the monster that sent the tractor out, had somehow got into the driver’s hands, into his brain and muscle, had goggled him and muzzled him— goggled his mind, muzzled his speech, goggled his perception, muzzled his protest. He could not see the land as it was, he could not smell the land as it smelled; his feet did not stamp the clods or feel the warmth and power of the earth. He sat in an iron seat and stepped on iron pedals. He could not cheer or beat or curse or encourage the extension of his power, and because of this he could not cheer or whip or curse or encourage himself. He did not know
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The industrialization of farming caused it to lose its mystical power over us. Now, we are so disconnected from the Earth that we, as a society, don't know or care about how the Earth is being hurt and damaged by our actions. When we were farming our own land, we cared more if it was healthy and taken care of. Now, we talk about it intellectually, but our whole lives are not entwined with the Earth anymore.
