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Wednesday, November 22, 2023

How Much Is Enough?

Horace, Satires 1.1.49-51 (tr. H. Rushton Fairclough):
Or, tell me, what odds does it make to the man who lives within Nature's bounds, whether he ploughs a hundred acres or a thousand?

                      vel dic quid referat intra
naturae finis viventi, iugera centum an        50
mille aret?
Almost three years ago, Bill Gates owned 242,000 acres of farmland in the United States, more than any other landowner, according to Eric O'Keefe, "Farmer Bill," LandReport (January 11, 2021). Since then the number has grown. See also Seamus Bruner, Controligarchs (New York: Sentinel, 2023), chapter 5: "The War on Farmers".

Obviously Farmer Bill doesn't care to live within Nature's bounds.