The Death of Hand Labor

I just watched a YouTube video that I don't feel comfortable posting, but the guy really had a lot of good things to say about how groups like PETA and workers' unions are detrimental to our society. Their war has turned farmers into criminals and caused the devaluation of good, honest work, while no one would dare to say that anything bad has come out of the technology industry. We have forgotten the benefits of skilled labor. All innovation without imitation is not healthy.

Yes, I'm all fired up again.

*Dishwashers wash our dishes
*Washing machines and dryers clean and dry our clothes
*Microwaves cook our food
*Factory farms grow our meat, and stores present it in neat little packages... precooked even, if you prefer
*Garbage trucks take away our trash while we sip our morning coffee... from a coffee maker
*Power outages cause folks to run to the local grocery stores en masse
*Automatic lighters and gas 'fireplaces'
*Laptops, blackberries, and iphones (I hope I'm naming these right, lol!) are more common than penmanship and proper spelling
*We have milk replacer, egg replacer, meat replacer, butter alternatives, sugar substitutes, artificial flavor... what's next, food replacer? I'm going to die of heart disease 'cause I use animal fat instead of Crisco?
*Schools to teach our kids
*Hospitals to heal our ear infections
*Stores to provide our food and clothes
*Theaters to entertain us
*Delivery vehicles for pizza, online shopping, mail, catering... you name it

...where are the mothers?

I'm not saying I don't personally use most of the afore-mentioned conveniences (since my family is still quite sane and have not followed me off the deep end as of yet), but I'm trying to command your attention: what is wrong with this picture?

The movies that most disturb me are Wall-E and Star Wars... who would want to live in a world like that? Don't you see that we are going down the fast lane in that direction? Deep down, none of us wants to live in a sterile environment with an out-of-control government taking away freedom AND responsibility, but that's what has happened... we are not better off, are we? Our day-to-day decisions have consequences.

All the 'dirty' jobs are being devalued. Things like butchering, mucking cow stalls, castrating animals, digging in dirt, sweating under a house to fix a leaky pipe, dealing with garbage... who on earth in their right mind would tell their school advisor, "Guess what I want to be when I grow up! A farmer!"

It is no longer honorable. Even jobs like construction, plumbing, and car repairman may be decreasing in workers. Trade schools are decreasing in enrollment.

Those who make their own soap, butcher their own meat, cook every meal from scratch are viewed as 'quaint' and 'old-fashioned'. "Our society doesn't need those things any more. Don't keep looking to the past, but towards the future! Be SOMEbody, do something that the world deems IMPORTANT."

Some of my dreams would be disturbing to the majority of you, as their content isn't rated G. It's the real world that I am starting to live in, and it's not a world of sanitary packaging and the latest movie rating. I talk about manure and earthworms and animal breeding. Years down the road I hope to be talking of cisterns, natural treatment of animal diseases, and just how important a trillion gut bugs are to your health.

My opinionatedness (if that is even a word) may get me in trouble, but more likely laughed at... but it's okay. We all have to stand before God someday and be held to account for what we did with our lives and the call of His Spirit. May God bless the guy that I marry. He's going to need it. :P

The pendulum is swinging back in the other direction. I want to be on the forefront of the battle for common-sense, God-honoring land and animal husbandry, consumer responsibility, and nutrient-dense real food. Like Esther: who knows but whether I was put in this place for such a time as this?