Victor Davis Hanson is The Classicist featured in the Hoover Institution podcast of the same name. In the February 19 edition of the podcast, Victor speaks “In defense of farming” (embedded below). The podcast is occasioned by Michael Bloomberg’s 2016 remarks at Oxford University that we documented here and here.
Victor cites the classic texts on agriculture to support his view of farming. What shaped Bloomberg’s view of farming? I think I can help there. Bloomberg’s view seems to have been formed by the long-running off Broadway production of The Fantasticks. In “Plant a Radish” (video below), songwriters Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt contrast vegetable gardening with parenting. Vegetables — “they’re dependable!”
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.