'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy • Hacker News Board

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#81

Post by LAC-Tech » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:11 PM UTC

leokennis wrote: post #28

mymythisisthis wrote: post #6

Marie Antoinette and her friends would dress up as young shepherdess or milkmaids and wander around the hamlet pretending to be peasants, while still surrounded by the comforts of a royal lifestyle. A team of real farmers appointed by the Queen looked after the farm and the animals, and produced fruits and vegetables consumed at the royal table. https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/11/hameau-de-la-reine-mar...

I think this is not a lot different than Bezos types visiting Burning Man on a VIP package.

Aren't most of the people at burning man pretty fashionable/wealthy? Peasants compared to Bezos sure, but not the population at large.

More like the king among the minor nobility.

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#82

Post by LAC-Tech » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:16 PM UTC

tibbydudeza wrote: post #8

Dealing with septic tanks - rotting uneven floors , shitty no pun intended plumbing and electrics - broadband from the copper era. No thanks - much prefer my modern sterile IKEA isocube.

As of writing, I live on a farm an hours drive from the nearest grocery store. It's still a first world country, but people have a lot less disposable income than the states.

The floor boards do suck, and the electricity gets cut more often.

But I get 58.6Mbps down, 21.4Mbps up. Ground to ground satellite.

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#83

Post by LAC-Tech » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:22 PM UTC

giantg2 wrote: post #53

I dream of quitting my job and living on some land. My wife refuses to "live in the middle of nowhere, where there's nothing to do". I guess I shall continue to work a job I hate in order to live in this expensive area.

You have a disagreement with your significant other, and the resolution you came up with is "ignore what I want and just go with what they want" ?

That doesn't sound great.

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#84

Post by ben_w » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:31 PM UTC

LAC-Tech wrote: post #81

leokennis wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is not a lot different than Bezos types visiting Burning Man on a VIP package.

Aren't most of the people at burning man pretty fashionable/wealthy? Peasants compared to Bezos sure, but not the population at large. More like the king among the minor nobility.

Yes, but “pretty fashionable/wealthy” would also describe most users on this forum.

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#85

Post by barry-cotter » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:33 PM UTC

giantg2 wrote: post #46

octokatt wrote: post #2

Heidi came out in 1881 [0], right around when the phone was invented and after Switzerland had a decade or so of political turmoil [1]. When things get complicated, nostalgia for the simplicity of rural life, without things like dirt or economic scarcity, tend to come to the fore [2]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi [1] http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/timeline-sw... [2] https://en.wikipedia.o…

Sometimes the economic scarcity is relatively less scarce than in urban areas. For example, at least during the depression those with farms had to ability to grow their own food. To be fair, sometimes the government would allow urban households to garden in a 1/4 acre or so plot in designated areas as part of a program to help people be more self sufficient. Although my grandfather said not many people took advantage…

> For example, at least during the depression those with farms had to ability to grow their own food.

Those without farms overwhelmingly didn't need to. The only place in North America to have widespread hunger during the Great Depression was Newfoundland. If most people didn't take advantage of allotments it was because it wasn't worth it. After the fall of the Soviet Union lots and lots of urban ex-Soviet citizens grew their own food. They needed to.

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#86

Post by closeparen » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:37 PM UTC

Veen wrote: post #19

tibbydudeza wrote: post #8

Dealing with septic tanks - rotting uneven floors , shitty no pun intended plumbing and electrics - broadband from the copper era. No thanks - much prefer my modern sterile IKEA isocube.

Yes, I learned my lesson after moving into a 400-year-old thatched cottage because I thought it was quaint. The roof and windows leaked. It had limited central heating and was largely heated by a multi-fuel burner. That meant spending an absurd amount of money on wood, which I had to schlep around and split while the weather was appalling and then spend far too long lighting a fire and keeping it going all day, only…

Dealing with historic preservation would seem to defeat the purpose of living in a rural area.

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#87

Post by davidw » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:40 PM UTC

This is, in reality, probably less 'green' than living in a city. Multi-family homes tend to require less energy to heat and cool, because you share walls. You can also walk to many things, bike, or take transit. My bet is that most of the people living in these rural places aren't so into the 'rural lifestyle' that they don't own a couple of cars that they use for ... pretty much everything in life.

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#88

Post by qq4 » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 10:55 PM UTC

LAC-Tech wrote: post #82

tibbydudeza wrote: post #8

Dealing with septic tanks - rotting uneven floors , shitty no pun intended plumbing and electrics - broadband from the copper era. No thanks - much prefer my modern sterile IKEA isocube.

As of writing, I live on a farm an hours drive from the nearest grocery store. It's still a first world country, but people have a lot less disposable income than the states. The floor boards do suck, and the electricity gets cut more often. But I get 58.6Mbps down, 21.4Mbps up. Ground to ground satellite.

Mind mentioning your satellite isp?

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#89

Post by MisterBastahrd » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 11:03 PM UTC

My grandparents and great grandparents all lived on 4+ acre properties in rural Louisiana. Not quite cottages, but a similar concept. They had 1100 - 1300sq foot homes but lived along the river and you could get to all of their houses without ever leaving River Road. They lived about 1 hour from the nearest city and were about halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and had a gigantic community social group. They knew everyone in town and my folks knew everyone in their town through them. Hell, I know a lot of people in their hometown through them.

My parents own a 1600 sq foot house but live on a quarter acre lot and my dad has always regretted not purchasing an additional lot back when he purchased the land to build their house. They live in a suburb of New Orleans. They knew the neighbors and some of the people in the community who were from their hometowns.

I live in a 2400 sq foot house on a 1/5th of an acre lot and I am within a short drive from all the amenities of city life near Dallas. Can't say I know a whole lot of my neighbors. Everyone keeps to themselves.

Any time before second day shipping, if you had asked me if I wanted to live out on the land like my grandparents, I'd have looked at you like you had 3 heads.

Now though? I'd take it in a heartbeat. They had a garden that was over an acre. Trees filled with figs and oranges and pecans. A trellis built with railroad ties that was covered with grapes and blackberries and chayote depending on the time of the year. They always had enough root vegetables, cabbage, etc. to last through the winter months. No HOA to worry about, no zoning ordinances to mess with, you just live your life on your property.

Re: 'Cottagecore' and the rise of the modern rural fantasy

#90

Post by ioseph » Thu, Sep 30, 2021, 11:04 PM UTC

schnevets wrote: post #56

I love my backyard garden (even though my Brussels Sprout experiment this year proved to be a huge waste of time). I also love the aesthetic that cottagecore is revitalizing. I love drinking at local wineries, buying stuff at my local farmer's market, brewing beer and swapping bottles with homebrew friends, etc... But holy shit am I repulsed by the influencer aspect that is growing with this "movement". Ways of Seein…

I feel the same way about woodwork, sure there's gimmicky creators but the reality of the hobby is nobody is getting rich or famous, selling pieces will barely cover material costs and having the fanciest gear won't necessarily give you a better finished piece.

Although epoxy river tables make me cringe everytime I see one...