Domostroi on Organization and Economy
20.
The organization of the household is of utmost importance. Because of this, everyone has a hierarchy, including the wife. In the Domostroi, her place is below the husband and there is an emphasis on the fact that she should always search to please him. Ultimately, the woman has to organize most of the household and business ventures. She has to be ready for the winter and shouldn’t be worried for her household when it snows because “they are wrapped in two cloaks” (102). This shows that there should be no worry when winter strikes because the wife should organize everything to be ready for the winter. I see so much emphasis on survival and following the order of structure, it shows that it is the main goal of the typical Russian household. I was surprised by how much biblical influence there was on the issues of the past. Where things such as a wife’s character is discussed. Overall, this section shows that the organization of the household structured by the wife helps a winter survival. Therefore, the Domostroi (written for men) emphasizes the need for a biblical wife that could organize and serve the household in order to ensure survival for the whole family.
41.
On the topic of products from faraway lands, we see a unique strategy. Anything that is exotic and is available at the market in the summer or springtime is a good deal. One of the sayings is “Do not let anything pass you by.” This means that you should seize the opportunity to buy anything exotic even if you do not need it at the time. One reason for this is because you may end up needing it later in the winter time. Another reason for this is that you could end up selling the items for a profit during the winter when other people may need it but do not have it. Overall, the lesson to be learned here is that if you buy a more than you need at the time, it would still benefit you in the future and you could resell the items for a profit later. Here in America, we shop for everything for a week. Exotic items are always available, even in the middle of the winter, which has never really been a problem for anyone living in a first world modern country.
42.
The following section goes a little further into the previous section on exotic goods. As stated in the previous section, you need to buy more than you need at the time in case you might end up needing it later. However, in order to have it available and ready for use later, you would need to store it properly. Most of the buying more than you need happens to be in bulk. This allows you to pay a smaller price per unit, saving you money and time that you would not need to spend at the market later. This makes sense, since we can do the same thing at stores such as Sam’s Club and Costco. However, at the time, the role of women was reiterated again to know how to preserve all of the items that you bought. Not only that, but this section talks about knowing how to make use of every part of the items bought. For example, if you buy a cow, you should know how to use the intestines, brain and hooves apart from just the meat. This allows you to be a lot more efficient in using your resources so that you could survive with meat well into winter. Overall, goo planning and efficient use of resources is the main theme here. It reminds me a lot of the way Native Americans tried to use every possible piece of buffalo that they had. In this way they respected the land and made efficient use of the scarce resources that they had.