There can be satisfaction in a job well done, whether you're a craftsman or a plumber. I think we need to encourage more young people to go to trade school, rather than increasingly worthless college.
I am one of those craftsmen. But I've also been a teacher.
And I spent a summer working in a sweatshop, one that probably dated all the way back to Taylor's time.
I am intimately familiar with manufacturing processes, from the very beginnings of the industrial revolution up to today. Yes, manufacturing is potentially dehumanizing, although that is not inevitable. As industries have developed, with larger and larger factories and more advanced assembly lines, more and more workers are displaced. Is that good or bad? In early forms of industrialization, some skilled people with challenging jobs were replaced by machines. On the other hand,, some unskilled repetitive jobs have been replaced with robots. Again, is this all good, or all bad?
I was (am?) a woodworker. I can make just about anything involving wood. I can make a classic piece of furniture using the techniques of centuries ago, and I can make contemporary era furniture using modern machinery and materials. Neither of these is inherently superior, but modern processes are a HELL of a lot more efficient. It is because of this that we have all our stuff. If our stuff was all handmade, how much would any of us have? At any rate, I don't mind working hard and working up a sweat, but I do not want to work at a mentally unchallenging repetitive job. But that's just me. And there are many office jobs that are every bit as repetitive as those in a factory.
I've speculated, as we enter an era where we can have as much as we have with incredibly few manhours, what might we do next? What work do we do, when our physical needs are met with incredibly little work? You can see that many people today feel entitled to work at whatever they want to, and to be compensated for it, regardless of any market value. How is that supposed to work?
Today's economy is a blessing and a curse. Incredible ease and comfort combined with a sense of malaise, a sense that we are superfluous. Maybe being a cog in a machine has its good points.
John Henry comes to mind. He died proving that he could out hammer a machine (depending on which version you listen to). Was he a fool or a hero? The song seems to recognize the reality more than it takes a side.
So, I am a craftsman. I wrestled for forty years with the conundrum of finding work that I found challenging yet profitable. I can make any piece of furniture you want, but I can't come close to Ikea prices. Still, I found corners of the economy where industrialization could not reach. It can be done, but it's not the easy way. It's the interesting, rewarding way.
Here's a video I made shortly before I closed my shop for good.
I saw this situation coming in my teens back in the late 80s and plotted a course to walk a path in maintenance. I ended up in the Power Generation Sector and it is full of tradespeople with high level craftsmanship and engineering experience. It is made up of lots of trades that require great skill with ones hands and the consequences of failure are costly indeed. The idea that we are all created equal is absurd to me. I have had to defend my skills against those of others in much less demanding positions that require much less training and have a much lower thresholds of success. If I failed at my job, people died. The specialization of working on rotating equipment pays well but it comes with costs. It is all about trade-offs. By my calculations, the net gain of the experience and know how are worth it to me. That trade afforded me the opportunity to travel and experience cultures around the globe. I have spent time in 15 countries other than the United States and I have been to 49 of the US states. There is no substitute for life experience.
Beauty has left the room. I get so many catalogs of furnishing and clothes but everything is mass produced , cheaply constructed and downright ugly. Years ago I had a friend who started up a plant in Waxahachi tx to make lamps--I loved walking through the small factory--have so many potter friends and welder friends and artists and seamstresses but there are fewer and fewer outlets for their wares. My friends factory had to close because he couldn't compete with imports, though his stuff was so much better. Furniture no longer made here. Clothes no longer made here. Beautiful fabrics no longer made here--in fact, no longer made. All Junk. Lighting is junk.
We don't need big factories. We have materials. We have the artists and craftsmen. We just need the spirit that tells us we can do it. Thank you for encouraging us--lets have a movement of passionate makers and doers!
In my early years, 1980s, I detested what I was seeing as a party culture. That propensity to celebrate for anything (or nothing) would only saturate the experience, eventually. That’s where we are today. As far as trade craft, I push back on the bureaucratic check lists that diminish our appreciation of skilled craftspeople. Now we sit in boxes pushing buttons as you say. Our culture needs an awakening. Thanks for the reminder.
