Audio Transcript

As we shift away from hunting to agriculture, it may be hard for us living in the modern society surrounded by technologies to picture exactly how significant of a shift this really is. I would say that it is one of the most vital forces to be reckoned with when it comes to moving us, the human species, forward. Just think about how fascinating this really is that we started off using stones, arrows, and bows to hunt our preys, which is a highly life-threatening way of living at the very least, to rely on the vastly safer production method of growing crops on farmlands. In fact, this method of production has helped us tremendously, driving us to become more inclusive and diverse over the past millenniums of years. Take ancient China, for example; before the Jin Dynasty came into existence in 1115, they were very much just a group of scattered, independent, and ununified colonies. The tribal relationships were extraordinarily rough and intense. Hence, due to this competitive nature between the tribes, their primary way of production is hunting because the more they can feed their population, the more influential they are within the various tribes. This status quo very much remained this way until just a couple of years before the establishment of the Jin Dynasty in 1115, when farm experts from the decaying Liao Dynasty and Song Dynasty came into the WanYan’s tribe. These experts enlightened WanYan’s tribe about the importance of unifying the colonies into one force against the Han Chinese in the decaying Liao and Song dynasties. The WanYan tribe accepted this philosophy and began implementing agricultural expansion by first granting land to the regular civilians. With this agricultural shift, they were able to absorb more populations from the nearby tribes, and sometimes, even the tribe themselves asked to join. So with that, they became ever more influential and powerful among the tribes and won favor with the then fatuous Liao Emperor.

After the agricultural reform, more Han Chinese began to immigrate to WanYan’s tribe to provide more helpful tips. It includes the method of gathering iron ores and smelting them into weapons, which was instrumental in the victorious rebellion against the Liao Dynasty that led to its demise. Shortly after eradicating Liao, the Northern Song dynasty also fell under Jin’s control. Hence, there has always been an idiom in Chinese that says, “Security of food always comes before troops.” So if we relate all of this back to what we have learned in the agricultural shift, it makes plenty of sense. This idea makes even more sense if we put it towards today’s standard that is the security of food for its people must always come above all else. This idea, quite frankly, is especially true during the pandemic years combined with the supply chain shortages and the Russo-Ukrainian war. Given everything said, I am not at all optimistic about the near future prospects. This is because, given all of the economic indicators I have witnessed so far and the societal unrest that I have experienced first-hand and has happened globally, we are no way up for a smooth ride ahead. An upcoming food shortage and famine caused by the lack of focus on agriculture and geopolitical tensions will surely come to a “theater” near you, and it will just be a matter of time.

Responses to the professor or other students:

Response One:

I like your mentions in your response to prompt one that the shift from hunting to agriculture allowed for a more consistent and steady flow in the food supply. This is by far the biggest innovation ever because we were able to feed more people. In ancient civilizations, the population size is the main driving factor toward economic growth and political stability. In ancient China, for example, the reason why they were able to retain such a large population size since the beginning of time was primarily due to its reliance on agriculture. In fact, during the Qing dynasty, the year-over-year Chinese agricultural outputs were at an all-time high. Unfortunately, as the Qing dynasty came into the 20th century when the industrial revolution was progressing full steam ahead, China still relied on handmade products and missed the industrial revolution, which was why China was so economically challenged in the latter half of the 1900s. This missed opportunity to integrate with the rest of the world was huge. It had many political consequences associated with it and the biggest reason for that was due to their reliance and dependence on agricultural outputs.

Response Two:

I find your responses very interesting, and I do agree that the shift towards agriculture planted a solid seed for the survival of our species. However, I do want to make a quick note that heat is not the only factor that causes agricultural reduction of outputs; the biggest issue is misuse and the waste of water on drylands. A good example of that is Israel. Quite frankly, they are located in the middle of nowhere in the desert area of the Middle East. Still, they are among the biggest exporter of agricultural products, particularly to the United States. They could do that because of their highly advanced farming method, particularly with their invention of drip irrigation technology. With this technology, they were able to account for about 10-13% of worldwide agricultural exports, and according to USDA, 7% of that comes to the United States. So does climate change affect the agricultural outputs? Yes, but is it the primary factor? In my opinion, no. Because it is not too much about the heat itself, it is more about eliminating wasteful water use in the agricultural industry.