o f Business.
Can mankind survive in spite of itself? This seems to be the overarching question with which Barbara Tuchman challenges readers of A Distant Mirror. Tuchman has written a fascinating examination of the fourteenth century, a time in which it seemed that the whole of the known world seemed to be mad, obsessed with war, or dying of the plague. Her portrait is not only a mirror of a distant, rather mysterious period but also a window to readers who would learn more of those pivotal times, the end of which mark the world's movement from the Dark Ages into the Renaissance and the beginning of the modern world. The Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, crusades designed for economic rather than ecclesiastical purposes, middle class taxpayer revolts, and a papal schism intertwined to make this period one of the most fascinating and important in the development of our modern world. Tuchman arranges her account of events around the life and deeds of Enguerrand de Coucy VII. Heir to one of the most important baronies in France, he was b y birth a statesman and diplomat and was acknowledged as "the most skilled and experienced of all the knights of France." His marriage to the daughter of the English king allowed Coucy to forge a frail but important link between the two warring nations. Coucy was the consummate diplomat, statesman, and warrior who was immersed in the important events of his time, such as the Battle of Poitiers, the search for an end to the schism, and the Battle, of Nicopolis at which knighthood and
APRIL 1980
81
b u t ignored the character of a firm's propriet o r - t h e traditional standard of credit worthiness--Dun's ratings encouraged the extension of credit to the larger corporations at a time when such businesses were treated with suspicion. If Dun was not a father of the modern corporation, he certainly ranks as a godfather to the growth of the business firm in the United States. Based on the Dun & Bradstreet archives, which include an unpublished four-volume history of D & B that Norris has used judiciously, this is a solid study of the development of a key service on the American business scene. Its major shortcoming is that it does not fully explore the way in which the agency's system was employed. The extent to which users of Dun's services may have limited credit to only the best rated firms, for example, or the influence of vested interests among the agency's correspondents in determining credit ratings is not examined. B u t as a case study of the early development of the foremost credit-rating service in the United S t a t e s - a n d a prototypical modern corporation-Norris's study has much to offer anyone interested in the historical dynamics of American business. [ ]
THE UNSETTLING OF AMERICA: TURE AND AGRICULTURE
CUL-
by Wendell Berry San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1977 New York: Avon Books, 1978 The reviewer, Albert Ruesink, is an associate professor of biology at Indiana University.
In The Unsettling o f America: Culture and Agriculture Wendell Berry presents a distinctly unsettling review of much that he feels is misoriented and corrupt in American society, and he outlines some alternatives. Piece by piece, he builds the thesis that many of our problems result from our having lost touch
with our agricultural roots, that We are now exploiting land as a means of generating as much food and as many dollars as possible without entering into the nurturing relationship needed to maintain the long-term health of the soil and the cultural sanity of our society. As a solution he suggests changing to smaller, less mechanized farming units. In one sense the b o o k is old-fashioned, suggesting a return to many earlier agricultural practices, yet Berry quite specifically proposes changes in total arrays of activities that are new. The b o o k is broad in scope and full of ideas; one must read carefully and devote considerable time to it. Berry is a visionary and collects ideas from many sources, molding them into a unified whole. Most of us are unaccustomed to evaluating a totality of evidence drawn from so many disciplines at one time. To some, the b o o k may seem much like the writings of the counterculture rebellion of the 60s. Aiming directly at the undesirable aspects of the present agribusiness enterprises dominating agricultural t h i n k i n g - t h e petrochemical firms and the big machinery m a k e r s - t h e b o o k dictates major changes. And it takes a very personal approach to broad ecological problems. It differs from much of the counterculture writing, however, in generally being more carefully reasoned and argued. The counterculture has often measured achievement in terms of media coverage, not progress toward stated goals; Berry is obviously primarily concerned about the goals. While echoes of countercultural voices continue to attack science and technology directly (e.g., Theodore Roszak in Person/Planet), Berry argues for the use of technology in new ways, pleading particularly for attention to the technology of smallness as it could be used in agriculture. Upon whose ears is this plea intended to fall? The scope of this b o o k implies "all ears." Certainly those involved in farming and agribusiness are asked to reevaluate their situations and change their priorities, b u t in addition Berry argues for cultural modifications that would affect all of us. His audience
APRIL 1980
79
Focus on Books
80
includes everyone, especially that unusual farmer who could really appreciate Berry's concerns and decide to implement some changes. The changes sought can be grouped into four areas: Farming practices. Enumerating the ways that "modern" agriculture is hard on both people and the soil and describing the present disincentives for smallness in agriculture, Berry makes an impassioned plea for a return to small farming operations, where the emphasis would be upon maintaining and nurturing the soil rather than exploiting it. The maintenance of soil quality would become more important than the immediate yield. Interestingly, while this book was being written, data was being gathered in Wisconsin indicating that even under good m o d e m farming conditions, one inch of topsoil is being lost every ten years. Rates of soil regeneration are about one inch every one hundred years, so the quality of agricultural land in the United States is definitely deteriorating just as Berry warns. A diverse agriculture, with abundant crop rotation and with small fields of different crops growing next to each other, would also eliminate some of the pest and fertility problems resulting from present monoculture techniques. And the fossil-fuel energy input into farming could be greatly reduced. Cultural lifestyles. Devoting an entire chapter to the gains that might be expected in mental, physical, and spiritual health, Berry argues that we need to balance the person and machine aspects of society, because machines and the needs of machines have become devastatingly dominant. As part of his diagno: sis, Berry states that Americans have lost contact with the joy of honest w o r k - e x e m plified by a popular yearning for a future free of weariness and w o r r y - a n d he feels that a return to small farms could recapture it. General attitudes. Arguing that reestablishing close human ties with the land could restore what he calls "the American potential," he envisions a simultaneous return to
