Totalitarian Agriculture

While the concept of totalitarian agriculture has existed as long as recorded history, the term totalitarian agriculture was finally coined by author and "cultural critic" Daniel Quinn, in his novel Ishmael. A concept dating back over ten thousand years, marked by what is known to western cultures as the agricultural revolution, an extremely successful, but ultimately unsustainable method of agriculture by which humans destroy any competition to the bounty of harvest.

The methods of totalitarian agriculture are as well known to any westerner today as they were thousands of years ago. In Ishmael, Quinn refers to the Law of Limited Competition, also known as the "Law of Life". This law, according to Quinn, sets boundaries on the sustainability of sustenance and resources, and basically amounts taking what is necessary for survival, and competing to the full extent of ones resources, but not eradicating ones competitors or denying them resources or access to resources.

Limited Competition and Agriculture

According to Quinn, since the dawn of life 3.5 billion years ago, all successful species have followed the Law of Limited Competition. Those who did not became extinct due to the mechanisms of evolution, what systems analyst would refer to as a negative feedback loop. To say that agriculture itself was invented 10,000 years ago in what is known as the Fertile Crescent is a mistake, according to Quinn. Sustainable methods of agriculture were independently developed by several cultures, specifically in early China, India, Indonesia, and among the native peoples of the Americas. One wildly successful method of agriculture was developed in the area of present day Iraq, approximately 8,000–10,000 years ago, durring what is known as the Neolithic Revolution. By abandoning the Law of Limited Competition, early Mesopotamian peoples were able to produce massive harvests, allowing for increased populations. Such large scale and high yield methods of production required large investments of manpower and time, and in time, civilizations began to grow around and were ultimately supported by such ventures and the trade enabled by the bounty. By eliminating species which relied upon the crops and livestock, or by denying competing species access to these sources, humans were able to corner the market, so to speak, on the food supply.

Spread of Totalitarian Agriculture

Because of the high yield brought about by the practices of totalitarian agriculture, civilizations committed to these practices grew and spread, bringing this system with them. From Mesopotamia, totalitarian agriculture was brought east to Asia, north and west into Europe, and southwest into northern Africa and Egypt. Fed by immense harvest, the major civilizations of the ancient world grew, prospered, and collapsed under the methods of totalitarian agriculture.

Sustainability of Totalitarian Agriculture and the Future

One of the major problems of totalitarian agriculture is the decreased biodiversity it, by definition, relies upon. With extinction and/or endangerment of the various species competing for land, food and water sources, crops and the humans and livestock which rely upon such resources are at greater risk for famine and drought. Species specific pathogens (see: potato famine) and invasive species (see: locust) stand poised to wreak havoc on individuals and civilizations based on the cultivation of afflicted species. Current measures in totalitarian agriculture include genetic modification of crops and livestock, further isolating crop and livestock species from biologically diverse systems, increasing risk by species specific antagonistic competition. Pesticide resistant insect species are beginning to decrease crop yields worldwide. Despite these dangers, totalitarian agriculture is spreading into previously unfarmed regions, such as the Amazon, Indonesian and equatorial African rainforests. Increased farming and crop yields lead to increased populations, demanding further increases in farming. Systems analyst would refer to this as a positive feedback loop. Ultimately, the long-term sustainability of totalitarian agriculture in the context of global society is called into question.