The Dangers of an Ideal: Wrestling with Wendell Berry’s Legacy

The essay, republished from a Substack called Reclaiming Rural, reflects on the legacy of the late writer Wendell Berry through the lens of the author's own controversial 2018 piece titled 'Why I Hate Wendell Berry.' The author, a rural pastor, clarifies he does not hate Berry and admires the consistency between Berry's agrarian values and his actual life, from plowing with horses to receiving mail only by post office.

His critique is aimed instead at urban admirers who quote Berry at him as an aesthetic gesture while showing little understanding of the rural communities they romanticize, citing conversations about 'organic chicken' with no mention of the farmers who raise it under extractive industrial contracts. He argues this turns rural places into 'picturesque landscapes' to be enjoyed at a distance rather than lived in, served, or understood on their own difficult terms.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.