Scott Nearing

Scott Nearing
Scott Nearing (1883-1983) was an American author, economist, and social activist known for his advocacy of simple living and sustainable agriculture. He is best known for his book "Living the Good Life," co-written with his wife, Helen Nearing, which became a seminal text for the back-to-the-land movement. Nearing was also an outspoken critic of capitalism and militarism, writing extensively on economic inequality and social justice. Throughout his life, he practiced what he preached, living a self-sufficient lifestyle in rural Vermont and Maine.

Author's Books:


PREFACE During 1910, 1911, and 1912, as a part of a general plan to write a book on education, I reread a great deal of the classical educational literature, and carefully perused most of the current material in magazine and book form. An interest aroused by undergraduate and graduate work in the department of pedagogy had been whetted by the revolutionary activity in every field of educational... more...

I. THE PROMISE OF 1776 1. The American Republic The genius of revolution presided at the birth of the American Republic, whose first breath was drawn amid the economic, social and political turmoil of the eighteenth century. The voyaging and discovering of the three preceding centuries had destroyed European isolation and laid the foundation for a new world order of society. The Industrial Revolution... more...

CHAPTER ONE EXPERIMENTS IN EGYPT AND EURASIA Thousands of years before the city of Rome was ringed with its six miles of stone wall, other peoples in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa were building civilizations. New techniques of excavation, identification and preservation, subsidized by an increasingly affluent human society, and developed during the past two centuries of archeological research have... more...

1. THE SUPREME COURT The Supreme Court of the United States on March 10, 1919, handed down a decision on the Debs case. That decision is far-reaching in its immediate significance and still more far-reaching in its ultimate implications. What is the Supreme Court of the United States? Article III, Section I of the Constitution provides as follows: "The judicial power of the United States shall be... more...

I. THE NEW ECONOMIC LIFE 1. The Historic Present The knell of a dying order is tolling. Its keynote is despair. Gaunt hunger pulls at the bell-rope, while dazed humanity listens, bewildered and afraid. Uncertainty and a sense of futility have gripped the world. They are manifesting themselves in unrest, disillusionment, the abandonment of ideals, opportunism, and a tragic concentration on the life of... more...