I have sheep on the brain.
May. 21st, 2026 08:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickYes sir, yes sir, three bags full and also Sheep Detectives and Maryland Sheep and Wool and the afghan project in my personal life. And in the larger world, there's the slew of religious metaphors involving sheep (good shepherd, ministering to the flock, lamb of God, that style of thing) and conspiracy theorists with their Wake up, sheeple! and so forth.
I am setting aside the question of Is Capitalism Evil? because orphan crushing machine has to crush orphans, y'know.
But, capitalism can be arranged so that #notallorphans, so that most folks can get by and have a good enough life while still contributing a reasonable increase to the oligarch class. I mean, if an oligarch class is something we want to have. *sigh* Looks like it is.
A shepherd (in theory) makes money by shearing sheep and selling their wool, by marketing lambs to (a) other sheep breeders and (b) people who want lambchops, and by increasing the size of flock through keeping or acquiring good quality lambs.
There are some constraints that must be considered...
Sheep need to have enough food to eat so that they can grow nice wool. They also need good nutrition to produce multiple lambs that are sturdy, healthy, and (in some cases) delicious.
They need to be healthy enough to not all drop dead of some horrible sheep disease.
They need to not be stressed to hell and back, so cannot be constantly harried by wolves or the neighbor's German Shepherd or whatever. Sheep need a reasonable expectation of safety and calm most of the time.
A shepherd will probably make MORE MONEY through good husbandry of the flock than through poor husbandry of the flock. Like, they DO BETTER (more $$$, better karma) if they take care of their fucking sheep. The sheep do not have to live in boundless luxury but they should live in reasonable comfort for best results.
Are our corporate overlords good shepherds? Is our current government a good shepherd?
How do the sheeple feel? Do they feel they are living in reasonable comfort? Do they feel fairly healthy? Do they have enough to eat? Have they got a safe place to shelter from the elements? Do they have safety and calm most of the time?
My point here is that you can't fuck over the sheep too much if you're trying to make money off of them. What's good for the sheep is good for the shepherd. Unstressed, fed, healthy sheep are MORE PROFITABLE than stressed, hungry, sickly sheep.
If you shear the sheep, it will regrow the wool and you can shear it again next year.
If you skin the sheep, you only get to do that once. It can't come back from skinning.
I am setting aside the question of Is Capitalism Evil? because orphan crushing machine has to crush orphans, y'know.
But, capitalism can be arranged so that #notallorphans, so that most folks can get by and have a good enough life while still contributing a reasonable increase to the oligarch class. I mean, if an oligarch class is something we want to have. *sigh* Looks like it is.
A shepherd (in theory) makes money by shearing sheep and selling their wool, by marketing lambs to (a) other sheep breeders and (b) people who want lambchops, and by increasing the size of flock through keeping or acquiring good quality lambs.
There are some constraints that must be considered...
Sheep need to have enough food to eat so that they can grow nice wool. They also need good nutrition to produce multiple lambs that are sturdy, healthy, and (in some cases) delicious.
They need to be healthy enough to not all drop dead of some horrible sheep disease.
They need to not be stressed to hell and back, so cannot be constantly harried by wolves or the neighbor's German Shepherd or whatever. Sheep need a reasonable expectation of safety and calm most of the time.
A shepherd will probably make MORE MONEY through good husbandry of the flock than through poor husbandry of the flock. Like, they DO BETTER (more $$$, better karma) if they take care of their fucking sheep. The sheep do not have to live in boundless luxury but they should live in reasonable comfort for best results.
Are our corporate overlords good shepherds? Is our current government a good shepherd?
How do the sheeple feel? Do they feel they are living in reasonable comfort? Do they feel fairly healthy? Do they have enough to eat? Have they got a safe place to shelter from the elements? Do they have safety and calm most of the time?
My point here is that you can't fuck over the sheep too much if you're trying to make money off of them. What's good for the sheep is good for the shepherd. Unstressed, fed, healthy sheep are MORE PROFITABLE than stressed, hungry, sickly sheep.
If you shear the sheep, it will regrow the wool and you can shear it again next year.
If you skin the sheep, you only get to do that once. It can't come back from skinning.
