why do people dream for living in a cottage in the middle of nowhere? or becoming a farmer. or a monk in a monastery. if they are not content with their current lives what guarantees they will be content out in the woods and farmfields? is it escapism? wishful thinking? i know current society isn't good and that many would benefit from nature and more down to earth living, but abandoning everything else is really really hard. and farming is no easy work, and bloody expensive too unless you inherit shit. sorry if wrong board but i see this topic pop up here every month.
>>2794145Because the closer you are to nature, the closer you are to God because that's his creation. All that shit in the cities are man's creation and therefore evil
>>2794145God resides in the Wilderness
>>2794145>PeopleMen dream of this to get away from the incessant nagging and incoherent logic of woman like you.
>>2794150Cities were a mistake. Neolithic farmers ruined everything.
>>2794145working 9 hours a day is unnatural and unnecessary.having to walk through hundreds of people is unnatural and unnecessary.
>>2794343>working 9 hours a day is unnaturalSays who? When did people work less? When they were hunter/gathers? subsistence farmers? Most modern farmers work sun up- to sun down.
I only feel at peace in nature without thousands of people watch my every move
>>2794145When you have to work almost all day every day to survive you have way less time to loose yourself in circle thinking misery.
>>2794343You can work way less and avoid most people even without living off grid.
>>2794348>When they were hunter/gathersyes, signifigantly less.
>>2794145Grass is greener effect. People want to be at peace with nature but don't realize the extent to which they still love the comforts of civilization.
>>2794348until the industrial revolution most people worked far less>most farmers work sun up to sun downaww do they now? those poor little farmers with their many acres of land making more money in a year than i do in 10. do they work so very long right next to their families, on their own properties? how tewwible.most farmers dont do squat. agricultural farmers work a couple weeks a year (plant and harvest time) and livestock farmers have to work "sun up to sun down" with about 6h break in between, making it less than 8h work.
>>2794145Gonna blogpost a bit but bear with me. Personally I was tired of neighbors throwing loud parties every other weekend, kids walking across my lawn (corner house problems), idiots with shitboxes doing doughnuts in the intersection out front, car alarms going off at 3am, stuff like that. I wasn't miserable living in a suburban area with people around constantly making noise, but I wasn't happy about it. 3 months ago I moved to an old house on an acre between a couple of orchards. I hear and see more wildlife than people around here. I'm waking up earlier on weekends now just so I can go outside more. I have way more chores now but I'm actually motivated to do them. Last Sunday I was cleaning along my driveway and met a family from up the road as they were passing by on horseback. It's great. And yet my commute to work only takes a few minutes longer than it did before, it's just down scenic country roads instead of the freeway. You don't have to "abandon everything" for enough escapism to feel content.
>>2794933agreed, your situation sounds comfy. i was talking about the more extreme ones. but in your case that's what i dream for, and what i'm saving up for. i grew up on the countryside and i want to go back when i have kids. i miss having space for things and a workshop, i wanna teach my kids working with wood like my pa and ma did for me...
>>2794145I like animals, gardening, and cludging things together out of scraps. It's the perfect life for me. I just bought land this year actually. So we'll see if I'm delusional
>>2794399Correct. Modern hunter gatherer societies have been studied. They work less everyday and are far happier with their quality of life.
You do not have to abandon everything to live in a rural area especially with the many work from home options now available. You just have to look for what you want and be ready to buy when you find what you want. I live in a 2,000 sq foot house on 10 acres in an area surrounded by national forest. My western property line borders a 200 acre state wildlife sanctuary. Picrel is my horse grazing in a sun lit pasture next to an Appalachian mountain lake that is just 900 feet from his barn.
>>2794145>if they are not content with their current livesand what if they dream for living in a cottage in the middle of nowhere, but are also content with their current lives?people arent characters in a book anon, keep up
>>2794145>walk outside>smell car exhaust>listen to sounds of cars on the roads>surrounded by cars in the parking lot>everything is carsSo I think about how nice it would be to walk somewhere without cars, and it turns out there are so many cars in the world the only place to escape from them is way out in the middle of nowhere.
