The Nearings

Credited as the "great-grandparents" of the back-to-the-land movement, the Nearings left NYC in 1932 for rural Vermont with "three objectives in mind: The first was economic" They didn't want to participate in "the commodity and labor markets". "[Their] second aim was hygienic." i.e. healthy living. "[Their] third objective was social and ethical. [They] desired to liberate ourselves and dissociate [them]selves, as much as possible, from the cruder forms of exploitation: the plunder of the planet; the slavery of man and beast; the slaughter of men in war, and of animals for food."

Reading their book "The Good Life" I feel so 21st century. Even as I'm amused by some of their dated language and ardent idealism, I yearn for a nobler, less cynical time. I certainly hope we find a nobler, less cynical life up in Maine. But maybe we'll just find we've signed on for too much discomfort, too much work, and too much uncertainty. I'll keep you posted.