THE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER: Perspectives on the past and future of communities

Abstract

When I was growing up on a small family farm during the 1940s and 1950s, we still had vibrant rural communities. Farming communities were interwoven networks of people who knew and cared about each other. Many of the essential tasks on family farms in those days could not be accomplished by a single farmer or farm family. However, “giving a hand” wasn’t limited to helping with farming tasks or emergencies but was given anytime someone “needed a hand.”

One of my early memories is of my grade-school teacher letting us kids watch the steam engine that powered a threshing machine move slowly down the road going from one farm to another. Crews of up to 40 men and boys went from farm to farm to harvest grain, put up hay, or fill silos. Each farmer provided a share of the farm equipment and labor. The men and boys worked hard, but a lot of socializing also took place during these gatherings. These experiences strengthened the feeling of belonging or social connectedness within farming communities. . . .