>>2794145I feel like there's too much emphasis on extremes; it's either you live in downtown NYC in a condo, or you live alone in the woods off-grid. Most people don't live in either of these extremes. Most people in cities live in suburbs with comparatively good access to trails, forests, and plenty of privacy. Most rural people live within a kilometer of neighbors or small village or town and frequently drive to the city to shop, go to restaurants, etc. Realistically most people are going to be happiest somewhere between these two wild extremes.
>>2794933>>2794935Based. Hope you both have comfy lives
>>2794145I used to be a farmer. I'll tell you why.Every morning I would wake up at 5:30 AM, before the crack of dawn, and I would have my morning shit. Then I would go to my local pub and have a bacon + egg sandwich, plus coffee. My farm was located on a hill. And every morning, after I did my routine, I would go to the top of that hill and sit in my chair, read the newspaper and watch the sun come up.It is difficult to describe in words the feeling of awe you get from watching the sun crest the mountains and bathe your farm. The light doesn't just change, but also the temperature. A draft of warm wind comes to meet you with the rising with the sun, which carries with it the smell of your crops.And then you work. You work all day until sundown. You walk, and you walk, and you walk, listening to your favorite podcasts. Sometimes you do some heavy lifting, sometimes you fix a fence. But nothing is truly monotonous. Every problem is engaging and fulfilling. When the day is finally done, you have a big hearty meal, you shitpost on 4chan for awhile, and then you fall asleep. And that sleep you feel from working your ass off all day is the most satisfying, refreshing rest you will ever experience in your life.tl;dr you get fit, eat well, sleep hard and get to experience nature. I had to quit farming because the market I was participating in was being out-done by chinese farmers. For every acre of feed I grew, the chinese would produce 40 hectares more. The market crashed on my third year, so I had to quit. Great job though. 10/10 if you don't care about making loadsa dosh.
>>2795039Sounds great anon. What do you do now?
>>2794145>>2794348>Most modern farmers work sun up- to sun down.They work considerably less. There are days when there's work to do, and on those days that does happen, but that's offset by days when there's nothing to do.As for the Monks. Watch this thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx4MAN2_Ko4The strictest order there is. Locked in the cells for the majority of their lives, yet they're somehow all completely content and happy.
>>2795039Where do you live that the sun isn't already up at 530 in the summer?
>>2795048Where does he live that farmers wake up, go to a pub to eat and sip coffee, and then start their day? Every farmer around here doesn't have time to go out to breakfast.
>>2795048The whole story reads like fanfic, except that part is entirely plausible. With mountains around you, sunrise times can change dramatically.
>>2795042Work in an amazon warehouse. Want to kill myself every day.>>2795048Farm was in a valleyAlso, to address >>2795050 the time you spend working varies greatly depending on what you're growing. You can automate a lot of shit with water pivots, a pump house and a reservoir. In my case, the only time I really had to bust my hump was during sowing season and harvest season. Basically two weeks filled with sixteen hour days. Once I had my seed in the ground I spent most of my days just running around looking for pests. If it was too hot I just relaxed.Arguably the worst part of farming is other humans. Other farmers didn't like me, because I'm a 4chan autist and preferred to paint warmham miniatures over socializing, so they would try to fill my inlets with gravel and dirt. I caught them on game camera doing that shit several times.
>>2795050I've worked for farms where the owner had time for that.>valleyThat explains it.>>2795039feedYes you weren't gonna make make attempting to compete in the commodity market. You need to do direct to consumer unless you own hundreds and hundreds of acres.
>>2794145I moved from the cities into the farmlands. A lot of Mexicans but other than that, it's beautiful to go driving through the fields, over the streams and creeks, the wildlife (love me some birding now) and the night skies, good God. I'm never going back. You hear me? I'LL EAT A BULLET BEFORE I GO BACK TO THE HIVES!
