Wanna bet? Why do you think rural populations leave as soon as they are able and move to cities to work in factories.
> Lots of western elites see something like that as a luxurious retirement.
The bigger stereotype is rich westerners fetishizing harsh rural life - the kind of life they aren't willing to participate in but have no problem advocating for for the poor in developing nations.
I have spoken to many "rich westerners" about my (also western, not poor but rural) upbringing and gotten responses which were longing for that sort of life. It is possible to live very well by a certain standard, on a small amount of land by doing most of the things you need for yourself. There are a lot of people who want that instead of their city life. Not for others but for themselves.
Very few people who didn't experience something like it have any idea at all what it might be like.
I bet. There is a romanticization of a back-to-basics lifestyle. But western farming is nothing like 3rd world subsistence farming.
>It is possible to live very well by a certain standard, on a small amount of land by doing most of the things you need for yourself.
There is a hidden assumption underneath your statement, namely that you have ready access to electricity, indoor plumbing, modern healthcare, and generally typical western infrastructure. So what you're describing is either cottage living, or a hobby farm. Those are nothing like 3rd world subsistence farming.
I personally don't want to participate in a slave economy.