Customer Reviews

Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're a content postmodern, don't read this book. It will leave you unsettled. The title essay from Berry's book is worth the price of the whole book. If you were to read only one book this coming year to guide both your thinking and your behavior (aside from the Bible which undergirds Berry's thinking), this would be a great choice. If the following snippet from the title essay resonates with your spirit, you'll want to pick this one up.

"If you destroy the ideal of the "gentle man" and remove from men all expectations of courtesy and consideration toward women and children, you have prepared the way for an epidemic of rape and abuse. If you depreciate the sanctity and solemnity of marriage, not just as a bond between two people, but as a bond between those two people and their forebears, their children, and their neighbors, then you have prepared the way for an epidemic of divorce, child neglect, community ruin, and loneliness. If you destroy the economies of household and community, then you destroy the bonds of mutual usefulness and practical dependence without which the other bonds will not hold."

Why is it that we have our best thinkers like Berry running old family farms, and our worst thinkers running our national government? Sigh.

This highly stimulating collection of Berry's essays contains some of the most important things Berry has written. The essay "Christianity and the Survival of Creation" is one of the most insightful and important theological statements of our day. It is in everyone's best interest to work to see that the organized churches take Berry's essay to heart. Of course, the book is also notable for the beauty of Berry's writing -- not coincidental, since he argues here and elsewhere for a recovery of the idea of work as sacred and for beauty as a measure of "right livelihood."

It is more than a little gratifying to have your dearly-held opinions vindicated--and eloquently so--by a living writer of note. I was treated to this experience recently in reading Wendell Berry's Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community, a collection of eight essays varied in subject but all founded on the premise that our current social ills stem from the consumer-culture's rapacious destruction of local communities and their resources, both natural and human.

Not surprisingly, as a Kentucky gentleman farmer, Berry's definition of community centers on the bond between the people and the land on which they live. Modern urban readers may be tempted to dismiss as an old farmer's finger-wagging Berry's accusations against the global economy and its insatiable appetites (a la "Well, when I was a boy..."), but his arguments are sharp-witted, penetrating and thoroughly convincing; I found myself frequently exclaiming to the empty room (or on the train, where I do most of my reading) a self-righteous "Yes!" to his analysis of the myth of the global economy.

Having dropped any guard to Berry's disarmingly kindred spirit, I did find myself challenged in other deeply-held beliefs by his essay "The Problem of Tobacco," in which he argues for the economies and communities of the tobacco farmers with whom he was raised--despite his acknowledgement that smoking is unhealthy and that he himself quit many years ago. But his manner is so straightforward and honest that it feels only just and natural to set aside one's personal prejudices and to examine the underlying issues on their own merits--no small achievement in critical writing.

In all, I found the essays refreshing and powerful not merely for the boost they gave my ego (after all, Wendell Berry thinks like I do!) but because his gentlemanly style of writing--with just a dash of sarcasm to give it kick--is engaging and disarming. I recommend it to any armchair social historians as well as those concerned with the disappearance of community in America. I'd throw in some quotes--plenty of his pithy statements come to mind--but I've already lent my copy to a friend whom I suspect will feel similarly vindicated by Berry's views.

Berry is an original and developed mind, and is a champion of rural life and communities. His analysis goes beyond simple sentimentalism for rural life and ties in the role of an economy and a popular culture that are disconnected from any sense of community. His defense of the tobacco industry aside (how can one attack the defense industry, whose job it is to kill people, and defend the tobacco industry, who also make money on death?) this is one book to read slowly and deliberately. It's worth it.

This, I think, is a difficult book to review. There are so many diverse themes throughout the book that it is hard to describe what the book is "about", and my reaction to the book was a mixture of excitement, personal conviction, and intellectual challenge. Yet, hopefully I can get something coherent down for you.