>NOOO YOU CAN'T JUST WANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN THE LIFE YOU WERE BORN INTO STOP DREAMING
>>2795039>work sun up to sun downhow many days a year was that? why do you farmers always act like you work a lot?see this:>>2794421
>>2794421>those poor little farmers with their many acres of land making more money in a year>t. never left the city or met a real farmerreally stupid take. Ag is a very capital-intensive and most farmers are leveraged to the hilt and barely squeeze by from year to year depending on weather, prices etc...Yes, they may have a million$ combine and 400 acres of land but they are very cash poor and dont make very much- if any- profit at all.>most farmers dont do squat. agricultural farmers work a couple weeks a yearthis may be the most retarded comment on this board- and thats saying something ! lol
>>2795353so what do you do all day every day 365 days a year oh ye mighty farmer?you know allt of farmers are old af right? if a 60+yo men can do the job, its not hard.
>>2795354alot*, not allt
>>2795354do you really have no idea? are you that divorced from reality? wew lad
>>2795361you can tell it must be a hard job if this guy can do it.
>>2795362>derp>5th generation farmer farms all his life>reeeeeeee NOOO you cant do that you're oldperhaps educate yourself and what its like to be a farmer.
>>2795354>you know allt of farmers are old af right?imagine being this clueless.
>>2795061>Other farmers didn't like me, because I'm a 4chan autistYou sound citymade, honestly. The other farmers were right to distrust you and dislike you for being a loser shut-in that couldn't be bothered to socialize and help his fellow farmer.
>>2795363>you cant do that youre oldi guess farmers lack reading comprehension too lmfao.my point was that he can do it, eventhough he is very old and frail, therefore farming cant be a hard job.you farmers are like gymrats thinking they can fight. you exist protected from real life.
>>2795364see>>2795366
>>2794145living simply and quietly is a solution to all of modern life's issues. you will never defeat the red dust monolith of capitalism, urbanity and industry. so the way out is in the margins and in the dirt and the nature.
>>2794145Nigger neighbors
>>2795366>eventhough he is very old and frail>old people cant do hard workYou just seem really ignorant and retarded. You dont have a fucking clue of what its like to be a farmer but a picture of an old dude and bale of hay must surely be the answer.
>>2795379>>2795364that old guy is an actual farmer. i can show you many pictures of out of shape or old farmers. must be a real tough job lmao.the average age of american farmers is over 57 lmao.
>>2795385>the average age of american farmers is over 57>therefore he doesnt work hardare all zoomers this fucking retarded?
>>2795386i've never seen 60yo out of shape men working at my manual labor job faggot, because its to hard for them.if they work so hard, how come theyre that out of shape?Why cant you farmerfaggots admit that you have it good?
>>2795385>that old guy is an actual farmer>his 3 sons run the farmlol
>>2795391>average age 57you black or smth?
>>2795388>to hard for themYou are too uniformed to even have an opinion. Its not that the work is necessarily "hard" per se its just that there is a lot of it. Obviously, its seasonal and depends on the size of the farm and crops/livestock grown but during busy season you are working 80-100hrs per week. And its all sorts of shit from calving to field work to fixing tractors to tilling, planting, harvesting, bookkeeping, marketing, haying, baling, fixing more broken shit. why not find out for yourself- plenty of day in the life of...videos on youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqMopjbeK38
>>2795395>work a couple weeks a yeari mentioned that, yeah.sitting on your tractor allday next to your home and family isnt exactly work though.
>>2795396>sitting on your tractor alldayyup. thats all farmers do.
>>2795402mostly, yeah.
>>2795402im off to my real job fren, working nightshift, actually on my feet the whole night, far away from home.
>>2795412I'm about to make you seethe: why don't you get an actual career instead of a job
>>2795408How would you know?
>>2795424everyone has seen Clarkson's Farm now
>>2794145They live around too many browns and thus "hate people" and see this fantasy as the ultimate escape from that.
>>2795434Browns aren't people thoughbeit
>>2794348True, during harvest times, there are moments of intense physical activity. But this meme about farmers working all day everyday is only true for the ones that really want to do all of that stuff themselves. Every job has its workaholics and its lazy bums.
>>2794325Most archaeologists and anthropologists believe that the first cities were built by hunter-gatherers.
>>2794150Ya but there's no hot redheaded women with perfect B cups in the middle of nowhere
>>2795422i like the freedom i have at these jobs, i often take time off or switch.what does that have to do with how easy your job is tho, farm boy?
