> Most people are well aware that agribusiness depends heavily on automation.
While it doesn't necessarily invalidate your criticism, this couldn't be less true. Most people in the Washington Post's reader base have exactly zero awareness of agriculture, full stop. Food comes in a box they buy at the supermarket, and that's the extent of their knowledge. If they have any thoughts beyond that, it's probably either an understanding of farming they got from a quaint children's book, or some kind of poorly-reasoned Monsanto/GMO FUD they heard at a fashionable dinner party. The idea that they know what kind of ag equipment is on the market, what it does, how it works, or what it costs is ludicrous.
While it doesn't necessarily invalidate your criticism, this couldn't be less true. Most people in the Washington Post's reader base have exactly zero awareness of agriculture, full stop. Food comes in a box they buy at the supermarket, and that's the extent of their knowledge. If they have any thoughts beyond that, it's probably either an understanding of farming they got from a quaint children's book, or some kind of poorly-reasoned Monsanto/GMO FUD they heard at a fashionable dinner party. The idea that they know what kind of ag equipment is on the market, what it does, how it works, or what it costs is ludicrous.