This strikes me as yuppie LARPing. People don't farm in general because they literally can't sustain themselves economically by doing it. And farming is no less "materialistic" than staying glued to a glowing rectangle.
Capitalism is alienating but the solution you're pushing is purely aesthetic in nature. Cottagecore is so trendy right now right?
While I see your general point, it is wrong in my case for a few reasons.
If Farming is purely aesthetic, the rattlesnake and Goat I had to kill last week destroyed that aesthetic. Farming is often a bloody mess.
When you say Farming is no less materialistic than being glued to a screen, I have to wonder if you have ever felt the spirit of nature, the spirit of an animal giving birth, the spirit of a coyote running off with your favorite goat, these are hardly materialistic parts of nature. I am not sure why you would equate those things with watching a screen.
As for LARPing, it's not role playing when you actual do it. I am not pretending that I am a goat farmer, you can actual buy my meat at heartlandgoats.com
Most people are not going to sustain a living as farmers because farming has been economically outmoded. Pushing "go farm" as a solution to capitalist alienation is larping because it's not a scalable solution.
"these are hardly materialistic parts of nature" demonstrates a huge lack of understanding of what "materialism" even means.
I don't think I am demonstrating a huge lack of understanding here so help me understand where you think I am wrong.
ma·te·ri·al·ism
noun
1. a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
My point was that, for me at least, Farming has made Spiritual Values as much more prominent & important in my life than Material possessions & physical comfort. At least a lot more than when I was younger and was often "glued to a screen" in some tiny ass apartment. I never envisioned having a family living that former life. For me having Children and watching them thrive on our Family Farm is indeed a "Spiritual" moment, take that for what it is.
You keep saying Farming is economically outmoded, and I actually agree for the most part. I just think that Goat farming is a particular bright spot because the demand for Goat meat keeps climbing, and like you, most people think Farming is not economically viable, therefore the supply of Goat meat remains low. Meanwhile Capitalists keep importing Goat eaters, which keeps demand high. I have written about these economic considerations in the past here on my substack if you look around. And it is not just me saying this, check Live Animal auction prices for the last 10 years. Beef and Pork prices keep going down. Meanwhile Goat and Sheep prices keep going up.
But also you say that telling people to "Go Farm" is LARPing BECAUSE it is not scalable. I'll be honest, I never though of something as a LARP, even if it worked for me, because it was not scalable to other people. That thought has never once crossed my mind; that in order for something to not be a LARP, it has to scale. I just cannot imagine saying to someone running a Bee pollinator operation, You Are LARPing, because they could not scale an already successful Bee Business any higher. You seem stuck in some sort of Capitalist, Economic, Materialism above all else mindset, which is particularly odd considering you grew up on a Farm.
You know what, Farming probably is not for most people. On that we agree, but to call it purely Aesthetic, is overstating your case. I had never even heard of Cottage-core before you mentioned it. It makes me happy I have removed myself so much from these trends and fads...
When you say "materialistic parts of nature" I assumed you were talking about ontological materialism rather than ethical materialism. Ontological materialism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism
It's fair to say that most normal people use the term "materialism" to refer to ethical materialism, but the use of ethical materialism in your prior statement would be incoherent.
I think there is sometimes a tendency for engineers to be clever sillies IE people with a decent amount of innate cognitive ability who overestimate their own knowledge and over-apply their familar models to unfamiliar fields.
If you aren't familiar with really basic historical terms like "materialism" you should perhaps consider doing more reading. Maybe just something to consider.
This strikes me as yuppie LARPing. People don't farm in general because they literally can't sustain themselves economically by doing it. And farming is no less "materialistic" than staying glued to a glowing rectangle.
Capitalism is alienating but the solution you're pushing is purely aesthetic in nature. Cottagecore is so trendy right now right?
While I see your general point, it is wrong in my case for a few reasons.
If Farming is purely aesthetic, the rattlesnake and Goat I had to kill last week destroyed that aesthetic. Farming is often a bloody mess.
When you say Farming is no less materialistic than being glued to a screen, I have to wonder if you have ever felt the spirit of nature, the spirit of an animal giving birth, the spirit of a coyote running off with your favorite goat, these are hardly materialistic parts of nature. I am not sure why you would equate those things with watching a screen.
As for LARPing, it's not role playing when you actual do it. I am not pretending that I am a goat farmer, you can actual buy my meat at heartlandgoats.com
Bro I grew up on a farm.
Most people are not going to sustain a living as farmers because farming has been economically outmoded. Pushing "go farm" as a solution to capitalist alienation is larping because it's not a scalable solution.
"these are hardly materialistic parts of nature" demonstrates a huge lack of understanding of what "materialism" even means.
I don't think I am demonstrating a huge lack of understanding here so help me understand where you think I am wrong.
ma·te·ri·al·ism
noun
1. a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
My point was that, for me at least, Farming has made Spiritual Values as much more prominent & important in my life than Material possessions & physical comfort. At least a lot more than when I was younger and was often "glued to a screen" in some tiny ass apartment. I never envisioned having a family living that former life. For me having Children and watching them thrive on our Family Farm is indeed a "Spiritual" moment, take that for what it is.
You keep saying Farming is economically outmoded, and I actually agree for the most part. I just think that Goat farming is a particular bright spot because the demand for Goat meat keeps climbing, and like you, most people think Farming is not economically viable, therefore the supply of Goat meat remains low. Meanwhile Capitalists keep importing Goat eaters, which keeps demand high. I have written about these economic considerations in the past here on my substack if you look around. And it is not just me saying this, check Live Animal auction prices for the last 10 years. Beef and Pork prices keep going down. Meanwhile Goat and Sheep prices keep going up.
But also you say that telling people to "Go Farm" is LARPing BECAUSE it is not scalable. I'll be honest, I never though of something as a LARP, even if it worked for me, because it was not scalable to other people. That thought has never once crossed my mind; that in order for something to not be a LARP, it has to scale. I just cannot imagine saying to someone running a Bee pollinator operation, You Are LARPing, because they could not scale an already successful Bee Business any higher. You seem stuck in some sort of Capitalist, Economic, Materialism above all else mindset, which is particularly odd considering you grew up on a Farm.
You know what, Farming probably is not for most people. On that we agree, but to call it purely Aesthetic, is overstating your case. I had never even heard of Cottage-core before you mentioned it. It makes me happy I have removed myself so much from these trends and fads...
When you say "materialistic parts of nature" I assumed you were talking about ontological materialism rather than ethical materialism. Ontological materialism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism
It's fair to say that most normal people use the term "materialism" to refer to ethical materialism, but the use of ethical materialism in your prior statement would be incoherent.
I think there is sometimes a tendency for engineers to be clever sillies IE people with a decent amount of innate cognitive ability who overestimate their own knowledge and over-apply their familar models to unfamiliar fields.
If you aren't familiar with really basic historical terms like "materialism" you should perhaps consider doing more reading. Maybe just something to consider.