I think the point here is that of excellence verses mediocrity. My 2nd cousin, a farmer, ran a small bank, ran a farm with his father, had bees, had automatic weapons, used explosives, grew corn, vegetables, raised hogs, cattle and horses, was a ham radio guy... He did a lot. This was in the 1980s.

His father lost his arm in the 1970s in a combine accident and wrapped up his arm and hitchhiked to the hospital.

If you base your knowledge on a small sample or a poor sample then the result will be skewed. The Sears company became very successful in the 20th century by selling farmers, pianos, weapons, books and all kinds of items a general store would not have but the farmers had the income and desire to obtain these items.