Agrarianism is not a Step Backwards but a Step Forward Towards Freedom

Part of the destruction of an agrarian society includes the reduction, or elimination, of decentralized farming.  While this can be done in many ways, such as focusing on farming on a large scale, one of the less notable, but possibly the most effective, methods used is to simply deter the next generation taking over the faming profession.  Making farming so expensive that it deters people from entering the field is one method that is used, and working, in making farming less desirable for future generations .  However, one of the most successful methods used is the indoctrinating of current and future generations into thinking that farming is a step backwards.

This is nothing new, you hear it all the time in more than just farming families ~ that a parent wants better for their children.  The goal of a better life for ones children is, in and of its self, not bad it is just that this statement invariably seems to assume going to college is part of this success, because that is what the powers that be want to be the goal.  If the power brokers can get everyone into academia, an academia they mostly control, they can better indoctrinate the future leaders to do as they, the leaders, desire.  We can see this working itself out today on college and university campuses around the nation by simply looking at how many people on campuses support a candidate like Bernie Sanders, an admitted socialist, or vote for the candidates that hold to policies that are detrimental to society.

While you may or may not like country music it is a form of music that, at least in the past, spoke to the common man and often the farmer.   Recently I heard a song by Carrie Underwood called “Smoke Break.”  I am not here to list all the issues with the song, or even if it is really even country music, but there were a few lines that spoke to this idea of farming being a profession to leave rather than to get into.  Here are the words I am referring to:

He’s a big-city, hard-working man just trying to climb the ladder
First generation to go to college instead of driving a tractor
Never had nothing handed to him on a silver platter
It’s hard to be a good man, good son, do something good that matters

In this song you can see that it is put forward as commendable to no longer need to drive a tractor and in many ways it belittles those that do.  What is sad is it also implies that it is better to “climb the ladder” than to be “driving a tractor.”  It is better to not look at working hard at what one is doing but instead stay focused on what one thinks they want to do, climb a ladder.  However, the last words are the most disturbing as in essence they say that to farm is of no importance,  but climbing the corporate ladder with a college degree is, “do something good that matters.”.

Now you may say; “You are just reading too much into a song.”  Well maybe, but I do not think so.  I hear many people, not just those that farm, speak of college like it is not an option but a necessity and that to not do so is to have less than a successful life.  Far too many families have joined the “cult of education” in thinking success goes down the academic pathway.  People willingly send their children, sons and daughters, off to be sacrificed at the altar of higher education at centers of higher indoctrination around the country and abroad.  The “good” Christian parent will seek a “good” Christian college or university for their children but what often happens is that they end up at a school that in the end simply has “Christian” in its name.   Many will even send their children about anywhere if it is on scholarship.  What comes back home from these institutions, Christian or not, when they are done brainwashed is rarely the same as what left home, and not necessarily in a good way.   Sorry to stray from speaking about farming but the same principle that leads people away from farming leads people away from many trades because people have been sold a bill of goods that says working with ones hands is a step down, a step backwards, and is for those that just cannot make it through higher education.  This mindset leads people, over time, into not having any discernable skills to care for themselves, or help others.  Yea, they can text and drive and may even know the latest computer language that will be outdated in a few years but cannot hammer a nail or turn a screw.  Thus when they need something done they are dependent on a service provide but since, if things go as they are, none exist they will simply have to dispose of the broken goods and buy something else.  Hmm, may almost sound like a desired result for a consumption based economy such as we have.

A country that is agrarian by nature is harder to control because the powers that be cannot control the food supply when it is decentralized.  However, if there are only a few farms and even those, by virtue of subsidies and other controls, are under the thumb of the governing powers, and those that control them, the control of the masses is much easier.  If you farm or for that matter are part of any trade I encourage you not to dismiss that profession as the one your children can go into.  If you are in the professional world do not think it is a step down to lead your children in the direction of a trade.  It is quite the opposite; it is a step in the direction of freedom.

If you read the history of our nation you will find that what made it great was not simply innovation, a favorite word of the day, but the ability to make something, to have a skill.  Our nation was made great not by the power elite but by the farmer, the blacksmith, the cobbler and others that actually made product.  Not just creating disposable goods, as are mostly made today, but goods used to make other things as well as goods to sustain society not destroy it.   This ability to make goods creates a decentralized power and a people that do not need Big Brother to keep them going.  Instead life is lived interdependently within the community one resides in.

All of this requires a paradigm shift that is not new but back to what has worked throughout history.  This is not about being anti-technology but about about making technology work for you and not you for it.  Its about not being dependent on the newest innovation but on the people around you.  Lets avoid the trap that to use ones hands is a step down, since in the future those that think so will be sorely surprised one day when they have to depend on others to do the most menial of tasks and realize how wrong they were to think as they did.

This mindset change will take time and starts with raising the next generation to understand what work is and how it relates to true freedom.  However, to do this even the current generation of adults needs a change of paradigm because they are raising the next generation and are the ones sending the generations to follow down the path of slavery.  Pray that God saves us from the “cult of education” and leads us down the path of freedom.


  1. Tony, thank you for an interesting and very inspiring post.

    You might like to look at a blog post from a UK Quaker who also calls for a return to the land for young people and highlights the value of a life in agriculture;

  2. Tony says:

    Thanks for the link Ray, that was a good article.

  3. greg says:

    Very good article Tony.All except the swipe taken at Bernie Sanders.Socialism is not communism.If you listen to what he says many of his ideas would benefit us of the 99 percent.He is anti-corporate (as we all need to be since the goal of the corporate elite is to turn our world into a workers prison planet with no true freedom)and is for all people getting a fair shake financially.I like your term “cult of education”.I am sick and tired of constantly hearing about our “failing schools”(mostly propaganda though there are some bad schools)and how our kids should do two hours of homework a night and go to school year round and now go to PRE pre-school.Our most important “teachers”should remain parents,aunts and uncles,grandparents and your local community.My extended family taught me how to hunt and fish and work in the garden and how to get along with others and how to celebrate just being together.All of which is practically useless in todays world.This is all in the process of being lost as our families are being torn apart and some of us are being brainwashed with the idea that we must do whatever Authority (either corporate or government)wants us to do.Once our link to nature and each other is broken all is lost and our society will continue to slowly sink into madness.

  4. Tony says:

    Hi Greg:

    Thanks for the compliment.

    My “swipe” at Bernie did mention he was a socialist, not a communist, but in the end socialism is but a step towards communism. The point in context of the article about Bernie has been his insistence that education is the salvation of man – I know he does not use those words but that seems to be his understanding of it. Interestingly one of the key tenants of the “isms” mentioned is “education” but in truth it is indoctrination and the public/Gov’t schools are the tool of that indoctrination so the goal is to get everyone into them.

    The issue with most socialists, is they have ideas that sound good, helping people, but since they have no biblical backing they will not work and over time just lead to more unbiblical issues. I am also anti-corporate to the extent that a corporation/business is unbiblical as it is possible, even though not sure we see it happen often. What I have seen historically is that fascism, socialism and communism all claim to be anti-corporate but in the end are not since they end up creating the largest and most powerful corporation, the Gov’t.

    Thanks again for reading the article and commenting.

  5. [...] This is really an outcome of the move from being an agrarian society.  The sad part about this move is people, by in large, move in this direction willingly.  Being sold that to lead an agrarian life is backward and something to be moved away from further encourages many of the children of those still seeking an agrarian life to abandon it for what they think is a better one. I recently wrote on this in an article called:  ”Agrarianism is not a Step Backwards but a Step Forward Towards Freedom“. [...]

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