Ideas

 “Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea… and ideas are bulletproof.”
–Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

The concept of “ideas” has been teasing around in my head the last couple of days.  It occurs to me that often times we have ideas about something: what it is, who it is, what we should do.  These ideas guide our lives, for better or evil.  These ideas need to be carefully thought through and then held onto tightly.  We must carefully consider the Ideas we hold and the consequences of them.

There was a facebook conversation–if it could be called that–surrounding “feral” pigs that a fellow was considering purchasing for meat for his family.  There were a lot of quotes from V for Vendetta that came to mind.

“Since mankind’s dawn, a handful of oppressors have accepted the responsibility over our lives that we should have accepted for ourselves. By doing so, they took our power. By doing nothing, we gave it away. We’ve seen where their way leads, through camps and wars, towards the slaughterhouse.”
–Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

“Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. ”
–Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

I saw all of this in the “conversation:” from “pigs that look ‘feral’ can carry up to 30 different diseases” (but CAFO pigs can’t??) to “just to be safe, ask your DNR.”  Because of fear of something: war, terror, disease, jail, financial difficulty, we do nothing, say nothing when told we can’t have a certain breed of pig that is the perfect pig for our purposes, or that we can’t feed our children milk the way it was created, and that cream or butter from said milk would most assuredly stunt our growth.  We have an idea that if we cooperate with authority our lives will be good.  We learned as children not to question those over us.  And look where we are.  Outlawed farm pigs.  Armed raids on peaceful farmers (check out the movie Farmageddon).  People jailed for growing food for their children.  How about laws in one state that you can’t feed food scraps to your pigs (I learned that in the “conversation.”)  We won’t bring up Ferguson, Missioui and other political/social firestorms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ideas.  Freedom.  Self reliance (as opposed to government welfare).  Free speech.  Self defense.  Freedom to exercise our personal religious convictions.  Freedom from government intrusion and oversight in our homes (that’s the 3rd Ammendment).  These are the ideas that some fellas had over 200 years ago.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…”Declaration of Independence

 

 

 

 

 

We have an idea on our farm that when we eat food prepared as close to the way it was made as possible, it will help us to be more of what we are possible of.  We are not the Creator, we are stewards of the creation and as such need to respect how it is supposed to work.  We are not Dictators to Nature.  Our right to raise animals and vegetables in their natural way and to eat their produce and share it with others is not a right given us by the government.  With rights come responsibilities and so we have a responsibility to keep things wholesome and safe for our animals, ourselves, and our customers.  Again, this responsibility is not heightened by government oversight as it is a natural thing.  This is our Idea.  It’s a powerful Idea.

Food Freedom: Join us in the Quest.  It’s an idea…”and ideas are bulletproof.”