tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post2357069888059772846..comments2024-03-23T05:42:07.516-04:00Comments on The Deliberate Agrarian: The Deliberate Agrarian BlogazineAugust 2011Herrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-71217628039237246942011-10-03T21:10:41.307-04:002011-10-03T21:10:41.307-04:00Herrick,
I would also like to thank you for mentio...Herrick,<br />I would also like to thank you for mentioning our sons' movie. It was a great learning experience for them. They now have the "movie bug," and I'm not sure where they will go from here! All this movie making made for an extra busy summer, and that must have been why I blanked out the entire month of September. Looking forward to slowing down after harvest and having an opportunity to dig into Agrarian Nation.Lynn Bartletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17435825858991342289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-53617547077414405722011-10-03T20:39:18.017-04:002011-10-03T20:39:18.017-04:00Thanks for the plug for our movie, Mr. Kimball. An...Thanks for the plug for our movie, Mr. Kimball. And I appreciate your "Advice to the Younger Generation;" much needed wisdom for our time and a good reminder to all of us.Jonathan Bartletthttp://www.excelsiorthemovie.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-57540309262961091752011-09-28T21:22:55.810-04:002011-09-28T21:22:55.810-04:00Anonymous,
These days I remain a registered Repub...Anonymous,<br /><br />These days I remain a registered Republican only because I am an elected official in my small rural town. I've been a member of the town board for the past ten years and am up for election again this year (unopposed). Most people in my town are Republicans and the Republican Committee would not pass my name to be on the ballot if I were anything other than a Republican. <br /><br />I was once involved in the Republican Committee and that was a real learning experience for me. I soon left and have no interest in political office beyond my town level, where I do not consider myself a politician but a public servant. <br /><br />I don't believe small rural towns will tolerate political demagogues in their midst. Local people know their neighbors. Beyond the local level is where the demagoguery begins. That's been my observation.<br /><br />Thanks for asking.Herrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-50650644196873396262011-09-28T20:47:53.752-04:002011-09-28T20:47:53.752-04:00Hi Herrick
"The only thing worse than saying ...Hi Herrick<br />"The only thing worse than saying that we don’t need economic growth is to say something negative about capitalism, especially if you are a Christian conservative and have been a registered Republican for the past 35 years (that’s me)."<br />Isnt the Republican party a party of corporate capitalism ,there is virtually no difference between the democartic party and the republicans,they are all parties of big business.Why as a christian conservative do you need to align yourself with the republican party. I agree with your view of Obama, but then arent all politicans demagogues ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-27457582658274700472011-09-15T20:15:25.509-04:002011-09-15T20:15:25.509-04:00K.
My e-mail is hckimball@bci.netK.<br /><br />My e-mail is hckimball@bci.netHerrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-78654795087529794842011-09-15T17:55:36.657-04:002011-09-15T17:55:36.657-04:00Hello Herick, I recently found your blog and I am ...Hello Herick, I recently found your blog and I am impressed. I was looking through your blog to find a way to communicate you, but didn't find any email or something. Please let me know how can I reach you.K.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-89721774876028518612011-09-15T11:58:57.101-04:002011-09-15T11:58:57.101-04:00Wow! What a great blog post!! Thank you. Jennif...Wow! What a great blog post!! Thank you. Jennifer in western NC (still following here and at Agrarian Nation)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-12693225368743646652011-09-11T20:41:49.189-04:002011-09-11T20:41:49.189-04:00I agree with you 100% about college and debt - rea...I agree with you 100% about college and debt - really, debt for anything. Avoid it at all costs! I was blessed in that my parents paid for four years of college (I initially had grandiose visions of majoring in American history, but my wise father said not on his dime - I'd major in something that would provide me gainful employment at the end of four years b/c at that time the hand that had thusfar fed me would be withdrawn - I could read history all I wanted on my own! So, I got a degree in mechanical engineering). I put myself through graduate school on a research assistantship and will point out that in most engineering disciplines you can get your way paid for this way - the problem is, the VAST majority of students are foreign. The domestic ones just don't want to work that hard (at much of anything it appears, on or off of a college campus). It really is a great deal if one is interested. All that said, I don't believe that college is necessary, it just is for some fields. I have two sons and won't insist that they go - they must, however, have solid plans to honor God and support their families. What concerns me most is their character, not their chosen professions.<br /><br />Which prompts my next question - are your sons still interested in working with you around your homestead? I ask as I have high hopes that my sons will always want to work together on the tasks that they help out with now in the garden, wood duty, etc.timfromohionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-74075446050348428962011-09-10T20:37:32.949-04:002011-09-10T20:37:32.949-04:00Thanks everyone for your comments here.