The book is a collection of eight essays written by Berry, all of which deal (sometimes loosely) with the degradation of community. "Community" is a term of art for Berry; it is more than merely a group of people living in close proximity to one another who happen, from time to time, to bump into each other at the store. Rather, community is a defined group of people who live together in a particular place, over time, in a way that fosters a strong sense of togetherness. People who have this type of community have experiences together in everyday life, such as work, play, tragedy, and joy. In community of this nature there is a sense of belonging that most Americans today would not be able to relate to.

Berry is not the only intellectual (a label I would guess he'd hate hear applied to himself) to suggest not only that our communities are deteriorating, but that this deterioration adversely effects the quality and essence of our lives. For a more empirical approach to the subject, see especially Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert Putnam. I think when Berry's book is read in light of Putnam's we see not only a picture of the problem but also a recipe for the remedy.

Berry is a challenging author. He is at times very radical, and he sometimes employs demagoguery to press his point. However, when taken as a whole he approaches his topic from a position of humility and honesty. There is even a sense, after coming to grips with this humility and honesty, that Berry comes to his subject with righteous indignation. He is clearly passionate about small, rural communities like his own, and his passion easily rubs off onto the reader. After reading this book, I feel like I have a heightened sense of compassion for people who are trying to keep their communities alive.

This book is probably not for everyone. I would recommend it to people who already have sympathies for the rural, self-sufficient lifestyle and those especially who have concerns for the quality of our environment (a topic that Berry hits upon numerous times). This is not to say that this book cannot change minds. However, many people who read this book from the point of view of an average modern American will dismiss Berry's ideas as utterly and hopelessly out of date. This is because Berry criticizes the way in which most of us (including himself, he admits) tend to live our lives. It takes a special intellectual state of mind to read such a book, in which you are being criticized, and keep an open mind. I hope that, if this book is for yourself, that you do keep an open mind, and allow Berry to convince you that he is right, and to show you a better way. Happy reading!

...thinkers I was exposed to in high school while researching for an essay report. His well-balanced thoughts on various agrarian and community-based themes are the most eloquent I have found from a single writer. His words and rationales spring from the land and argue pursuasively for more restraint for the betterment of the world by the human animal. The most compelling living philospher I know of is Wendell Berry. I recommend all of his written works.

This is the first Wendell Berry book that I've read, and from the introduction, I found it to be an immensely interesting and engaging read. I was amazed at how skillfully Berry could take complex social issues and boil them down into bite-sized (read: understandable) pieces. I typically wouldn't find myself being overly interested in a collection of essays like this, but needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the enjoyable read.

The one element of this book that was hard for me to swallow was Berry's overly idealistic view of people and communities. Granted, significant changes to the current social, economic, and agricultural systems would most likely have to begin in the mind of an idealistic individual, but I felt like many of Berry's arguments rested solely on the inherent goodness of people as a whole. Here's the core problem - individuals act in their own self interest. People are selfish.

This is still a worthy book to read, however, and can bring about fantastic discussion. (I may be frequenting a farmer's market now, as a result of his arguments...Just trying to close the distance between producer and consumer!) Read it and wrestle with it.

Every day it seems the world looks a little more broken to me. It helps so much to read a few pages of Wendell Berry. He is a fantastic example of someone who thinks for himself; and really strives to get to the core truth about the important issues we face as a civilization. It should be required reading for everyone in the United States - IF we want to get on a path to restoration and healing of our society. But that's where the scary part comes in. I'm beginning to think people would put this book down and give up on it a few pages in. Even if they did get all the way to the end, not many would be willing to put the ideas into practice in their daily lives.

I picked this selection for my book club, and it was very interesting to watch the responses of the participants. You could sense the tension - watch them wiggling in their chairs. They were so relieved when we were finally done with the book; and not because it was poorly written; just because it requires an examination of how far we've all fallen from what is true. I will continue to encourage people to read this excellent and important book, but it will never be an easy sell...and that's a shame.

