As noted in yesterday's post, survivalist literature often focuses on self sufficiency, a trait that it shares with the literature of the back-to-the-land movement. This movement, which has arisen in countries around the world many times over the past two millenia, is characterized by a movement from urban areas to rural areas, which is opposite the long-term historical trend of such migrations.
The most recent examples of this movement in North America occurred during the Great Depression (spurred on in part by the writings of Ralph Borsodi), immediately after World War II (partly influenced by writers like Betty MacDonald), and during the 1960s and 70s (influenced by the advent of such publications as the Whole Earth Catalog and Mother Earth News):
The modern literature of this movement generally focuses either on the philosophy of the movement, or on the tools of the movement, although much of the literature revolves around some combination of the two. Much of the modern movement's rationale is cast as a reaction to the perceived negatives of modern urban life: "rampant consumerism, the failings of government and society...a perceived general urban deterioration...the struggle or boredom of "moving up the company ladder...." Examples of these philosophical underpinnings of the movement may be found in the works of writers like Farley Mowat, Helen and Scott Nearing, and Aldo Leopold:
Among books about the tools of the movement are the acclaimed Foxfire series, as well as sundry titles devoted to everything from raising sheep, to cheesemaking, to beekeeping, to organic orcharding:
It might be argued that the ultimate back-to-the-land movement would be one directed off-planet, a topic we will examine in more detail tomorrow....
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