Those of us who are old enough to remember a world without TV dinners -
We grew most of our food from seed, in gardens we tilled, hoed, weeded, then picked & canned the harvest, and then laid in provisions for the winter.
(I can’t remember which annoyed me more, shelling peas, or the dad-gummed lima beans! The endless baskets, and the sore fingers! Must have been the lima beans!)
We traded with our neighbors (meat for milk, etc), and helped each other out when things got tough, or someone was hurt - all of that now only a memory in those of us now too old to explain it to our urban offspring.
We see our adult children ridiculing our warnings, and we see our grandchildren lolling on the couch in front of the TV, oblivious to the effort it takes to keep them living like mythical olympian gods and goddesses.
We are beyond worry for them now, for we fear they are doomed. The very idea of mundane work, so they can eat, be warm, or even have potable water completely escapes them. They “know” it is their birthright, and that government gives it to them, along with whatever else they fancy, like a cellphone.
My question, for those of you sharing my grief, who might offer some slim shred of hope - how do we go on seeing the oncoming disaster, when all around are pretending that the music is still playing, like on the Titanic?
Where can we find hope for their future?
All I can see ahead is desolation, a new dark age of barbarism. Please tell me that I am wrong, and that I have overlooked something when trying to discern the future.
Disaster may be our only hope for a return to self reliance and true community.
I hear dat! Back on the farm, all we had was a 2-bottom plow, a tractor with no cab, no umbrella, a hard metal seat (no air cushioned seat like now), no radios, Walkman’s were yet to be invented, any small radio was a luxury, stick clutch (no hydrostatic drive), and hundreds of dusty acres to turn. Days of back and forth barely seeing any gain on the job. Of course, my “pay” was just being part of the family. I knew it had to get done. No options but to grind away with similar jobs—tending the livestock, harvesting, etc. It had to be done!
That prepared me in so many ways for being successful now. It is what I call, a “basis of appreciation” that has pushed me through challenges after leaving the farm for college and my future. While I, for the most part, hated it then, I look back now and appreciate that experience in so many ways.
Definately Lima beans!! LOL