Agree. I'n N'th generation dirt-farmer, so are my siblings. We're 5 computer professionals and one research nurse. All college-educated; all of our children are college-educated. Our upcoming generation will outstrip us all in achievement.
So if culture were the determinant factor, shouldn't all Iowa farm kids be economically rising? Yet few are; in our neighborhood the rest of our generation are working clerical, farm-services or trades. I guess that's upward too, farmer is pretty much the bottom.
However, the fact that nearly none of my generation took up farming has less to do with social mobility than it does with the changes in the farming landscape. All farms are corporate now; the family farm is largely a myth. It takes $1M+ to get into farming.
Maybe its observer bias; my family is certainly not typical. But who's is?
So if culture were the determinant factor, shouldn't all Iowa farm kids be economically rising? Yet few are; in our neighborhood the rest of our generation are working clerical, farm-services or trades. I guess that's upward too, farmer is pretty much the bottom.
However, the fact that nearly none of my generation took up farming has less to do with social mobility than it does with the changes in the farming landscape. All farms are corporate now; the family farm is largely a myth. It takes $1M+ to get into farming.
Maybe its observer bias; my family is certainly not typical. But who's is?