> And agriculture itself is less work than we think of.
That depends entirely upon the ratio of agriculture to other industries in a society and the level of automation.
People operating today's corporate farms in the US probably work fewer hours than their 1920s analogues, but produce far more output. People operating today's small/"family" farms are probably about on par in terms of hours worked, but still produce much more and there are far fewer of them.
It doesn't. People working today's farms (corporate and self operated) AFAICT put in more hours than their 1920s analogues as much more of their time is consumed by the other parts of the business rather than working the fields component.
They do create significantly more for their time, true. But this idea that exists that automation has given us more free time isn't quite borne out by the evidence.
That depends entirely upon the ratio of agriculture to other industries in a society and the level of automation.
People operating today's corporate farms in the US probably work fewer hours than their 1920s analogues, but produce far more output. People operating today's small/"family" farms are probably about on par in terms of hours worked, but still produce much more and there are far fewer of them.