Note #2: "...the female costumes ranged from slutty schoolgirls to slutty cats to slutty feathery jobs. Men, meanwhile, seemed largely unimpressed with the displays, although some were dressed as Hugh Hefner, so in the end, who knows."
ROTFL at this description.
I can see why this isn't exactly the kind of parade you'd be enthusiastic about! ;)
My thoughts in sum? Yes, let's make things again. 100% in agreement with your thoughts on this topic.
Heather, I agree with you on too much this week - other than the week you went to Key West.
My pal just returned from what I think was a tropical rock festival in Key West this last weekend. His was one of many bands playing in the several venues in the area.
If it was real music you were hoping to find, you missed by that much.
Interesting description of a fake fantasy fest in Key West. If you ever get the chance, go to burning man. Your desire to see creativity and workmanship on steroids would be amply rewarded.
Your writing of uninspired parade floats brought me back to a high school homecoming parade nearly 50 years ago in which I (hidden in a stylized outhouse (!) on my class's float) served as the "motor" for some clever animation. Being awarded first place has made that memory that much sweeter. Thanks for the inspiration to recall such a rich time of my life.
I couldn't agree more with your oft-repeated entreaties to physically interact with the world - to create with our hands. I didn't consider myself skilled at those sorts of things when I was much younger, but I *wanted* to be, so I kept at it - and it has paid off. From building a model from a kit to playing the piano to growing award-winning vegetables, repairing and tweaking my vehicles, setting up and breaking down camping tents, marching in formation, baking bread, and operating nuclear power plants, I've created alone and in groups. I wish I could also carry a tune and draw, but I'm afraid those things will always be wishes for me; I don't have to be able to do "all the things" to have benefited so much from those things I have done. Now, my grandchildren are encouraged to do the same.
I have to delete comments because this site will not reproduce my comments without editing them for spelling or whatever but does not allow me to edit them myself. This more than anything else has soured me on Substack.
There can be satisfaction in a job well done, whether you're a craftsman or a plumber. I think we need to encourage more young people to go to trade school, rather than increasingly worthless college.
and to do something that interests them--that they can get passionate about. That they can feel satisfaction in.
Well, this certainly spoke to me.
I am one of those craftsmen. But I've also been a teacher.
And I spent a summer working in a sweatshop, one that probably dated all the way back to Taylor's time.
I am intimately familiar with manufacturing processes, from the very beginnings of the industrial revolution up to today. Yes, manufacturing is potentially dehumanizing, although that is not inevitable. As industries have developed, with larger and larger factories and more advanced assembly lines, more and more workers are displaced. Is that good or bad? In early forms of industrialization, some skilled people with challenging jobs were replaced by machines. On the other hand,, some unskilled repetitive jobs have been replaced with robots. Again, is this all good, or all bad?
I was (am?) a woodworker. I can make just about anything involving wood. I can make a classic piece of furniture using the techniques of centuries ago, and I can make contemporary era furniture using modern machinery and materials. Neither of these is inherently superior, but modern processes are a HELL of a lot more efficient. It is because of this that we have all our stuff. If our stuff was all handmade, how much would any of us have? At any rate, I don't mind working hard and working up a sweat, but I do not want to work at a mentally unchallenging repetitive job. But that's just me. And there are many office jobs that are every bit as repetitive as those in a factory.
I've speculated, as we enter an era where we can have as much as we have with incredibly few manhours, what might we do next? What work do we do, when our physical needs are met with incredibly little work? You can see that many people today feel entitled to work at whatever they want to, and to be compensated for it, regardless of any market value. How is that supposed to work?
Today's economy is a blessing and a curse. Incredible ease and comfort combined with a sense of malaise, a sense that we are superfluous. Maybe being a cog in a machine has its good points.
John Henry comes to mind. He died proving that he could out hammer a machine (depending on which version you listen to). Was he a fool or a hero? The song seems to recognize the reality more than it takes a side.
So, I am a craftsman. I wrestled for forty years with the conundrum of finding work that I found challenging yet profitable. I can make any piece of furniture you want, but I can't come close to Ikea prices. Still, I found corners of the economy where industrialization could not reach. It can be done, but it's not the easy way. It's the interesting, rewarding way.
Here's a video I made shortly before I closed my shop for good.
https://youtu.be/adn3wR3M5fM
BEAUTIFUL Woody!
