The 2nd American Revolution: Re-claiming the Village
⚔️ REVOLUTION DISPATCH
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to revolt against drive-thrus and doom-scrolls, a decent respect to our stomachs requires we plant something real.”
🏡 What the Village Means (To Me and Maybe You)
💬 “It takes a village” isn’t just a saying. It’s a roadmap we left behind.
We say it like it’s still something we have. But for most Americans, the village has been lost; eroded by sprawl, isolation, and systems that prioritize profit over people.
I didn’t start farming to recreate the past. I started because I needed roots. Because I believed the land could teach us how to belong again. And what I’ve come to understand; through broken fence lines, compost piles, and late nights in the orchard; is that rebuilding the village won’t come from policy alone. It will come from people planting themselves, together.
Community farms. Homesteads. Co-ops. These aren’t relics. They’re blueprints for a future worth living in.
A village wasn’t just about proximity. It was about interdependence.
You knew who grew your food. Who fixed your roof. Who taught your kids.
You borrowed tools. You brought soup. You shared rituals—school events, seasonal chores, funerals, and fairs.
It wasn’t perfect. But it was woven.
And over the last century, that weave unraveled.
🔍 How We Lost It
🏙️ Suburban Sprawl and Disconnection
Post-WWII, car-centered suburbs replaced town centers. Walkable communities gave way to highways, strip malls, and zoning laws that separated people from one another.
💬 “We created places not worth caring about.” —James Howard Kunstler
💼 Time Scarcity and Tech
We traded community for convenience. Work hours stretched. Screens replaced stoops. The “village time” got squeezed out.
🏚️ Rural Decline by Design
Farms were industrialized. Rural towns disinvested. Young people left. The ones who stayed were told they were backwards.
But here’s the truth:
💡 “The future isn’t in abandoning the village. It’s in rebuilding it—slower, smarter, more resilient.”
🌾 Why Family Farms Matter
A family farm isn’t just about food—it’s a site of memory, labor, and belonging.
It ties a person to place. It requires mutual aid. It makes you depend on your neighbors—not an app or a supply chain.
🔧 A family farm is community infrastructure in seed form.
Homesteads are the micro-villages. They reclaim food, medicine, and meaning. Not as isolation—but as foundation.
🛠️ Co-ops: The Village in Action
If family farms are the soil, co-ops are the structure.
Food co-ops, childcare shares, tool libraries—these are modern commons.
In a co-op, you vote. You listen. You compromise. You build.
That’s village work.
🧺 “Co-ops return power to people. They let small producers survive and communities thrive.”
🔥 This Is How We Rebuild
We’re not going back. But we can go forward—into something older than capitalism and more alive than isolation.
Start small. Keep it sacred. Keep it shared.
- 🌱 Plant the orchard and the relationships
- 🪵 Build the shed and the tool-sharing group
- 🧺 Sell the eggs and start the food co-op
- 🔥 Host the bonfire and the reading group
This is village work. And it’s already happening.
📚 Resources & Further Reading
Books:
📖 Bowling Alone – Robert Putnam
📖 The Art of the Commonplace – Wendell Berry
📖 The Geography of Nowhere – James Howard Kunstler
Articles & Reports:
