Give Capitalism a Chance

Vandana Shiva is right to say that agricultural control should be in the hands of farmers themselves. Solutions imposed from the outside are rarely as effective as solutions devised from the inside, solutions that have worked over the course of many, many years. I am worried, however, by blanket condemnations of capitalism, as in "neither chemicals nor capitalism yields the promised benefits." Capitalism is the ONLY thing that can help farmers, whether they're in Kansas or Costa Rica. Farmers need access to markets, and access to markets means capitalism has to work for them. The terms of trade must be fair, and farmers must be able to choose their own production methods. But capitalism is the farmers' friend, not their enemy.