When reading about the Diggers, I was interested in the song, “Stand Up Now”. I was expecting a song that was super out of style in taste and not very nice on my ears. I’m not sure why that was my expectation, but I was far off. It was actually very pleasant and nice to listen to, it had a good beat. I listened to it a few times to really hear the words. I also read through the lyrics of the other songs on the site. In the song it is asking Diggers to stand up for glory.
When reading the wiki information on Diggers it said that they basically lived by the following statement, “true freedom lies where a man receives his nourishment and preservation, and that is in the use of the earth”. I thought this was interesting and kind of sums up what the Diggers were all about. They believed that living off the earth was what they were supposed to do. It also mentioned that a lot of these people were poor, and so they needed somewhere to stay and food to eat. It makes sense that this would be a next step. In my opinion it is actually quiet genius. I can see why it was a problem and why they were forced to move, but also, with all the land that is out there, why can’t everyone live in peace and just coexist.
The song I listened to talks about how they don’t need swords and how they just wanted to be there in peace. They were not trying to fight anyone or be in anyone’s way. They just wanted to live off the land and provide for themselves and have a sustainable live. From what I read, they were peaceful and never violent. So I guess I am missing the reason as to why they were such a big problem.
If I understand correctly, you’re wondering why the authority figures of the time took issue with the Diggers if they were pacifistic. The answer, as far as I can tell, is that regardless of how kind they were, the Diggers were still seen by the rich and powerful as a threat to their ability to remain rich and powerful. The entire reason peaceful protest is needed is because there is opposition to what the people are protesting for. More often than not, that opposition is a result of the powerful believing that uplifting others will take away from their own wellbeing in some way.
ReplyDeleteI think extreme change can be really difficult for people to grasp especially for the rich because they don’t want to have to change their lifestyle even if it would better others’. I also think the rich and powerful people they had a hard time accepting the diggers’ philosophy because the war had ended and during that time there were a lot of uncertainties about the outcome and since they won they were unwilling to change or sacrifice what they fought for.
ReplyDeleteI did not read the about the Diggers so I can't speak with any extensive background towards this but it would be interesting to question what potential alternatives or compromises there could have been between the land owners and Diggers and what factors might have effected the possibility of that.
ReplyDeleteI would also add that, since the diggers were using land nominally owned by the lords of the manor, their continued use of the land constituted a challenge to the right of the lords to own that land.
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