BUSINESS HORIZONS
solvency and thrift. We must withdraw our support of the agricultural specialists who seek to optimize only small parts of the food-producing enterprise and we must despecialize colleges of agriculture so as to turn their interests back to those of the general farmer. Berry closely connects wasting our bodies to wasting our land. If that be the case, the current upsurge in physical fitness may presage societal concern for our land even in the absence of the other changes Berry seeks. Berry argues compellingly that a close work relationship with the land weaves a strong web of fidelity and meaning between the married couple working on that land. They become equals in a significant, meaningful way; neither exploits the other. A few pages later, however, Berry suffers a rare lapse from reality when he argues that restraint is the only appropriate means of contraception in the new society he envisions, not acknowledging that such an approach to population control has proven totally inadequate in any situation where modern medicine has lowered the death rate. Governmental assistance. Though he pleads for the recovery of the independent farmer, Berry yet makes a strong case for the interdependence and interrelatedness of such a person with his neighbors and his surroundings. Without noting the inconsistency, he argues that strong governmental action is needed to establish this independence-tax incentives, low interest loans, and price or production controls. Recognizing the realities of modern American society, he pinpoints governmental action as the leading element facilitating change. Even the optimist who agrees with the need for the suggested changes must pause to consider if they can be implemented. Though the passage of time may prove that the book is highly prophetic in its diagnoses, any proposal for societal change that involves cultural and economic as well as agricultural alterations is almost impossible to achieve. It is disconcerting that Berry had so much trouble finding examples of success for the
F o c u s on B o o k s
small, pesticide-free, energy-sparing farm. Perhaps had he studied the European scene, he could have found convincing examples much more readily. My own analysis is that the availability of energy to operate agricultural enterprises will markedly shape the nature of American farms in the future. Under present conditions about 200 calories of primarily fossil-fuel energy are required to get 100 calories of energy in food ready to leave the farm. If no ready substitute can be found for petroleum as an energy source for farming, and none appears likely, then changes away from the huge, highly mechanized farms are inevitable. Berry seems to have missed this, or perhaps feels that this impetus for change will not come soon enough. Though he is concerned about the excessive energy usage on farms, he is concerned more for cultural than for economic or conservation reasons. Is this a case of being right at least in part for the wrong reasons? Though not doctrinairely or denominationally religious, this b o o k has strong religious overtones, as exemplified b y the following statement: "By understanding accurately his proper place in Creation, a man may be made w h o l e " (p. 98). Thus the b o o k goes b e y o n d the usual economic, agricultural, and sociological approaches to problems of food and the land. For some people, such an approach makes good sense because Berry is trying to establish societal goals built around the essential aspects of our existence. For others, those to w h o m religion connotes illogical, irrational thought, an appeal to religious principles will present a barrier to understanding. Hopefully such readers can ignore the religious appeals and wrestle with the other core elements of the b o o k on their own merits. Berry presents a convincing case for reevaluating the direction of our agricultural enterprises. At the very least his ideas must be heard and debated by Americans concerned about the future of the total structure of our society. El]
A D I S T A N T M I R R O R : THE C A L A M I T O U S 1,1 TH C E N T U R Y
b y Barbara Tuchman x
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1978 The reviewer, David B. J e m i s o n , is an assistant p r o f e s s o r o f a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and behavioral studies at the Indiana University S c h o o l o f Business.
Can mankind survive in spite of itself? This seems to be the overarching question with which Barbara Tuchman challenges readers of A Distant Mirror. Tuchman has written a fascinating examination of the fourteenth century, a time in which it seemed that the whole of the known world seemed to be mad, obsessed with war, or dying of the plague. Her portrait is not only a mirror of a distant, rather mysterious period but also a window to readers who would learn more of those pivotal times, the end of which mark the world's movement from the Dark Ages into the Renaissance and the beginning of the modern world. The Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, crusades designed for economic rather than ecclesiastical purposes, middle class taxpayer revolts, and a papal schism intertwined to make this period one of the most fascinating and important in the development of our modern world. Tuchman arranges her account of events around the life and deeds of Enguerrand de Coucy VII. Heir to one of the most important baronies in France, he was b y birth a statesman and diplomat and was acknowledged as "the most skilled and experienced of all the knights of France." His marriage to the daughter of the English king allowed Coucy to forge a frail but important link between the two warring nations. Coucy was the consummate diplomat, statesman, and warrior who was immersed in the important events of his time, such as the Battle of Poitiers, the search for an end to the schism, and the Battle, of Nicopolis at which knighthood and
APRIL 1980
81