Re:The Three Year Myth
by Nevermark on Sunday February 15, 2026 @01:28PM
(#47026056)
You are right, some people are stretching that word a lot.
I don’t think that’s changed how most people interpret the word. More of a weakening of its meaning often with an activist or persuasive bent.
Toxic is another word similarly getting stretched and watered down by some.
> Farming is violence.
This would definitely fall into the stretched / watered down pattern.
I don’t think the other strong words you are using are any different in this context.
I am not saying you don’t have a point, but over dramatizing can make it hard to relate to, when people are being expected to accept a level of verbal shrillness that isn’t necessary to make a point.
Humanity is certainly damaging a lot of ecosystems, not by any single farmer, but in aggregate. Change is normal, but we are driving it faster than nature can keep up with. It is a problem.
But outside of poetic or proselytizing use, violence usually means inflicting intentional harm, not a problem of conflict between reasonable local tradeoffs (creating food being a positive use of land) vs. the global impact that needs to be balanced too.
I don’t think that’s changed how most people interpret the word. More of a weakening of its meaning often with an activist or persuasive bent.
Toxic is another word similarly getting stretched and watered down by some.
> Farming is violence.
This would definitely fall into the stretched / watered down pattern.
I don’t think the other strong words you are using are any different in this context.
I am not saying you don’t have a point, but over dramatizing can make it hard to relate to, when people are being expected to accept a level of verbal shrillness that isn’t necessary to make a point.
Humanity is certainly damaging a lot of ecosystems, not by any single farmer, but in aggregate. Change is normal, but we are driving it faster than nature can keep up with. It is a problem.
But outside of poetic or proselytizing use, violence usually means inflicting intentional harm, not a problem of conflict between reasonable local tradeoffs (creating food being a positive use of land) vs. the global impact that needs to be balanced too.