Free-Range Living

'Man made -------'

 'Man is not a mere machine',  so says a recent TV ad, but does modern life have a tendency to push people into man-made 'machine life' - ? Martina Natratilova, the ex star tennis player, remarked awhile back that people have got too used to using cars, even for small journeys. Modern small electronic machines seem to absorb quite a bunch of time for quite a few people, and if there is a new gadget that promises 'easier life', then there seems to be virtually automatic uptake , 'easier life' being taken as synonomous with happier life- ? What's been called 'the throw away' culture would seem to  encourage a non-mend mindset, and modern life has to some extent faciltated 'non-mend', some machines,for instance, eg. cars, having tended to become too complex for home mending. Push button systems, for example, heating, also mean that more processes tend to become 'hands off' - all adding, maybe, to a less tactile engagement with life processes - ?

Here on the organic eco micro-holding (small smallholding) in the UK midlands region, the aim is to take an independant approach involving more 'hands on' action - things tend to be repaired and re-used, for instance. Right now the metal head of a hoe is in the woodburner to burn out the broken off piece of wooden stale in it, and then a stale from a found caput grass rake will be fitted to hopefully make it as good as new, at no add-on cost. As many have undoubedly found, there can be considerable satisfaction to be had by 'making things good' again, and especially maybe if a creative, original solution is found - ?

'N' can maybe be a bit intimidating to some, a burly figure with jet black hair and beard, and a bit of a 'biker' presence. He's a 'natural' with machines and part of his 'portfolio' lifestyle is to mend things, particularly mowers, for people. A year or two back, he built himslf a ride-on mower with parts he'd accumulated - his actual 'extra' cash outlay was under £100 - a talented, self-reliant man. Taking something to him for repair can be an experience. He'll look closely at it , hum and ha a bit, stroke his beard, pull on his earring, and eventually, as like or not, pronounce ' hmmm, I suppose somat can be done with the darn thing'. A day or two later, there it is, as good as new, and very often with a fairly original remedy having been applied. A really useful bloke to know, a real asset to local society, even though he may profess at times to be something of an anarchist.

'Machine less (nearly) culture --- ?'

 Machine use on the micro-holding  tends to be limited and 'by design', rather than 'willy nilley'. Perhaps a couple of lambs should really be the pasture trimmers in the half of the small paddock down to grass (orchard on other half) , but the fact is they're not - a sizeable petrol rotary mower keeps the grass down, mowing during the summer on average once every two/ three weeks depending on growth. The smaller pieces of grass near the cottage are mown mostly courtesy of sun energy via the solar panels and through a smaller electric rotary mower, which does the job admirably roughly once a week in summer. All the rest of the work (ah - apart from recently introduced mechanised hedgecutting courtesy of solar power - and then there's the wood sawing via electric chainsaw and sawbench, hopefully mainly using solar power) is via 'human engagement energy' using 'intermediate technology' tools as an 'augmentation' to human energy : 'capital' hasn't automatically replaced 'labour' here as it seems to have done so often generally.

In this case there's been a conscious policy to retain the benefits of the 'labour':  expending energy/keeping fit , engaging and involving with nature and natural processes and being part of the 'creating' process -  to then hopefully experience 'direct' satisfactions, which broadly speaking, does happen. Similarly , apart from fetching back wood in the small 'utility' car on occasions, 'transportation' involves 'Shank's pony' and a suitable hand-pushed contraption. It's probably all part of what Kevin Mcloud on UK TV calls the pleasure and satisfaction of 'doing' : making, creating, renewing.

'Macro culture ----- '
 
Another 'take' on creating was evident in the quote from Richard Feyneman, one of the most prominent US scientists of the twentieth century  :

 'Man creates --- and Heaven or Hell could be the result'

 Some - maybe quite a few - might say that with business 'exploitations' (eg. mis-selling of insurances to individuals, plus. seemingly, quite a few others), use of power to self-serve (eg, consternation in Uk at present at the large firm-type practice of demanding money off suppliers), social hardship caused by alleged 'over' severe benefits cuts and rules (eg. one appointment being missed resulting in benefits being halved), and now in the Uk prolonged astringency measures causing hardship for working people, whilst a 'top' section of society get significantly richer - that for some at least, maybe in fact quite a few, it's more 'hell' than 'heaven' - ? The Archbishop of Canterbury here in the UK has been reported as being shocked at social deprivations causing, for instance, the rise of food banks to help people not being able to afford to buy food ( the existence of such voluntary social support systems presumably could represent evidence that significant social imbalance has been created - and by man - ?)

'Man-made culture -----'
 
In a 'power' based culture, though, perhaps the 'power' move is to try to focus peoples' attentions and efforts on existence, leaving then less or little energy for 'resistance', or even 'dissent' - ?  Seemingly one of the ways of doing this, besides making it tough economically for people, is to reduce peoples' level of security, by moves such as the use of fixed term contracts, making people re-apply for their jobs (some reward for service - ?), and introducing non-secure work arrangements such as the use of zero-hours contracts, wherein the employee has no guarantee of work, yet in some situations is restricted also from finding work elsewhere (how were/are people mean't to manage their lives under such conditions - ??)  Examples of 'man-made' systems maybe not exactly creating heaven for some - ?

With the many troubles , problems and hardships in the world, it might seem that any 'man-made heaven' is presently a bit of a far-off prospect - ? Other societies do play it differently. Denmark, officially  the 'happiest' world country, and now rated as the least corrupt world culture, apparently value trust and respect very highly in their culture, seemingly paying off in the longer-term creating a solid, sustainable and harmonious society - ?

'Micro culture ----- '

   A power/ control culture may be not necessarily the best news for those seeking a 'freerange' lifestyle  and individuals might then feel the need to as far as is possible, try to limit any perceived negative effects - ? Here on the  micro-holding , the aim is to try to follow Fritz Schumacher's ( of 'Small is Beautiful' renown) sentiments when he stated that modern life seemed to be experiencing 'giantism', so it was necessary then to insist on and focus on the benefits of 'small', and to then try to counteract any such potentially negative effects of any large-scale materialistically-orientated culture seemingly intent on having significant power over people. Such an approach not only helps with the physical reality of life such as meeting basic needs of food, shelter, warmth etc., at the same time bolstering security, but also (hopefully) in maintaining a reasonably independent 'freerange' open outlook, and some mental strength as a buffer against any over-demanding and over-intrusive cultural effects.