I don’t advocate for recovering a family-centered economy because I want to “be Amish”. I’m not skeptical of continually increasing reliance on oil and electricity because I’m a “doomer”. I don’t think you should delete all your social media accounts and own a dumbphone because I’m “anti-technology”. My skepticism of the core elements of modern life does not make me “anti-progress”. My wife and I don’t abstain from birth control use because we’re “irresponsible”.

I want normal. I advocate for normal. I’m spending a great deal of effort, time, and thought pursuing normal.

Normal is relative. Some are content with normal compared to the rest of America today. The problem is that this “normal” is an outlier relative to the majority of human history and the inherent nature of man. When you take this broader view, you see that many modern things are weird, and many fringe things are actually historically normal.

Having a big garden that can provide for the majority of your family’s food intake doesn’t make you a “homesteader”. It just makes you normal. In the 40s, the US Government urged citizens to grow “Victory Gardens” to bolster domestic food supply during World War II. The government recommended garden sizes of anywhere from 20’ x 50’ for seasonal food for a family of four, to upwards of 1/10 acres per person in a family. Productive human beings with an accurate assessment of the risks of basic human existence are gardeners. It’s a simple calculation. Your family needs to eat. Supply chain failures. Wars happen. Job loss happens. Life happens. Growing food hedges against these risks. Moderns trust the grocery store to always have food on the shelves, but normal people know that this isn’t always the case. Moderns leave the work to someone else, but normal people know that man was made to work. In fact, the first man God made was a gardener, and work was one of the purposes God gave him. Gardening is in our nature; it’s normal. Consumerism is not.

The same goes for livestock. Owning productive animals doesn’t make you the next Joel Salatin. It makes you normal. My dad, who grew up in the 80s, often remarks to me how almost everyone had some kind of productive livestock or greenery on their property: a small garden, some chickens, a rabbit hutch, a goat, etc. You’d be hard pressed to find any of these things in a suburban lot today, even if the stupid town code allows it. Even if you do, having a flock of a couple dozen laying hens doesn’t make you a chicken farmer. Having some goats, pigs, sheep, or cows doesn’t make you a rancher. Knowing how to raise, care for, butcher, and milk these animals is what regular folks have been doing doing for thousands of years. It’s just normal. Nowadays, productive property of this scale is seen as a peculiar kind of hobby or lifestyle choice. Historically it was just considered part of living.

The same goes for children. Birth control methods are largely a product of modernity, as are anxieties about how many children to have, and when, and whether you’re “ready” or not. Not using birth control and simply letting nature decide when and how many children you have is normal. Moderns see children as a burden. The Holy Scriptures, an ancient document, calls them a blessing. Lots of children is normal.

I could go on. Driving cars is not normal. Carrying a supercomputer/instant communication device/marketing billboard in your pocket 24/7 is not normal. Paper money is not normal. Being an employee is not normal. Abundant and reliable electricity is not normal. Cooking and heating with gas is not normal. Many, many things in modernity are not normal. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use these things, I’m just saying they need to be used in moderation. Modern medicine is not normal, but it’s a huge blessing for resolving acute and severe issues. It saved my son’s life. It’s also a complete disaster when it comes to chronic and minor issues, such as vaccinations, childbirth, and diet and exercise recommendations. Use it in moderation. Keep your computer, your car, your electricity, and your other modern conveniences. Leverage them for good; I’m not saying you shouldn’t or can’t. But don’t plan on them always being there to help you. Plant a big garden, get some livestock, and learn to solve problems without spending money. Normal is normal for the simple reason that it works, and has worked, for thousands of years.