If West is something
of a philosopher, this comes-out in his good intuitions on the design of a textile
factory/farm that could almost be a model for an American ecology.
This has to be
seen as contrary to the “green” future envisaged by the likes of Musk, which is
simply electricity – or electric-green TofF2
The “electric-green”
future is just more of the logical junk occupying the heads of acolytes of the
mirror of illusions (number, algorithm). Ecology connects the physical to the
psyche through the symmetries of nature and the body.
Symmetries imply
a cyclical system that sows seed, that fertilizes it, that stores manure from
animals, that harvests the crop.. All of which use human labor, and that then
creates textiles in situ in a way that benefits the community, in this
case Cody, Wyoming.
Apart from the
manure which I’m unsure of, all of that is in West’s plans. The scheme is
locally oriented (as opposed to logically), placing human values well above
dollar value. Having purchased two large ranches, he is planting hydroponic
cotton in a manufacturing process “from seed to sew”.
It’s worth
expanding on the human benefits of this, in contradistinction to the
gobbledegook of most capitalist ventures, whether by Trump or Musk.
Whereas a
non-symmetrical system is attractive to the ego of the “Californian” mindset
(prev), a traditional farm brings in the smells and roughness that kids love. I’m assuming that animals will play their part
in the Wyoming estate, as it is beef country. Even is not in the initial plans,
it may accrue.
West’s cyclical
system sets the scene for farsighted folks to see the human benefits of
smaller, mixed estates that fertilize pasture. The re-ecologizing of the
American west (by West) will be a tragedy for the intensive beef lots, and a
revival of animals as a way of life.
A cyclical
system is not logical but it is symmetrical, and benefits the locality through
the pastures and physical presence of animals. There is an absolute world of
smaller plots of land and fertility that exists – see P47
the Cash ditty.
That is, a
system that is of the body and not simply the detached head. To quote Hesiod,
“It is from
work that men are rich in flocks and wealthy, and a working man is much dearer
to the immortals”
By contrast,
Hesiodian idleness is to do as drones do in the hive, which might strike a modern
chord. The good life is to work your own land, or the land of your commune
(extended family, prev.) This is the ecological life that West’s Wyoming
textile plant has an organic feel for.
With the
organic/communal way of living in vogue again, Dionysus and his donkey are
riding along behind. The life of the body is languid and has a seductive grace;
the feminine principle of being at ease instead of constantly being on the job.
That might seem
like a contradiction to the merits of honest harvest toil, but the point is a
life lived in the symmetries of fertile nature is much pleasanter and easy in
the long run (Hesiod’s poetry was apparently written during hours of idleness on
his plantation.)
The
pseudo-Seneca now thought to be a fictional representation of Hesiod (generally
thought of as the first poet of antiquity known as a person)
To work for the
benefit of the head a la Silicon Valley is an illusion of the ego that
merely ushers in vile parasites of the body – the profane serpent that preys on
lusts (prev). West’s notions of an extended family that cares and shares is
harking-back to classical ideals of the farmer-poet that could include both
Johnny Cash and Hesiod, the curmudgeonly ploughman whose didactic words extol
the wisdom of country living over vainglorious rulers.
This is a fairly
American notion, harking-back to Ralph Waldo Emerson. There is a strength is
living close to nature, with its smells and all that entails. Instead of a
world built on sterility and rubbish-removal, letting things be enables nature
to develop useful products. Instead of the weakness of the numerical head, the
strength of action on the ranges of life. The work of man and animal showing
the sinuous line and graceful movement of self-sufficiency. Not “green energy”
but cyclical movement (the serpent of primeval rhythm) that enables
metamorphosis (see Buffy quote on dried buffalo manure HB70.
Without these
symmetries, all that’s left is a sterile system, attractive to the ego but much
more resembling an illusory reality of words and numbers (politics, economy).
This is really the future marketed by Big Tech as electric-green; in reality a
sterile illusion.
The strength of
the fertile land of symmetries is the home of Dionysus and his donkey. The weakness
of Cali Big tech is the home of the mirror of illusion, harbouring the profane
dragon. Wyoming offers a virile alternative that may yet attract the Muses. The
poetry of the muscular body in action in the field.