In the early 1970s, the era in which Wu returned to the farm and was teaching, most Taiwanese were still making their living through agriculture. Taiwan's economic stability at the time was largely due to the heavy taxes levied on farmland and water usage, as well as exploitative agricultural policies such as mandating grain-for-fertilizer programs and maintaining artificially low grain prices.
吳晟於 1970 年代初期返鄉教書時，廣大農業人口至少還占台灣總人數過半，台灣經濟的穩定力量，主要還是依賴農地的田賦、水租等重稅，以及肥料換穀、壓低糧價等剝削政策。