--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Virtually all of us now share with the…" description: "\"“Virtually all of us now share with the most powerful industrialists their remoteness from actual experience of the actual world. Like them, we partici..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/wendell-berry-236_economics_virtually-all-of-us-now-share-with-the-m_2199436.jpg" --- # Virtually all of us now share with the most powerful… ![“Virtually all of us now share with the most powerful industrialists their remoteness from actual experience of the actual world. Like them, we participate in an absentee economy, which makes us effectively absent even from our own dwelling places. Though most of us have little wealth and perhaps…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/wendell-berry-236_economics_virtually-all-of-us-now-share-with-the-m_2199436.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/wendell-berry-236_economics_virtually-all-of-us-now-share-with-the-m_2199436.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/wendell-berry-236_economics_virtually-all-of-us-now-share-with-the-m_2199436.jpg) > ““Virtually all of us now share with the most powerful industrialists their remoteness from actual experience of the actual world. Like them, we participate in an absentee economy, which makes us effectively absent even from our own dwelling places. Though most of us have little wealth and perhaps no power, we consumer-citizens are more like James B. Duke than we are like my grandfather. By economic proxies thoughtlessly given, by thoughtless consumption of goods ignorantly purchased, now we all are boomers.”” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern consumers are detached from real production, becoming distant observers of an economy they barely understand. **In simple terms:** People are disconnected from how things are made. Key Takeaway Reconnect with production realities. Themes consumerism detachment industrialism environment social critique Mood concerned critical Type philosophical activist When to use this quote - shopping habits - urban living - policy debates - environmental activism Key Concepts absentee economy economic proxies consumer awareness Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to understand product origins? - How does detachment affect community? A Different Perspective Changing habits can be difficult due to entrenched convenience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absentee Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absentee-economy-4825245/) [Boomers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boomers/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Grandfather Economic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grandfather-economic-4825246/) [Industrialists Remoteness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industrialists-remoteness-4825244/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Purchased Boomers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purchased-boomers-4825247/) ## Related quotes > [“He thought rightly that we Americans, by inclination at least, have been divided into two kinds: “boomers” and “stickers.” Boomers, he said, are “those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/he-thought-rightly-that-we-americans-by-inclination-at-least-have/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“Can we actually suppose that we are wasting, polluting, and making ugly this beautiful land for the sake of patriotism and the love of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/can-we-actually-suppose-that-we-are-wasting-polluting-and-making-ugly/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“When nothing is valued for what it is, everything is destined to be wasted. Once the values of things refer only to their future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/when-nothing-is-valued-for-what-it-is-everything-is-destined-to-be/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Retirees who are on Medicare will suffer the consequences of 700 billions of Medicare dollars instead being used to cover the skyrocketing cost of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-somers/retirees-who-are-on-medicare-will-suffer-the-consequences-of-700/) [Suzanne Somers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-somers/) > [Maybe it will be a great thing when the Baby Boomers finally die out. In real life, it's not a matter of the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-bowman/maybe-it-will-be-a-great-thing-when-the-baby-boomers-finally-die-out/) [Jack Bowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-bowman/) > [“The sociopaths’ goal is to wring every last dollar from the system, and any investment that could not be fully realized within Boomer lifetimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cannon-gibney/the-sociopaths-goal-is-to-wring-every-last-dollar-from-the-system-and/) [Bruce Cannon Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cannon-gibney/) > [When the boomers started to have kids reach adolescence, there was suddenly this feeling that they needed to protect their kids from all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/when-the-boomers-started-to-have-kids-reach-adolescence-there-was/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [Packed with fascinating personal perspective and testimony, Michael Takiffs A Complicated Man wholly justifies its title. The book is far more than a kaleidoscopic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-hamilton/packed-with-fascinating-personal-perspective-and-testimony-michael/) [Nigel Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-hamilton/) > [Every generation trash-talks younger generations. Baby boomers labeled Generation X a group of tattooed slackers and materialists; Generation Xers have branded millennials as iPhone-addicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-blumenthal/every-generation-trash-talks-younger-generations-baby-boomers-labeled/) [Neil Blumenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-blumenthal/) > [Jews took it very seriously to marry other Jews and repopulate the Jewish bloodline, and my father's generation gets very serious in my household…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-lerman/jews-took-it-very-seriously-to-marry-other-jews-and-repopulate-the/) [Logan Lerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-lerman/) > [Like so many Boomers, I saw 'Lawrence of Arabia' in 1962 when it was first released and when we were young teenagers. I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-doria-russell/like-so-many-boomers-i-saw-lawrence-of-arabia-in-1962-when-it-was/) [Mary Doria Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-doria-russell/) > [I don't know if the idea of a career in show business or in the arts in general was looked