Villages and Countryside are for Poor People and Industries – Why?

Village folk are talked down, looked down upon. And considered uneducated, uncivilized, not worthy of modern amenities, not able to comprehend modern lifestyles.

Villages = poverty, backwardness, and unnecessary of development. Why is the Countryside called countryside?

Much worse is temporary glorification of village greenery, simplicity and silence – for reels, social media, movies and books.

Stripped away of opportunity, crafts, significance, soil, animals, social ecosystems, local and eco-friendly production, villages slowly deteriorated into a onetime land ATM and wastelands.

Jobs shifted from land-based work to industrial and service sectors. Over time, cities became associated with opportunity and modernity, while villages were framed as places which people left behind. And things left behind hold less value.

Villages then reorganized around cash crops rather than local sustainability. Infrastructure investments favored ports and cities that served MNCs.

Local produce became insufficient for modern appetites and global diets. Are we content with diets our ancestors had? We the Editorial Board aren’t professing to be content with family recipes. We are guilty, but not as much.

Industrial growth is seen as the fastest path to modernization. But modernization has led to (1) poorer civic sense; (2) ignorance towards trees; (3) positivity towards use and throw; and (4) choking of social dignity.

Hypocrisy would mean advocating for a village lifestyle for all citizens. Ignorance would mean advocating for urbanizing the entire world.

The virus of “modernization is the best, money above all” has resulted in land sell offs to corporations for airports, factories and industry.

Minds get poisoned, soil gets poisoned and finally death. No longer is organic food the norm, shade of trees being sufficient for a hot day and river water being drinkable.

Where are we headed? Definitely a position of more exploitation of resources, nature and our own bodies. Right now, we consume more than what we need, prefer solar panels to trees and comfort over responsibility.

Prejudice has a ranking system, discrimination has a ranking system. And that’s why the village will never regain it’s past glory.