Hearkening Back to a More Rural Existence: A National Obsession

We long for a simpler existence which is closer to the land and necessarily smaller scale/more community based. The evidence is all around us:

• Porch signs that say things like "Happy Harvest" or "Hay Rides, Pumpkins & Cider"
• All manner of faux-lk art knick-knacks and decorations.
• Misleading place/subdivision names like "Cedar Ridge", "Cranberry Hill", "Willow Brook" etc., etc., etc. - ad infinitum.
• The "simplicity" craze
• The popularity of country music
  
• Amish stars
• Cracked, weathered and worn paint effects.
• Distressed, pre-worn, bleached, etc. denim.
  
• Trance-inducing Do-It-Yourself shows from the Food Network, HGTV, Martha Stewart, This Old House, New Yankee Workshop, etc. highlight the fact that "boughten" goods leave our souls feeling empty. Not so deep inside there is a need to make things ourselves. Then we will be surrounded by stories and meaning instead a life full of errands, traffic and spending. As manufacturing has become more and more centralized we've lost (temporarily) many skills and the habit of meditation these processes encourage.
  

Once you start to notice this phenomenon you see it everywhere. Marketers have been capitalizing on it for quite some time. For now this obsession seems to take the form of decor/ambience-type applications, but more and more I see people moving toward the authentic and the practical. I see the local food trend dovetailing nicely with this, especially as people realize that even industrial organic farming is unhealthy and unsustainable. Eventually people will need to buy/trade for what they need with a local farmer or raise it themselves. Economic problems will likely speed this process.