Regarding farm life and having lots of children to keep the farm running, I always think of this harrowing poem by Henry Lawson. It’s an Australian poem, so the conditions of farming may have been a lot less ideal than either American or European farms of the same era - and crucially, there were not always nearby neighbours. The American barn-raising etc. tradition has always sounded comforting. It’s impossible for me to have nostalgia for the Australian times of settlement.
Ah, but you can. I do it. From what I’ve read from your posts, you do it. Quite a few other Dopers do it as well. For most, it’s more of a hobby than an forced lifestyle.
DrDeth and Der Trihs bring up another good point. I build furniture as a hobby. A coworker once asked me to look at an old chest that his wife had bought while “antiqueing”. She wanted to know if I could make something like it. It was falling apart at the seams. I realized it was the 1910 edition of the Walmart $19.95 special. I told her I could make something a little sturdier and better. She asked if I could then make it look old like this one. I told her no, it would look new. She lost interest.
Anyway, my point was, people made cheap, crappy furniture 100 years ago. That stuff didn’t last long enough for someone to pass down to the grandkids. It served its purpose and was thrown on life’s great scrap heap. The better-made stuff that did last is and is still around, we look and it now and say, “They don’t make things like that anymore.”
Well, yes they do and it cost a lot of money just like it did 100 years ago.
The same is true for books, music, movies, memories, tools, customs. We keep the good stuff, discard most of the rest. When we think about “the good old days”, we forgot about the great big scrap heap of stuff we left behind.
I really appreciate things like the Foxfire books, though, because it’s good to stop now and then and look back to see if something forgotten will serve another purpose today. I also appreciate people like my father, who would try some of the old ways, just to see if he could do it. I think there’s enough of those folks around that the old ways won’t die anytime soon.
WhyNot, your point about having more support from the community is an excellent point, but I think that has more to do with the anonimity of urban living rather than a result of modern technology. Once we get past the namelessness and facelessness of those around us, we’re just as likely to help each other out as we were 100 years ago. One thing that has changed, there are more people now who think it’s the government’s job to provide that support. That concerns me a bit.