Over Abundance

The Pissed Off Farmer is putting thoughts together on how AI is going to affect rural America and agriculture. First step is to grab my go-to book, The Curse of American Agricultural Abundance by Willard W. Cochrane.

Whoa! Before we look at AI and how it's going to affect rural America, the word 'abundance' jumped out.

"We" in America have an abundance of almost everything, not just commodities: TV channels, XM radio, fast food outlets, menus, detergents (Tide has 40 different varieties, roughly speaking), gas pumps that are confusing, colleges, cars...I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

My question is: Abundance...is it a blessing or a curse? 

Life was simple when you could go to McDonald's and order "The All American Meal."

Summary: Would it be better to do one thing well or many things differently?

September 2026