Exit Farming: Starving the Systems That Farm You

by Sean Carlton

This publication contains sensitive themes. It questions the legitimacy of widely accepted societal systems and the values built on them. Some readers may find the arguments uncomfortable, offensive, or threatening to their worldview. That is expected. One star reviews help this book just as much as five star reviews. If you choose to react, whether in praise or rejection, understand that both responses serve the same purpose.
What if the way out wasn’t more—but less?

This book is about walking away. From jobs that slowly killed us. From hollow metrics. From lives designed around comfort, control, and debt. It’s about the work that matters. The kind you feel in your body at the end of the day. The kind that feeds you.

It’s not a manual. It’s not a manifesto. It’s a record. Of what it took to leave. Of what it cost to stay. Of the slow unlearning that comes with building a life by hand, on purpose.

For anyone who’s ever sat in a meeting and felt their soul rot. For anyone who’s wondered what would happen if they stopped pretending and started planting.

This is what happened when we did.

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 18, 2025

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

first the caveat, I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
I was looking forward to this book, but about 2/3 of the way through I just had to give up. the book reads like a redundant rant by a newly reformed evangelical. I've worked with smokers who quit and then were suddenly obnoxious about how everyone is killing themselves with tobacco. in this book reads like that. the author has been in this alternative lifestyle for 2 years, which does not give enough time for perspective and maturity within the lifestyle.
the hard part is that I agree with much of what the author is saying, specifically with how the system is designed to suck the life out of us. However, the constant repetition of extreme phrasing just gets tiresome. according to the author, we are all simply dupes who don't realize the salvation that comes from dumping it all and eating fresh rabbits.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway. I actually agree with most of what the author is saying. The biggest issue is the way it is delivered. The author comes across self righteous and like he is purposefully antagonizing the reader at certain points in this book.