Mini-post 2: Jefferson and Lincoln

In two separate pieces of reading this past week, I came across rather similar descriptions of the importance of independent farmers as vital to a democratic society. The first was Lincoln's December 1861 address to Congress, and the second was an excerpt about Jefferson.

Independence is a basis for freedom. The majority of people in Jefferson's day, and in Lincoln's, had a far greater independence than almost any Americans do today. If the economy collapsed, how many of us would feel confident that we could feed and clothe our families? Or that we could hold onto our property?

A complex, integrated society can have many benefits, but greater independence, stability, and freedom are probably not among them.