I saw this situation coming in my teens back in the late 80s and plotted a course to walk a path in maintenance. I ended up in the Power Generation Sector and it is full of tradespeople with high level craftsmanship and engineering experience. It is made up of lots of trades that require great skill with ones hands and the consequences of failure are costly indeed. The idea that we are all created equal is absurd to me. I have had to defend my skills against those of others in much less demanding positions that require much less training and have a much lower thresholds of success. If I failed at my job, people died. The specialization of working on rotating equipment pays well but it comes with costs. It is all about trade-offs. By my calculations, the net gain of the experience and know how are worth it to me. That trade afforded me the opportunity to travel and experience cultures around the globe. I have spent time in 15 countries other than the United States and I have been to 49 of the US states. There is no substitute for life experience.
Beauty has left the room. I get so many catalogs of furnishing and clothes but everything is mass produced , cheaply constructed and downright ugly. Years ago I had a friend who started up a plant in Waxahachi tx to make lamps--I loved walking through the small factory--have so many potter friends and welder friends and artists and seamstresses but there are fewer and fewer outlets for their wares. My friends factory had to close because he couldn't compete with imports, though his stuff was so much better. Furniture no longer made here. Clothes no longer made here. Beautiful fabrics no longer made here--in fact, no longer made. All Junk. Lighting is junk.
We don't need big factories. We have materials. We have the artists and craftsmen. We just need the spirit that tells us we can do it. Thank you for encouraging us--lets have a movement of passionate makers and doers!
In my early years, 1980s, I detested what I was seeing as a party culture. That propensity to celebrate for anything (or nothing) would only saturate the experience, eventually. That’s where we are today. As far as trade craft, I push back on the bureaucratic check lists that diminish our appreciation of skilled craftspeople. Now we sit in boxes pushing buttons as you say. Our culture needs an awakening. Thanks for the reminder.
It seems just as important to have people that actively support, appreciate and criticize the artwork and music and cooking, etc.
Note #2: "...the female costumes ranged from slutty schoolgirls to slutty cats to slutty feathery jobs. Men, meanwhile, seemed largely unimpressed with the displays, although some were dressed as Hugh Hefner, so in the end, who knows."
ROTFL at this description.
I can see why this isn't exactly the kind of parade you'd be enthusiastic about! ;)
My thoughts in sum? Yes, let's make things again. 100% in agreement with your thoughts on this topic.
Heather, I agree with you on too much this week - other than the week you went to Key West.
My pal just returned from what I think was a tropical rock festival in Key West this last weekend. His was one of many bands playing in the several venues in the area.
If it was real music you were hoping to find, you missed by that much.
(Maxwell Smart reference. https://youtu.be/oPwrodxghrw?si=iBTmHQMioTkOX6M8 )
Interesting description of a fake fantasy fest in Key West. If you ever get the chance, go to burning man. Your desire to see creativity and workmanship on steroids would be amply rewarded.
Dick Minnis removingthecataract.substack.com
Your writing of uninspired parade floats brought me back to a high school homecoming parade nearly 50 years ago in which I (hidden in a stylized outhouse (!) on my class's float) served as the "motor" for some clever animation. Being awarded first place has made that memory that much sweeter. Thanks for the inspiration to recall such a rich time of my life.
I couldn't agree more with your oft-repeated entreaties to physically interact with the world - to create with our hands. I didn't consider myself skilled at those sorts of things when I was much younger, but I *wanted* to be, so I kept at it - and it has paid off. From building a model from a kit to playing the piano to growing award-winning vegetables, repairing and tweaking my vehicles, setting up and breaking down camping tents, marching in formation, baking bread, and operating nuclear power plants, I've created alone and in groups. I wish I could also carry a tune and draw, but I'm afraid those things will always be wishes for me; I don't have to be able to do "all the things" to have benefited so much from those things I have done. Now, my grandchildren are encouraged to do the same.
I have to delete comments because this site will not reproduce my comments without editing them for spelling or whatever but does not allow me to edit them myself. This more than anything else has soured me on Substack.
I don't have this problem. At the risk of suggesting things you've already looked into: your device; how you're accessing substack (browser vs app).