Chapter 18 Economics - 13

Primitive man lives simply and naked, at least in this way, and remains a mere stranger in nature.When he has eaten and slept enough and feels refreshed, he can think about his itinerary again.No, he dwelt under the tent of the sky, and neither walked through the valleys, nor walked across the plains, nor climbed the mountains.But look!Humans have become the tools of their tools.Independently and naturally, he who plucks fruit when hungry has become a farmer; and he who rests in the shade has become a steward.We no longer camp at night, we dwell on the earth and forget the sky.We practice Christianity as a method of improving agriculture.We have built mansions and houses on earth, and then we have built graveyards.The best works of art show how human beings struggle to free themselves from this situation, but the effect of our art is to make our humiliating situation more comfortable, and the higher state is forgotten .Indeed, in this village there is no place for works of fine art, even if some have survived, because neither our lives nor our houses or streets can afford a proper pedestal for them.Not a nail to hang a picture on, nor a shelf to receive a bust of a hero or saint.When I think of how our houses were built, how their bills were paid or unsettled, and what the internal economics of their households were like, I wondered why, when guests admired those things on the mantelpieces The floor does not slump in one fell swoop when it is a gizmo, and let it fall down the cellar, all the way down to solid, faithful bedrock.I can't help but see that people in the world are jumping towards the so-called rich and elegant life. I don't appreciate the artworks that embellish life at all. I concentrate on people's jumping, and I think of the highest high jump record that human muscles can achieve. Or certain wandering Arabs, who leap from level ground to heights of twenty-five feet.If there is no support, you will still fall to the ground after jumping to such a height.So the first question I ask of those too inappropriate property owners is, who's behind you?Are you among the ninety-six who failed, or among the three who succeeded?Having answered these questions, perhaps I shall go and see your fine and worthless playthings, and appreciate their ornamental flavor.A cart before a horse is neither beautiful nor useful.Before a house can be adorned with beautiful ornaments, a layer must be stripped from the walls, and a layer must be stripped from our lives, and a foundation of good housekeeping, a good life: know that the taste of beauty is best in the open air Foster, where there is neither house nor steward.

Johnson Sr., in his Wonderful Creation, tells us of his contemporaries who first colonized the city: They piled the earth high upon the timbers, and on the highest side a smoking fire was built to bake the earth." They did not "build themselves houses," he said, until "God blessed, the land produced enough bread to feed them", but the first year's harvest was not good, "they had to reduce their rations for a long season." wrote a passage, telling in greater detail those who were about to emigrate there, "The people in New Netherland, especially in New England, were at first unable to build farmhouses as they wished, and they dug a square in the ground. Square cellar-like pits six or seven feet deep, as long or as short as they like, and then put wooden boards on the walls to keep the soil, and use bark to prevent the soil from falling. Of course, other materials are also used. Wooden boards laid the floor, made the ceiling, put up a girder roof, and spread bark or green turf, so that the whole family could live in it warmly and dryly for two, three, or four years. Imagine that among these cellars there are also small rooms, depending on the size of the family. The rich and important people of New England lived in such dwellings at the beginning of the colonization, and there were two The reasons are, firstly, that the rabbits have to build houses, wasting time, and will not have enough food for the next season; secondly, they don't want the hard labor they recruited from the motherland in large numbers to feel discouraged. After three or four years, when the fields are suitable for After farming, they build beautiful houses for themselves and spend thousands of dollars."

In adopting this course our ancestors showed that they were at least very cautious, and their principle seemed to be to satisfy the most urgent needs first.And now, are our most pressing needs met?I am dejected at the thought of buying myself a luxurious mansion, because it seems that there is no corresponding human culture in this land, and we still have to reduce our spiritual rations to be more economical than our ancestors. And more flour.This is not to say that all architectural decoration can be completely neglected even at the first stage; but that the parts of our houses that are connected with our lives can be beautifully made, like the inner walls of shells, but never It's too beautiful.But alas!I have been inside a house or two, and know how they are furnished inside!

Of course, we have not degenerated to the point where we live in cave dwellings, stilt houses, or wear animal skins. Naturally, the inventions and industrial contributions of human beings who paid a high price for convenience should still be accepted.Boards, roofing boards, lime, and bricks are always easier and cheaper in our part of the world than habitable caves, raw logs, copious amounts of bark, or clay or flat flakes of stone.I speak quite expertly, for I am familiar with these things both theoretically and practically.With just a little more ingenuity, we could use these materials to make us richer than the richest man today, and to make our civilization a blessing.Civilized man is but a more experienced and wiser savage; but let me hasten to relate my own experiments.