Our society used to be mostly agricultural. • It revolved around the nuclear and extended family, a close-knit community where people usually lived their whole lives, the family farm, the village, the artisan tool-maker, and everything small-scale and personal. • For better or worse, the Industrial Revolution put an end to that kind of life and propelled us to a world where manual work is scoffed at, and agriculture is seen as something menial or boring. • Yet this did nothing to change our nature. • As living beings, we were made to interact with other living beings. • It is good and healthy for us to tread earth, smell flowers, pick fruit off trees, take care of animals, and make occasional escapes into wilderness. • People who live in small apartments in big cities can find an outlet for this healthy instinct by growing plants in pots, keeping an aquarium and a cat, and venturing out to the country from time to time. • The words “farm”, “country”, “rural”, “pastoral”, “village” still bring up pleasant nostalgic associations (compare them with the associations you get when you hear the words “factory”, “industry”, “rush hour”, “traffic” or “highway”), and some people even find out that they are inherently incapable of living the city life anymore, and drop their perfectly good jobs in order to cultivate a piece of rural land. • We still yearn for the simple, cyclic, gentle and healthy rhythm which can be found in nature, the earth, and the seasons. • While I would like, and am ready, to believe that a small-scale farming/homesteading revolution is possible, I also think the only way for it to happen is by individual people making the change in their private lives. • I don’t think it will ever be encouraged or supported by the government, for many reasons. • Three thoughts are in the pinned comments… - - - #homesteading #homesteader #smallfarm #smallfarming #farmstead #farmher #homestead #homesteadersofinstagram