A few years back on the beach I overheard a conversation between a couple about farming. The wife had a romantic notion of owning a farm, which the husband quickly responded back noting that people who farm for a living their whole life resolves around the farm, making sure animals get fed, crops get maintained and harvested, necessary jobs get done. Farmers even when they do take vacations rarely get far from home often traveling back to take care of their livestock.

On the other hand, farmers own a lot of land and are control and management of their land. Maybe they don’t get to go on vacation or travel as much, but they live a life where escape doesn’t have to be such a big part of their life. They have land they can hunt, they serve as their own boss, they can ride four wheelers, burn trash and have bonfires. They can see the progress they’ve made each day, see directly the impacts of their quality of work. It’s a hard life, but one of such fortune for the two percent.