There is definitely a very easy way to beat this game.
Like someone mentioned earlier, farm kids. Get a bunch of them. Max it out.
At the same time, completely forget about lifestock first. Lifestock takes a long time to pay off and initially, it totally isn't worth it. Instead, get some corn and some cotton. Don't worry about trying to strike it lucky with peanuts. After you max out children, you and your spouse will probably have terrible hp but you should be fine. Medicine is $1 per hp, so as long as you maintain them above 40 it's all gravy. Forget education for now, the children are your slaves. I never gave a crap about marriage etc. Irrelevant in the interests of profit maximization muhahaha!
Concentrate on a diversified crop. I usually go 1 row of corn, 1 row wheat, 2 rows cotton and 2 rows peanuts. If you can't afford that, try to maintain at least the corn and wheat. If you have at least two crops, you will generally always proper regardless of the random events. Get a well as soon as you can. You can also buy 4 scythes. Scythes are only slightly more expensive than shovels but provide much more bonus, so get a bunch of those. you'll be pulling in the big bucks soon enough.
I think past this point you're golden. Get roads and phones as soon as you can. I also think there's only one or two events that get rid of tractors and harvesters (which is odd, as you would think those would get stolen faster) so feel free to spam those too if you can afford them. Later on when you have wayyyy too much money, just plant 1/2 peanuts and 1/2 cotton and you will profit every time for sure.
If this game is trying to send a message, I am clearly not receiving it properly.