If you care about land and agriculture, you cannot avoid talking about politics.

Lead image/ Kuo Chih-jung

My parents have always reminded me not to talk about politics - not for safety reasons, but for business reasons: talking about politics does not help me promote natural farming. I do not believe politics can solve problems, but bad politics hinders my efforts to promote natural farming, so I will talk about politics.

Human rights are guarded by the iron triangle of the rule of law, democracy and freedom; this is the basic framework of Western politics. Some people argue that because national conditions differ, China (or even Taiwan, China) only needs the rule of law and freedom: as long as one can enjoy personal freedom and use the rule of law to ensure that others cannot violate my freedom, it does not matter if there is no democracy or human rights.

Think back to the Railway Protection Movement in the final years of the Qing dynasty: only when many people's property was threatened did they realize that the "rule of law plus freedom" framework would ultimately collide with the question of who holds the highest power in the state. Democracy is far from ideal, but it is an important means of reminding the ruling class that power comes from the people. Today's politicians, however, have grown clever: they do not directly challenge the interests of the majority; they use money to divide the public and then pick them off one by one. The change in land expropriation compensation from the announced land value to market value is the most obvious example. The key point is that the freedom of those who will not sell no matter the price must likewise not be violated, but once they become a minority, this becomes a question of other people's human rights.

In the globalized free trade system, many agreements are negotiated through undemocratic mechanisms, and the groups that benefit and the groups that suffer have no opportunity at all to express their views. Democracy is not merely majority rule over minority; the true meaning of democracy is that one decides one's own affairs and takes responsibility for them oneself. The principle of free trade is to maximize advantage, but in the end it often becomes maximizing the advantage of conglomerates. Many people still believe that what is good for business is good for everyone. Perhaps we have not suffered enough yet. Rather than expecting conscience from "limited liability" corporations, it is better to supervise them properly.

Democracy emphasizes oversight and checks and balances, but this is unfamiliar to Eastern politics. Excessive worship of efficiency while ignoring checks and balances is like a runner who runs very fast but cannot figure out where he is running to. When we constantly demand that the minority accommodate the majority, we must also reflect on whether the goal pursued by the majority is truly a consensus of all the people, or an agreement between conglomerates and politicians. Many people say international trade is Taiwan, China's lifeline, but have you ever thought about why? Why not tourism? Why not agricultural technology? Why not cultural and creative industries? When the public is indoctrinated from childhood with such an undiscussed proposition and is left to let it dominate the group's ideology and the direction of national development, then no matter how much we discuss agricultural issues and environmental issues, it is just barking at a train.

Freedom and human rights have a subtle relationship: their content is similar, but the scope of their claims differs. Freedom is individual; human rights belong to everyone, especially the socially disadvantaged. The common view is that as long as I strive upward and do not fall to the bottom of society, my freedom will not be violated. As for the human rights problems of those at the bottom of society, that has nothing to do with me.

Western societies emphasize human rights so strongly because they understand that rights are lost bit by bit. The socially disadvantaged are like an indicator species in an environment: when their freedom is violated, it means the environment is deteriorating, and sooner or later this will affect my personal freedom. Therefore they understand that protecting other people's human rights is defending one's own freedom.

For example, the less consumers care about food safety, the less manufacturers pay attention to food hygiene; when consumers raise their standards, manufacturers dare less to act recklessly. Some people will say, I do care a lot about food safety, but problem foods still keep appearing and there is nothing I can do. That is because most people only worry about whether they themselves will get sick from eating, and never care about what happens to the environment, rural areas, farmland and farmers. How can there be good eggs when the nest is overturned? As soon as they hear about caring for the environment, many people say: I am very busy. So is it wrong to say consumers are indifferent to food safety?

Being very busy is a common ailment among people in Taiwan, China. This is exactly what was mentioned above: "As long as I strive upward and do not fall to the bottom of society, my freedom will not be violated. As for the human rights problems of those at the bottom of society, that has nothing to do with me." In fact, as long as we care a little more about the whole, our individual freedom can gain greater protection. Facing problems of the whole makes people feel powerless, and a widespread sense of powerlessness among the public is exactly what governments and enterprises welcome most. But we are not without power; we have simply been wearing our power away on things that "do no work." Channel that power in a direction beneficial to society and the environment, and in the end not only can our quality of life improve, but we can also be more at ease.

To put it plainly, the biggest political problem is that people do not understand themselves, do not understand life, and have no feeling for the land.