Tractors, Art, and the Immaterial Self

The Southern Agrarian in me has been thinking of purchasing a tractor for several weeks. I have finally decided that the desire for such a purchase likely evolves from my immaterial self--the soul. Justified by the realization that my desire for a tractor comes from the part of me made up of wishes and hopes, things transcended, of imaginations, creative aspirations, and value ascriptions, I seem to have reached the point where owning a tractor makes very good sense.

I actually arrived at this somewhat tenuous conclusion over the weekend while thinking about art. In my reading I was reminded that even the most primitive people seem to have had the urge to express themselves creatively, or to depict themselves in some fashion. Man raises himself out of his surface primitiveness and poverty first through immaterial projections of how things can be if he fulfills his inner hunger and sense of wonderment by making something good, true, or beautiful out of disorder. And, it seems that the more man is daunted by the heartbreak or tragedy of his lot, the more he dramatizes his relation to the world (e.g., the Greeks, the Elizabethans, the music and art of African slaves in 19th century America). All this can't be accounted for in the reductionist formula of materialism.

And so, I am going to make some immaterial projections, get a tractor, move some dirt, and see if I can't create some culture on a small piece of material property prone to disorder. And I might get a dog if I can think of how that fits in all of this.

Comments

[Matthew Arbo]

I covet your purchase. I reflect longingly on the day when I purchase my first tractor. The machine pictured appears ideal.

[BWG]

Matt:

It is a Kubota B7510 HST. Come for a visit and I will let you take it for a spin.

BWG