down upon as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-sudeikis/i-don-t-know-if-the-idea-of-a-career-in-show-business-or-in-the-arts/) [Jason Sudeikis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-sudeikis/) > [Now, do I think the baby boomers tend to be self-absorbed? I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/now-do-i-think-the-baby-boomers-tend-to-be-self-absorbed-i-do/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) > [Americans need to call on Boomers, in their next act onstage, to behave like grown-ups. And there is no better way for them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-liu/americans-need-to-call-on-boomers-in-their-next-act-onstage-to-behave/) [Eric Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-liu/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The two families, sundered in the ruin of a friendship, were united again first in new friendship and then in mariage. My grandfather made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-two-families-sundered-in-the-ruin-of-a-friendship-were-united/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“I knew a man who, in the age of chain-saws, went right on cutting his wood with a handsaw and an axe. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-knew-a-man-who-in-the-age-of-chain-saws-went-right-on-cutting-his/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The concept of country, homeland, dwelling place becomes simplified as "the environment" -- that is, what surrounds us, we have already made a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-concept-of-country-homeland-dwelling-place-becomes-simplified-as/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-community-is-the-mental-and-spiritual-condition-of-knowing-that-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mind-that-comes-to-rest-is-tended-in-ways-that-it-cannot-intend/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More Boomers quotes > [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) > [Now, do I think the baby boomers tend to be self-absorbed? I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/now-do-i-think-the-baby-boomers-tend-to-be-self-absorbed-i-do/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“He thought rightly that we Americans, by inclination at least, have been divided into two kinds: “boomers” and “stickers.” Boomers, he said, are “those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/he-thought-rightly-that-we-americans-by-inclination-at-least-have/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I don't know if the idea of a career in show business or in the arts in general was looked down upon as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-sudeikis/i-don-t-know-if-the-idea-of-a-career-in-show-business-or-in-the-arts/) [Jason Sudeikis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-sudeikis/) > [Like so many Boomers, I saw 'Lawrence of Arabia' in 1962 when it was first released and when we were young teenagers. I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-doria-russell/like-so-many-boomers-i-saw-lawrence-of-arabia-in-1962-when-it-was/) [Mary Doria Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-doria-russell/) > [Jews took it very seriously to marry other Jews and repopulate the Jewish bloodline, and my father's generation gets very serious in my household…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-lerman/jews-took-it-very-seriously-to-marry-other-jews-and-repopulate-the/) [Logan Lerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-lerman/) > [Every generation trash-talks younger generations. Baby boomers labeled Generation X a group of tattooed slackers and materialists; Generation Xers have branded millennials as iPhone-addicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-blumenthal/every-generation-trash-talks-younger-generations-baby-boomers-labeled/) [Neil Blumenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-blumenthal/) > [Packed with fascinating personal perspective and testimony, Michael Takiffs A Complicated Man wholly justifies its title. The book is far more than a kaleidoscopic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-hamilton/packed-with-fascinating-personal-perspective-and-testimony-michael/) [Nigel Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-hamilton/) > [When the boomers started to have kids reach adolescence, there was suddenly this feeling that they needed to protect their kids from all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/when-the-boomers-started-to-have-kids-reach-adolescence-there-was/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [“The sociopaths’ goal is to wring every last dollar from the system, and any investment that could not be fully realized within Boomer lifetimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-cannon-gibney/the-sociopaths-goal-is-to-wring-every-last-dollar-from-the-system-and/) [Bruce Cannon Gibney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-cannon-gibney/) > [Maybe it will be a great thing when the Baby Boomers finally die out. In real life, it's not a matter of the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-bowman/maybe-it-will-be-a-great-thing-when-the-baby-boomers-finally-die-out/) [Jack Bowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-bowman/) > [Retirees who are on Medicare will suffer the consequences of 700 billions of Medicare dollars instead being used to cover the skyrocketing cost of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-somers/retirees-who-are-on-medicare-will-suffer-the-consequences-of-700/) [Suzanne Somers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-somers/) > [Americans need to call on Boomers, in their next act onstage, to behave like grown-ups. And there is no better way for them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-liu/americans-need-to-call-on-boomers-in-their-next-act-onstage-to-behave/) [Eric Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-liu/) > [The Boomers are a core audience for us, and we want them to have a resort experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-ross/the-boomers-are-a-core-audience-for-us-and-we-want-them-to-have-a/) [Ryan Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-ross/) > [“Boomers, the more than 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964, began turning 65 three years ago and all will have reached that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/boomers-the-more-than-76-million-people-born-between-1946-and-1964/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 126 Boomers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boomers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Virtually all of us now share with the most powerful industrialists their remoteness from actual experience of the actual world. 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