The structure of a family farm exists as the only successful form of Communism in history. The only entity in which the workers truly own the means of production is the family farm. Communal living, a division of labor based on skill, and extremely hard work are emblematic of farming. But, unlike most urban forms of production the produce of the workers labor is truly their own. You reap what you sew. Plant no seed and you will have no produce. A labor theory of value can be applied here, the farmer owns the land, his means of production, because he joins his labor with the land. The ritualistic conjoining of labor and soil that produces an economic good is an alchemy far more rewarding than the degenerate alchemy we see on Wall Street.

My girlfriend's family has farmed the same tract of land for five generations. Once you know what your looking for icons of the past gleam in the thick thick grass. Old and unused garden beds. The old cattle scale, still in use but in decay. They have joined sweat and soil for a living for all of this time with nothing but the land and decaing out buildings to show for it. Why do they continue in vein when massive corporations are pushing farms like theirs into extinction? Why toil into obvious oblivion? It is their nature to persist in times of torment. Who does the independent farmer exploit? He is a "capitalist" if you mean he works to make money. But in truth the farmer works to make it to next year. Farmers are next year people. The rain will be better next year. Next year we will expand the north field. Next year we will repair the aging barn. Next year. Next year. Next year.. Ad infenitum.

Degeneration of our family farms across the country has coincided with the degeneracy of our mass consumer culture fueled by unregulated capitalism and usury. Skilled labor is more valuable than unskilled labor. That is why engineers are paid more than bank tellers. Industry and the streamlined division of labor has created an entire economy of unskilled labor. Finance and advertising are our number one and two most profitable industries in modern times. Speculation on digital speculation ad nausium. Physical alchemy achieved. Lead to gold in the futures market. At one time, when our population was more rural we had a massive population of skilled labor. Skilled in animal husbandry, in crop rotation, and sustainable living. My girlfriend's mother told us a humorous story that is emblematic of this modern era of convenience that has freed us from the skills our ancestors took for granted. As a young girl, 14-15 she was talking to an old woman who would have been young in the 1890's. She was declaring how odd it was that so few young brides could render lard anymore. Think about that. Lard was a raw material used for numerous things on a family farm. Used for everything from lubricant, to making soap, and of course cooking it was something a homestead could not function without. Today farmers markets that have popped up across the country can fetch high dollar for homemade saops that do not use the chemicals of the massive corporations. Many people are finding it trendy to do things the old way.

The family farm exemplifies the complimentary nature of the genders. While the men worked the field women would be busy with many tasks, preserving fruits and vegetables, rendering lard, making clothes, and teaching children to read and write, typically from the Bible, this among umpteen tasks that our culture has left to the monopolies and to the state. The division of labor provided by the complimentary nature of the genders allows a family farm to function. The fields become the domain of the man and the house the domain of the woman. This is not sexist to say it is just an observation of the divided labor that took place naturally in history. We must rekindle the altars. We must relearn the old ways.

Sharpening a knife is the most glaring skill that our modern "men" have lost. Take out your pocket knife, if you have one, is it sharp? Sharp enough to shave hair? If it isn't, you aren't a the man your grandfather was. Mass production has created a culture where once something wears out it is common practice to just throw it away and get another. Take a second and think about your grandpa's pocket knife. An essential tool every man carried. Think about the discolored metal and the age warn edge. Think about the totemic item left by his decades of work. A item worthy a shrine. Where did it end up? Where is your grandpa's pocket knife? Our ancestors tools are worthy. They still ply the land as efficiently as they once did, if maintained of course. So much has fallen into disrepair in this the era of rust and dust. Speculating on if it is going to be a good year for rain is healthy, speculating on digital transactions and the labor of others is a sinister form of usury only possible in an unhealthy urban environment. We must decentralize everything. We must work for ourselves. This is the message I bring to you, ply the land, become the telos of the revolution, own the means of production.

As an aside, and partially the revelation of a ritual, I told my girlfriend that we can get married the day she brings me one pint of rendered lard.