“If America could be, once again, a nation of self-reliant farmers, craftsmen, hunters, ranchers, and artists, then the rich would have little power to dominate others. Neither to serve nor to rule: That was the American dream.” -Edward Abbey
“In order to be successful one must land a job of great importance.” Isn’t this something we all seem to know from somewhere back in our childhood and young adult life?
A JOB THAT MAKES THE BIG BUCKS and guarantees your future security, A job that not just any joe shmo can do. Let’s all be engineers, lawyers, computer and information systems managers, CEO’s, petroleum engineers, and surgeons. If I sound bitter, that’s not the case. All of these jobs that come straight from the top ten most successful lists, are necessary and respectable.
I JUST WONDER WHAT MAKES THESE JOBS MORE IMPORTANT than putting food on the tables? Or having a trade and being able to build and create with your two hands? Why is it that some of these types of jobs are not as valued in our education systems? It is almost as if its looked down upon to be a welder, an artist, a construction worker, a forester, a farmer, or rancher because there isn’t as much money to be made. Why is it that these careers DON’T make as much money?? Do they not shape our nation as much as the more sought after careers?
NOW I AM GENERALIZING, I hope you realize, there are exceptions of course and I am definitely not saying that the money is what matters most in life. I just think about these kinds of things because I feel the pressure of trying to be successful and making my contribution to this world while still doing what I love. Here are 5 ways that the tradesman and the farmer, rancher and the teacher are still king.
1) The World Will Always Need Stuff Done (and a roof over its head)
When it comes to physically existing, what is more important than consuming food? Small scale, large scale, organic, or holistic we all need to eat. Even if we decided to become hunters and gatherers again, earth couldn’t support our population anyways so someone needs to produce the food. The ranching and farming industry consists of highly skilled, risk taking work that requires an expansive knowledge base, work that doesn’t reflect the salary of the people working in these industries.
2. The World Needs To Eat
When it comes to physically existing, what is more important than consuming food? Small scale, large scale, organic, or holistic we all need to eat. Even if we decided to become hunters and gatherers again, earth couldn’t support our population anyways so someone needs to produce the food. The ranching and farming industry consists of highly skilled, risk taking work that requires an expansive knowledge base, work that doesn’t reflect the salary of the people working in these industries.
3. The World Needs Art and Culture
Where would we be with out the talents of artists, designers, writers and inventors? Most likely in caves somewhere. Kidding but not kidding, life as we know it would not be the same without culture and the documentation of life through artistic means. Using a camera, my contribution to the culture of the world is by artistically documenting the lifestyles and overlooked industries that mean something to me.
4. The World Needs the Earth
This sounds slightly simplistic, but we kind of need the land we live on. Stewardship comes in many different forms and many different jobs and careers contribute to the preservation and utilization of our lands. It takes many hands and willing hearts to keep something as important as our earth healthy and producing for our benefit and enjoyment. To the people whose job it is to manage range conditions, reforest, protect our nations parks, graze their cattle correctly, farm sustainably, preserve wildlife, etc. etc. your pay might not reflect it but the conditions of our lands do.
5. The World Needs Education
Sometimes I wonder if maybe I shouldn’t have gone a different route entirely when I made my decision (at the tender age of nineteen years old) to allocate my money into an agriculture degree instead of becoming a doctor or a lawyer or something along the lines of a higher paying career. However, I wouldn’t trade the knowledge I obtained through University in the field of agriculture for anything. I also know that my life skills learned outside of school are just as, if not more, important to me. My point is, education and the teachers who supply that education, are the absolute foundation of all we can accomplish in our industries and when I say education, it does not come just from the classroom. We will always need people willing to teach and people willing to learn, no matter the setting and no matter the subject. For more on this subject click on this link to watch a video by Mike Rowe !
Until next time, Ceily Rae Highberger
All photos in this blog post taken with my Sony Alpha 6000 and iPhone 6s