Tim,
You ...Thanks everyone for your comments here.<br /><br />Tim,<br />You are right... institutionalized higher education is necessary for certain fields of work and many of those fields are very important. Though I do think there are things about a college education worth denigrating, I'm not against some people getting a college education. But I'm persuaded that a college diploma is not absolutely necessary for achieving an adequate measure of success in this world, and it was nice to see this expressed in the movie.<br /><br />What I am 100% opposed to is going into debt for a college education. I've heard so many stories about friends and relatives of people I know who are deep (six figures, in some instances) in debt for their college education. Some of these people are highly educated professionals who can't find work, just like the movie says.<br /><br />I don't think that assuming debt for a college education is ever justified. But that's me, and I've felt this way as long as I can remember. <br /><br />As I've written here in t he past, I would not have gone to the two years of college that I went to were it not for my grandmother paying the tuition for me. My parents could not have paid it and I sure couldn't. <br /><br />As for my parents property, I have no plans to live there or do anything with the land. The woodland is a swamp and the small fields are wet. The old house is in rough shape and located on a busy state road. We will sell it as soon as possible. Probably next spring. I still hope/intend/plan/expect to purchase a few acres beyond my 1.5, and think about it often but I'm biding my time and waiting for things to fall into place. For now, I'm so busy with the Planet Whizbang business that I can barely keep my lawn mowed (But I did take a few hours this afternoon to weed and prune my raspberries—that's my important than mowing the lawn).<br /><br />Robert—<br />Let me know how the cider press works for you. I am also always looking for more tools of self sufficiency. I think I'm going to get a "Potato hook" for digging my potatoes this year.<br /><br />Dawn,<br />You are not the first person to recommend that E.F. Schumacher book. I believe I read an old Mother Earth News interview with him. I'll get the book. Thank you.<br /><br />James,<br />I agree.Herrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-33594997392320950412011-09-09T13:50:02.825-04:002011-09-09T13:50:02.825-04:00Remember Jesus' lesson most similar to 9/11: T...Remember Jesus' lesson most similar to 9/11: The tower of Siloam, mentioned in Luke 13:4-5<br />The tragedy is not that 6000 (or 18) died, but that humanity is all under a death sentence every day. We are all sinners, and all need to repent, because we live in a deadly world, and our end cane come anytime.<br />JFJameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11363950259121845950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-24418652050041783672011-09-09T01:46:13.560-04:002011-09-09T01:46:13.560-04:00Wonderful, thought provoking stuff, as always! Ha...Wonderful, thought provoking stuff, as always! Have you read "Small is Beautiful" by E.F. Schumacher? It's been referenced in countless other books I've read (John Seymour was a big fan of Schumacher), but I've only just knuckled down to reading it. Wow. The bulk of the book is based on speeches dating back to 1961, and the book itself was published in 1973 - BUT - what he's saying could have been written last week, it seems so current. My point (at last) is that it ties in so well with the first part of your post, it's almost uncanny.<br />Cheers, DawnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-59932893381694005062011-09-06T14:01:55.248-04:002011-09-06T14:01:55.248-04:00Herrick,