Wendell Berry is a name that has come up over and over in my reading and in discussions with other readers. Most intriguing to me was the fact that his writing -- covering topics from politics to religion to current affairs, and everything in between -- has been recommended to me by friends and acquaintances from all political and theological stripes, spanning the entire spectrum from left to right. One of the book's endorsements pointed out Berry's "unique position in American social debate: not liberal, not conservative, not libertarian, but always sharp-tongued and aglow with common sense." Sounds like my kind of writer!

Berry is one of the last century's most prolific writers of poems, short stories, essays, and novels. He also taught at the University of Kentucky during the time that both of my parents attended there. Even today at the age of 75, he is an active speaker, teacher, and advocate for the ideas he has set forth in his writing.

I chose for my first foray into the writing of Wendell Berry this book, which is a collection of eight essays (the last of which provides the title for the book) centered loosely around the theme of economics, though there is a diversity of themes represented in the various essays. I feel that I ought to present my review of this book on two levels: Quality and Content.

The quality of Berry's writing is first-rate. I've read many books that I would classify as well-written, but there are occasional books that are a joy to read, simply because of the way an author has been gifted in the art of sculpting stories through the medium of words. This is one of those books, and Berry is one of those gifted writers. It is no wonder that people of so many different backgrounds have enjoyed his writing. I think I would enjoy reading his essays even if I disagreed with him on every point!

Which brings us to content. I don't believe there could be anyone who disagrees with Berry on every point, simply because of the sheer common sense and pragmatism with which he writes. I imagine that I'd quite enjoy reading his essays even if I was in complete opposition to his conclusions, which I am not. Of course, I doubt as well that there is anyone who will completely agree with Berry, but this would please the author, who states in the foreword, "An essayist has no right to expect complete agreement but has a certain responsibility to ward it off. If you tell me, dear reader, that you agree with me completely, then I must suspect one or both of us of dishonesty."

Berry is in no danger of being completely agreed with, as he is the rare individual who can be classified as truly "other" in nearly every way. As he lays out his philosophy on economics, the environment, war, religion, and any number of other things, he goes to great lengths to avoid being boxed into what he calls "political packages". He believes strongly in conserving and preserving the environment, but is not an "environmentalist". He hates war, and is highly critical of militarism, but is not what we would typically think of as a "pacifist". He is a self-described "contrarian" and "dissenter", but also a great American patriot. At every point he fairly but critically evaluates American culture as he observes it (the essays in this book were written between 1991 and 1994), while outlining his vision of what ought to be, with a practical (though not at all easy) plan for how it could be accomplished.

You (and I) will have to read more of his writing to truly comprehend Berry's positions, but I'll attempt to briefly outline some of them as set forth in these essays:

Strong focus on developing the community and local economy

Berry writes in the tradition of the "Southern Agrarians", believing that the key to success in and joy of life is rooted in land ownership and conservation. Each person should own land, growing crops and raising livestock to support their own family. Neighbors should spend time together, supporting each other both financially (by buying/selling within their local community as much as possible) and socially (by bearing one another's burdens and encouraging one another's successes). The key to common safety and defense is good relations within the community, and between neighboring communities. He upholds the Amish as an example of a community that lives in such a way, but does not advocate separation from society-at-large as they do.

There is not much hope (or use) for cities in Berry's worldview. Cities separate people from the land, and create foreign dependence and a society built on competition rather than on mutual success. He exhibits both optimism and pessimism toward the possibility of a future worldwide agrarian society (his idea of a utopia). Optimism, in that he believes that all it would take is for small, local pockets of people to begin to live in such a way, influencing first their neighborhood, then their towns, counties, states, nation, and eventually the world, as people learn to live peaceably together and to desire mutual success rather than attempting to "climb to the top" at others' expense. Pessimism, in that he does not see this as a realistic possibility, because humans are generally too selfish and greedy.

