Hey VC, sorry for the late response. I have been swamped with work never had any free time til now to pen a worthy response.
Some things you can get with money are actual wealth, and some are life itself.
When I was recovering from a flood, we had a lot of foundation and masonry work, and I had a master mason make a set of steps to my front door. I set a video camera in the doorway and focused it on the steps, recording hours of his meticulous work, and every slap and tap of how it was done. My kids watched that video over and over. It was better than cartoons. Such experiences were very formative for my sons. I taught them math with tape measures and the imperial measurement system of feet and inches, which required them to handle fractions constantly on jobs for me. Worked well. Men learn a lot making things.
Excellent excellent point made here. It goes to show that if given the chance anyone can appreciate good craftsmanship, can recognise what life skills are actually important (being able to fix or create a set of steps compared too....button bashing on the phone???) and most importantly, that it can be learnt given time (i find people are afraid to make mistakes and experiment with things, to see what one is capable of achieving, and not capable of achieving, yet, at the same time.
When i was young i watch watch my Father during countless hours at the wok station in our family takeaway; i would also watch my Mother do the prep work for the day. I would watch my elders cut up fish, red meats, i would watch them slow roast ducks Cantonese style with a fire-gun (is that what it's called?).
When i came into my teens and started my life as a performing magician, i would often go to Covent Garden to watch the street buskers there, especially the magicians that did the classic cups and balls routine.
Throughout my life my observation skills lead me to have the courage at least to try things for myself. Some people don't need to observe, they jump straight in the deep end thriving in chaos or a new experience. This extra last push from observation to actual trial and error is what's lacking. Are we being somehow kept in the passenger seat of life's ride, never to take the steering wheel ourselves?
It would be grand if more craftsman could most their longform videos at work. I'm telling ya, brick layers, gardeners, electricians, real-estate soft-strippers etc etc are all making a comeback here in England and Europe. I'm seeing lots of videos like these. It would be good for the record to have more of these, as a educational avenue, uploaded onto the blockchain platforms.
By the way has your talks with your farmer friend gotten any further? If possible could you share a few of your niche ideas that you guys came up with? I know you will enjoy supporting the farmer and it's a noble goal all of us should partake in. As for myself i have been on a hunt via the helpx and wwooffing sites for permaculture farms in England to recluse to. My time in the rat race will come to a close soon, and i wish to leave the city behind. I've found a few and for the last month i have been preparing for my possible sojourn into the life of goodwill again.
As always the case with money it's not always beneficial to have financial resources to further the project, but grass-roots community/movements that end up being corrupted from external influences should take care in defining what wealth is to them, and to preserve the thing that generates true lasting value. Nurture the people, protect the land, preserve old-world talents and promote specialisation of expertise within a community.
Nice one man!
He's wrenching away at heavy equipment in a desperate race with Spring. After that he's got a lot of dirt to move, a lot of amendments to apply, and a lot of seeds to sow. We talked about alternatives to cattle for meat, to chickens for eggs, and livestock able to be managed under a roof rather than exposed to overflights by drones and fallout from chemtrails. However, he needs to tend to first things first.
I have learned that fundamental principles are of critical import from the beginning. Ensuring the primary values we set out to attain are the primary products of our endeavors is necessary to prevent financialization from taking over, which it will if it can. If acquisition of money isn't our primary goal, we need to exclude it and keep it to aspects where it is necessary, which it always finds a way to be in any endeavor. Keeping cattle for a PMA is such an endeavor that requires money, but that money needs to not be potential to divert the purpose of the PMA. To prevent that the expenses for feed, maintenance, butchering, packaging, and shipping must be contributed by PMA members as needed, and not by the farmer, because then the farmer doesn't need to recover them at the harvest by pricing meat, for example. That prevents the farmer from becoming a for profit business selling meat disguised as a PMA, which will draw unwanted attention eventually, and convert the farmer from a member of a community to a parasitic financial enterprise.