Musing on Roosevelt and Farm Land Protection

It seems the greatest opponents of farm land protection are farmers. In my community, those calling themselves farmers often end up appearing a hell of a lot more like land speculators and developers, which gives rise to the following adaptation of a famous TR quote.

"Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful FARM LAND sometimes seek to champion them by saying that 'FOOD PRODUCTION belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the AGRICULTURAL heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of FARM LAND and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method."

-adapted from Teddy Roosevelt’s A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, 1916

The original quote follows:

Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people. The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations. The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method."