Producer or Consumer?

Do we produce more than we consume?

There was a time when most Americans produced most of what they needed and used.  They grew crops, raised chickens, had a milk cow, and developed a skill or handicraft that was useful at home and provided supplemental income.  They were producers.

Today most Americans work for someone else or live on the government dole.  They have no garden, no milk cow, no skill or handicraft for additional income.  They produce nothing for their own needs.  Every thing they have money has bought.  They are consumers. 

But there is a group of people like you and me that are retracing our steps, going back to a lifestyle of producers.  We have a farm, a ranch, or a homestead.  We value work, thrift, and self-respect.  For in these qualities we find our self-reliance, our independence.

The materialism of the consumer lifestyle holds no fascination for us.  We appreciate true simplicity.  Found in this simplicity are the things most valued - life, family, faith, honesty, goodness, and decency. 

We plunge forward through each day giving it our all, for we know what makes us who we are, and we have never been more satisfied.

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Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways     Simple Lives Thursday #161     The HomeAcre Hop