“For us, the possibility of kindly use is weighted with problems. In the first place, this is not ultimately an organization or institutional solution. Institutional solutions tend to narrow and simplify as they approach action. A large number of people can act together only by defining the point or the line on which their various interests converge. Organizations tend to move toward single objectives -- a ruling, a vote, a law -- and they find it relatively simple to cohere under acronyms and slogans. But kindly use is a concept that of necessity broadens, becoming more complex and diverse, as it approaches action. The land is too various in its kinds, climates, conditions, declivities, aspects, and histories to conform to any generalized understanding or to prosper under generalized treatment. The use of land cannot be both general and kindly -- just as the forms of good manners, generally applied (applied, that is, without consideration of differences), are experienced as indifference, bad manners. To treat every field, or every part of every field, with the same consideration is not farming but industry. Kindly use depends upon intimate knowledge, the most sensitive responsiveness and responsibility. As knowledge (hence, use) is generalized, essential values are destroyed. As the householder evolves into a consumer, the farm evolves into a factory -- with results that are potentially calamitous for both.”
Quote by Wendell Berry
Work
The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture
A profound and thought-provoking analysis of the relationship between agriculture and culture in the United States, exploring the consequences of industrial farming practices on the environment, economy, and community life. more
Author
You May Also Like
Source: A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There
Source: Remembering
“Solitude is where I place my chaos to rest and awaken my inner peace.”
Source: Plantation Slavery and Land Ownership in the West Highlands and Islands
Source: Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman: Conservation Heroes of the American Heartland
Source: Our New Story: Guides in the Garden Volume 1
Source: Tajrish
