Although I appreciate John P. Weiss' take on farm life, I think this paragraph deserves a comment:

No doubt, the farmers of the past had difficult lives, and we mustn’t romanticize every facet of their agrarian world. But they had a deep sense of purpose and pride in their work. Also, their physical labor provided exercise, which helps with sound sleep and overall health.

My grandfather was a farmer, and my mom was a farmer's daughter. I spent some time on that farm as a kid. Shoveling shit, pitching silage, baling hay, you know, "farm work."

I would not go so far as to say that farm labor helps with sound sleep and overall health. Grampa died at age 78, Gramma was 72. Grampa died in his sleep, Gramma died of complications from a bleeding ulcer. Neither of them was especially "healthy" at the end. Mom is 90 now, her brothers that farmed died in their 70s.

As to how much "meaning" they felt in their lives, I can't say. We never talked about it. They liked to watch TV, and before that, listen to the radio. Grampa had a CB radio that he liked to use to talk to other farmers in the area. I don't recall any philosophical conversations. Mostly they talked about the kinds of stuff people talk about, prices, the weather, sick animals, their health, stuff like that.

Farm life is hard. It's easier today, with electricity and modern equipment. But if we think we can abandon all of modernity and enjoy an idyllic, "meaningful" existence on subsistence farming, we're deluding ourselves.

Growing food, or milking cows wasn't about service, it was about making a living. Survival. "Meaning" is a subject that requires cognitive surplus. Time and energy for thought, two commodities in short supply when you're a farmer, at least in the era before electricity.

We gave the responsibility for explaining "meaning" to the clergy. They had the cognitive surplus to think about it. And farmers went to church.

Anyway, I'm in favor of "quiet living." I'm in favor of turning away from certain aspects of modernity. But I have no illusions about the appeal of farm life, absent the advantages of modernity.

Not to take away from John's post, and the value of giving it a read.

Because it can make you think.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:15 Sunday, 24 March 2024