Keep in mind that Tolkien was reacting against something he had a lot of qualms about - the modern world, in particular the horrors of the second world war, something nobody seems to have thought to mention (that I’ve noted), and a large driver to his thoughts. The Shire's not meant to be taken literally. Tolkien was never that naive. It's the counterpoint to the despoilment made evident at the end of TLOTR, at their return, and what’s marked by the end of innocence when Gandalf, et al, leave from Grey Haven. The social order’s simply an expression of his times, little more than the fabric of Tolkien’s own world then – not ours now. It has to be understood in terms of its own time.
As to sustainability, well, at current population levels (human not hobbit) there’s not a cat in hell’s chance. Whatever return to pre-industrialised methods you may countenance, none of them stand even a remote chance without massive human population reduction and withering curtailment of resource consumption. But, as all life, through evolution itself, is incapable of accepting any truths other than blind faith in survival then this just ain’t going to come about, now is it, like, who’s going to volunteer we even make mention of mass human culling – gads, that ain’t what the survival imperative’s all about. Hence, de facto extinction. But hey, it’s been fun whilst it’s lasted!
So, can we now get back to discussing literature, something we can at least get our heads around and has little environmental impact?
