That only works in a reasonably static society, where people can make informed decisions about what they want. If an elderly farmer had an opportunity to learn a trade or get an education, yes, he might be a welder, or a wine taster, or a writer - but it's a little late for that when he's 40 with a house and wife and kid, and everything he owns is in that farm, which was the best option he had as he steered himself down the path of his life.

And now the market is saturated with cheap, industrially farmed food, making his output worthless. It's hugely oversupplied with obsolete farmers. Yes, the market will even things out eventually - but that can have a steep, painful human cost.

They're doing anything they want and can afford, an important additional constraint.

Remember the old cliche, "America: the land of the free, terms and conditions apply"