What's Wrong with This Picture

Seeing is believing, or so it’s said. But sometimes what’s seen prompts a double take, seems so implausible that believing comes hard.

I saw such a thing just the other day, in a farming magazine. A single company—Amazon—squeezes five times more money out of American consumers yearly than our country’s farmers are paid. All the nation’s farmers, combined. Was sure my eyes had played tricks on me. Looked again. Stared at the words on the page. “All farm income in America this year is projected to be one-fifth of what Amazon makes in a year.”

Couldn’t believe it. Didn’t believe it. I scoured other trustworthy sources, searching for confirmation. Found it, but didn’t trust it. I wanted corroboration, from multiple sources. Found that, too. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts total farm income for 2024 to be $116 billion, down from $156 billion last year. Amazon’s own financial reports show the company’s annual revenues approached $600 billion in 2023, and its earnings in the first…