[lastchance]

I wish more would grasp the consequences of misguided farm policies.

[Carry_Okie]

Turns out that if one translate the Hebrew honestly, destruction of life in the soil by farming is the theme of Genesis 4, the Cain and Abel story. Abel dies all right, but not by violence but by assimilation, Abel becomes Cain.

The punch line is the instability of civilizations as compared to pastoralist families. Fugitives and wanderers we shall be.

BTW, this is not a stretched interpretation of mine, it actually adheres to the literal Hebrew more closely than does the standard Judeo-Christian translations. It's a amazing story that stands as a rationale for the rest of the Torah.