>>2795354late winter early spring is spent preparing all equipment for spring plantinglots of maintenancefirst rock picking, rolling any rough areas flat, using water cannons and pumps to drain shallow waterthen 2 to 4 weeks of seedingearly summer is spraying whenever the weather is good, no rain, no wind, not too hot, always have to be ready for the breaksthen hay, make all sure the bins are clean, get all the harvest equipment readyharvest starts here in late summer, first rye, then barley, wheat and peas, usually a couple of months, 300 or 400 hours a monththen fall spraying weeds, clean up the shitty areas with a discerall winter long its hauling grain to town. grain bags are cleared before bins because they have to be done before spring breakup, then binswinter also involves a lot of brush clearing and burning
>>2794145i spent ten years doing the back to the land thingit took me a long time to realize its a lot easier to get an actual job and buy farmer directinstead of building a farm and a homestead just buy a cheap house in a rural communityjust have a small garden and a couple of fruit treesits an issue of scalei can buy a failed breeding sow for 60c a pound on the hoof, bison for a dollar a pound, grains and for under 10c a pound, fall root crops for 25c a poundcanned vegetables are cheap if you buy them bulkso its much more time effective to get a normal job and just buy the foodotherwise your working for 5 bucks an hourthe only things that are moneyball are fresh produce and fermented vegetables, and thats only if you save your seedsfresh herbs and berries are a big money saverreally all you need is a few hundred sq ft per person
>>2795501You missed the point idiot
>>2795502>idiotlarper>buys chicks from commercial barn>buys feed and supplements from commercial feed supplier>spends thousands of dollars in building supplies to make coup and fence in yard>spends many hours plucking and gutting birds, cleaning up bird shit, cleaning and watering everyday, raising chicks>gets couple hundred dollars worth of eggs>"im self sufficient now"if you dont play moneyball youll end up spending lots of money just for the privilege of producing a few dollars worth of food per hour of work
>>2795321>how many days a year was that?I couldn't tell you for sure.Farming isn't like office work. You don't need to put in eight hours every day, five days a week to grow plants. But the amount of time you put in (outside a freak accident or weather) helped ensure that nothing fucked up.I probably worked 32 hours a week during the winter and summer. Spring and fall averaged 80 hours a week at least. Sometimes when it got too hot outside I would stop my tractor, crawl under it and go to sleep in the shade. >why do you farmers always act like you work a lot?I'm not a farmer anymore. But I was always on call, dealing with a lot of stress for very little pay.One of my neighbors killed himself because a freak hailstorm ripped through his acreage and destroyed all his crops. He couldn't pay back his debt, so he sucked on a tailpipe. I didn't want to work in a job with that much risk anymore.
>>2795365>help his fellow farmerI didn't want to socialize with them because they were rich dickheads. Imagine listening to the retarded heir of a clothing franchise bitch about how his Italian horses keep getting sick and dying, while not being sure if you're going to have enough money for food if you don't get your crop sold. Other guy I knew was a dentist. He kept trying to fuck with my water rights because he argued, and I quote, that "your pivots are taking up all of my water".Most of the people you see with big acreage are rich dickheads. They complain about not making money while owning tractors worth a small house.
>>2794145years ago, i wanted to live the life i now currently do, and looking back, i was right, my life was absolutely worse before, and its better nowsometimes people are legitimately displeased with something, they can have actual & genuine reasons for not liking their lifeyou hear about people who decide to go a certain way in life, that they wished for, and they end up not liking it, and so you may think "oh, well that may be the case with all things!", yet you don't hear of those who have no issue, as they have nothing to say, they are merely content personally, assuming i can retire, i want to one day get some land, far away from the rest of society, be it alone, or with a wife, and merely live off what i can scrounge from the ground, and sometimes make some trips out to town if evennot because of wishful thinking, escapism, or some other inane idea, but merely because i am a solitary person who likes natureOP, you sound either young or someone who can't live without others, and so, the only thing i can truly tell you, is that some people are different than you, with that, you may never understand them; yet in that same way, they may never understand how you question their ideals in turn