I'm finishing "You Can Farm&qu...Herrick, <br /><br />I'm finishing "You Can Farm" right now. Like his other books, Joel has this one chock full of great ideas for anyone wanting to venture down that path. <br /><br />I've read a fair amount of predictions for the next few decades and I must say I agree with yours the most. Although we don't know exactly how it'll happen I think we'll end in the spot you illustrate. For that reason I've been collecting the tools of self sufficiency. My Whizbang Cider Press is almost complete, just in time for cider season. I'll post a blog about it when it is done and let you know. <br /><br />God Bless,<br />RobertRoberthttp://www.hisandhershomesteading.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-37483574222490757262011-09-06T04:40:30.861-04:002011-09-06T04:40:30.861-04:00Great post! So much to chew on and go back and lo...Great post! So much to chew on and go back and look at.Trixihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17196019426959996853noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-69156277386548777292011-09-04T22:08:53.765-04:002011-09-04T22:08:53.765-04:00...government of the corporations, by the corporat......government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations?<br />That is a T-shirt slogan or bumper sticker or something. Very sad.<br /><br />MickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-48000919207265985122011-09-04T08:15:42.689-04:002011-09-04T08:15:42.689-04:00Great update! You didn't mention much of your...Great update! You didn't mention much of your parent's property - perhaps too personal, but I was wondering if you might be able to make use of the land for expanded agrarian exploits?<br /><br />Regarding the college video - I find a common theme denegrating higher education amongst blogs such as this, homesteading sites, etc. I agree to an extent, but feel compelled to point out that the video swung the pendulum too far the other direction. I should note at this point I've only watched the first minutes, but so far the video bases all costs associated with a higher education with the average cost of a private college - perhaps I'm wrong, but don't most folks wind up at public institutions? Still expensive, but the average in my state is around 1/3 of the number quoted. <br /><br />I agree with the overall premise presented, namely that just b/c you get a degree doesn't mean that you'll be on a path to success. However, I believe that "higher education" is still a necessity in certain fields that will be required, even in a very different future that we all feel is coming. Medicine, engineering, the sciences ... I'm an engineer by profession. There's no way I could have figured out solid mechanics by myself, or thermodynamics, or solid state electronics, the list goes on. I focus on engineering b/c that's what I know, but I feel we'll need engineers even in the uncertain future, to continue to design things, make more efficient use of the energy available, etc. <br /><br />Overall, college should be used wisely to one's advantage. Does it make sense to go based on what one wants to do? French literature, history, communications - don't waste the money. Engineer, physician, scientist - go to school, stay in school to get a graduate degree, and take on zero debt in the process. <br /><br />Further, use college and careers that I've mentioned as tools to prepare for an uncertain future. I work as a researrch engineer and make a decent living. I could live like my contemporaries and spend my spare time with grown-up toys, with golf clubs, etc. Instead, I spend my spare time teaching my sons to grow an increasingly larger portion of our own food, how to effectively heat our home with wood, how to tend to our chickens, how to build things around our home (like a true yoeman!). We have zero debt save the mortgage which we are paying down early - as fast as possible really. Then the plan is to look for a larger plot of land beyond our 1.78 acres. If God will's it, we might be able to expand. The point is, we are a transitional generation(s) and college can be used effectively to ease that transition if used wisely and with discretion.timfromohionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-58034484139378016882011-09-03T12:10:49.048-04:002011-09-03T12:10:49.048-04:00Wow - this was a terrific work! I always enjoy you...Wow - this was a terrific work! I always enjoy your posts but this one is particularly informative. I'm looking forward to checking out the links and articles, thank you.<br /><br />On your advice I've added the Salatin book to the shopping list.<br />I already have Patrice's book, and had a similar reaction to yours. I enjoyed it, and it's something that I would give to young newlyweds, or a high school graduate. It's very straightforward. You're right, she would be good advice columnist!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com