Conservation of God's Creation

Berry believes in the inherent goodness of God's creation, and feels that humans, as the height of creation, have an obligation to be good stewards of the land and creatures. He agrees with anti-Christian conservationists that the Church has a terrible track record of stewardship, but sees Christians as the best potential solution, not the greatest problem. We need only see that everything belongs to God and that we are to care for what He allows us to "own", extending our influence as we are able.

In the only essay where Berry specifically speaks of his Christian beliefs, though, he goes too far in his high-view of Creation, bordering on worshiping creation more than the Creator. His views on Biblical interpretation seem to be somewhere between the Julius Wellhausen tradition of "higher criticism" and the deism of Thomas Jefferson. Alarmingly, he also speaks of God's Spirit residing in animals, plants, and the dust itself, which is a heterodox idea found in panentheism and the gnostic Gospel of Thomas, not Scripture.

While Berry describes himself as a Protestant, his actual doctrinal beliefs (as near as I can discern from these essays) would be rejected by all but the most liberal of Christian theologians.

Peaceableness toward enemies

Written in the aftermath of the Gulf War, Berry devotes one essay in this collection to defining his philosophy of "peaceableness". He advocates applying the Biblical command to live peaceably with neighbors on a national scale. This does not imply a passive non-violence, nor aggressive anti-war protesting. Instead, it requires an "active peace", that would require as much courage and sacrifice (frequently including lives) as war. His concept of peaceableness is an outworking of his agrarian society on an international level, when nations would genuinely desire the mutual success of all others, rather than engaging in power struggles that ultimately accomplish nothing but endless cycles of destruction. Though many discount this idea as being naive or unrealistic, he rightly points out that it has rarely been attempted, and that some nations, such as Switzerland, have successfully implemented policies of peace for extended periods of time.

Decreased reliance on technology

Berry is adamantly opposed to most uses of technology. He sees most technology as destructive both to the land and to our communities, because our interpersonal relationships are increasingly impersonal. He is in favor of
"natural" technological advances that improve our ability to responsibly farm the land or to communicate with one another, so long as we don't become overly reliant on technology.

************************************************************

Overall I agree with Berry on many points. I like the idea of buying local and building a strong local economy based on mutual success and good relationships. I believe this type of economic situation (rather than Marxism/socialism as some suggest) is what is described in the New Testament (see Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-35) when believers in the early church "had all things in common". I would wonder, though, whether there might be a scenario in which this type of philosophy might be applied to the culture we see today. Is there a "middle ground" in which people rely less on technology and more on personal interaction, developing our local economy and limiting our dependence on outside (whether foreign or other domestic communities) goods, and being responsible stewards of Creation, without completely reverting to a totally agrarian society? I don't know. If it is possible, it will only happen because of the leadership of great thinkers and communicators such as Wendell Berry, though hopefully with a better grasp of God's purposes for Man as set forth in His Word. We must remember that, as much as we love God's Creation (including our fellow Man), this world is not our home. Our desire for perfect community will be found only in the Body of Christ, and will only be realized in the Heavenly Kingdom that is yet to come.

This wasn't one of my favorite Wendell Berry books, but I was fascinated by his in depth discussion of community. The ways community can be fostered and sustained or destroyed form the crux of this book.

"The freedom of the community is the more fundamental and the more complex. A community confers on its members the freedoms implicit in familiarity,mutual respect, mutual affection, and mutual help; it gives freedom its proper aims; and it prescribes or shows the responsibilities without which no one can be legitimately free, or free for every long. But to confer freedom or any other benefits on its members, a community must also be free from outside pressure or coercion. It must, in other words, be so far as possible the cause of its own changes;it must change in response to its own changing needs and local circumstances, not in response to motives,powers or fashions coming from elsewhere. The freedom of the individual, by contrast, has been construed customarily as a license to pursue any legal self-interest at large and at will in the domain of public liberties and opportunities.

These two kinds of freedom, so understood, are clearly at odds. In modern times, the dominant freedom has been that of the individual......"