Philosophy Some scholars suggest that agrarianism espouses the superiority of rural society to urban society and the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values.Thompson, Paul. 2010. "Interview Eighteen" in Sustainability Ethics: 5 Questions Ed. Ryne Raffaelle, Wade Robinson, and Evan Selinger. United States: Automatic Press It stresses the superiority of a simpler rural life in comparison to the complexity of urban life. For example, M. Thomas Inge defines agrarianism by the following basic tenets:M. Thomas Inge, ed. Agrarianism in American Literature (1969), introduction; paraphrased Farming is the sole occupation that offers total independence and self-sufficiency. Urban life, fascism, capitalism, and technology destroy independence and dignity and foster vice and weakness. The agricultural community, with its fellowship of labor and co-operation, is the model society. The farmer has a solid, stable position in the world order. They have "a sense of identity, a sense of historical and religious tradition, a feeling of belonging to a concrete family, place, and region, which are psychologically and culturally beneficial." The harmony of their life checks the encroachments of a fragmented, alienated modern society. Cultivation of the soil "has within it a positive spiritual good" and from it the cultivator acquires the virtues of "honor, manliness, self-reliance, courage, moral integrity, and hospitality." They result from a direct contact with nature and, through nature, a closer relationship to God. The agrarian is blessed in that they follow the example of God in creating order out of chaos.
Philosophy Some scholars suggest that agrarianism espouses the superiority of rural society to urban society and the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values.Thompson, Paul. 2010. "Interview Eighteen" in Sustainability Ethics: 5 Questions Ed. Ryne Raffaelle, Wade Robinson, and Evan Selinger. United States: Automatic Press It stresses the superiority of a simpler rural life in comparison to the complexity of urban life. For example, M. Thomas Inge defines agrarianism by the following basic tenets:M. Thomas Inge, ed. Agrarianism in American Literature (1969), introduction; paraphrased Farming is the sole occupation that offers total independence and self-sufficiency. Urban life, fascism, capitalism, and technology destroy independence and dignity and foster vice and weakness. The agricultural community, with its fellowship of labor and co-operation, is the model society. The farmer has a solid, stable position in the world order. They have "a sense of identity, a sense of historical and religious tradition, a feeling of belonging to a concrete family, place and region, which are psychologically and culturally beneficial." The harmony of their life checks the encroachments of a fragmented, alienated modern society. Cultivation of the soil "has within it a positive spiritual good" and from it the cultivator acquires the virtues of "honor, manliness, self-reliance, courage, moral integrity, and hospitality." They result from a direct contact with nature and, through nature, a closer relationship to God. The agrarian is blessed in that they follow the example of God in creating order out of chaos.