The Case for Working With Your Hands

Bill Lantry

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Hey, folks,

Interesting (long) article in the times today, by a guy with a degree in political philosophy from the U of Chicago who now has made a career as a motorcycle mechanic. Many, many of the ideas are transferable to woodworking, and this community is uniquely positioned to appreciate it, as so many of us are nominally 'knowledge workers' by day, who directly interact with the physical world in our shops. I spent a lot of time laughing and nodding at many of his points... ;)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24labor-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&em

hope you enjoy it as much as I did... ;)

Thanks,

Bill
 
Thanks Bill. I read it all. Agree with a great deal of what he says. Certainly food for thought. I have a very bright son. Always expected him to go on to school and succeed in the "intelectual side" of some career. He abandoned college and is now working as a trade. Goes to work whistling and comes home smiling. Has a real tough day and very harsh in winter. But he enjoys it for many of the reasons mentioned in the article.

How many of us hail from a time of tech when we were in the lab creating and producing something real and meaningful. Now we get that through our shops.

In some ways its sad that the new generation will miss this "manual" part of life. Lucky for us our local high school still teaches shop and has a couple of huge ones. Also do motor mechanics and other things of a similar nature besides the tech factor.

Worthwhile read.:thumb:
 
I didn't read the whole thing but agree with his premise.
Being a former city boy, for whatever reason, I always wanted to experience the country life. And, I'm certainly no 'Mother Earther'. As soon as we landed in Arkansas, I started raising animals. Started with rabbits, graduated to chickens, then hogs and finally cattle. We kept the cattle for 25 years, complete with a lot of heartbreak. But, there was a lot of joy helping to nurture nature. Even when I was standing on a frozen pond during a sleet storm and breaking ice there was satisfaction in the work. I felt more alive with the physical exertion than I ever did operating a clothing store.
We would do better as a society to offer more options to our youth.
 
I didn't read the whole thing but agree with his premise.
Being a former city boy, for whatever reason, I always wanted to experience the country life. And, I'm certainly no 'Mother Earther'. As soon as we landed in Arkansas, I started raising animals. Started with rabbits, graduated to chickens, then hogs and finally cattle. We kept the cattle for 25 years, complete with a lot of heartbreak. But, there was a lot of joy helping to nurture nature. Even when I was standing on a frozen pond during a sleet storm and breaking ice there was satisfaction in the work. I felt more alive with the physical exertion than I ever did operating a clothing store.
We would do better as a society to offer more options to our youth.
The farm-city thing must work where each goes to the other. I grew up on a farm. During college, I told my dad that one thing that kept me going was the fear that if I flunked out, I'd have to go back to the farm. I simply never understood the city people who saw "romance" in farming. It was just hard dirty work, all day long, with little financial reward.

I spent my career as an engineer, and loved every minute of it. The most I want to have to do with raising animals is having a pet cat.

Mike
 
Wow, summarize 28 articles completely outside your field per day? It takes me a good hour or so to really understand an article within my own field. Craziness. Glad he's finding happiness and success all at once.
 
I really enjoyed the article. I've just finished my 16th year teaching school. The demise of the shop class is one of my biggest pet peeves. I for the life of me can’t figure out why “they” think every kid should go to college. The county that I work in has a pitiful vocational program. They have one or two options at each high school and nothing at the middle school level. I’ve seen many kids with an aptitude for a skill and no inclination to go to college. They usually end up working a low paying job straight out of school. If they would have had some sort of training in a field they could have greater opportunities.
 
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The farm-city thing must work where each goes to the other. I grew up on a farm. During college, I told my dad that one thing that kept me going was the fear that if I flunked out, I'd have to go back to the farm. I simply never understood the city people who saw "romance" in farming. It was just hard dirty work, all day long, with little financial reward.

I spent my career as an engineer, and loved every minute of it. The most I want to have to do with raising animals is having a pet cat.

Mike

I was born on a farm and my father was a share-cropper, so there was plenty of work, no reward to speak of, but you are right, farming is hard work. My parents split up when I was 13.. never wanted to go back to the farm. I did a 30 day sprint just before I went in the navy when I worked in my step-father's place while he healed a broken arm... got my fill of farm work for life. I do like living in the country, but only farming I do is a small garden plot and mowing the lawn. No animals - except house pets!
 
Strange, I got one thing out of the article. I'd always considered my job to be a professional, white collar type job. Most of the time I sit in a cubicle, in an office, working on a computer. There are the few times when I heft a new server around or play taxi for a router or two but for the most part I sit and type and troubleshoot. After reading this article I'd be more inclined to list my work as a blue collar worker. The same troubleshooting techniques, including the nationwide cadre of friends to call on when you're totally stumped, that he mentions in the article are what I do. Granted mine are about server and router issues and not about starters that don't spin, etc. but the process is the same.

Food for thought . . . . .
 
My Dad grew up on a farm and had one idea for my life and that was for me to do what he did to escape that and go into accounting. From a young age though, I was always 'making things' and doing things and had no interest in numbers or things of that ilk.

I got decent grades in High school, although I didn't have to study. College was different, and between my junior year and sophmore year, I "ran away" and worked on a dairy farm for the summer. While I had fun, and enjoyed the manual labor, it convinced me that I could do better. I went back to school and apparently didn't really learn my lesson, as I had too much fun and didn't quite study enough to get a good job out of school. My first job out of school was as a 'manager' of a fast food restaraunt. Finally, it sunk in. I went on to grad school, payed attention, studied a bit, and got some better grades.

No, after all these years, I have a good job, I very much enjoy what I do, and I get to do interesting things, but at the end of the day, if I shut off my computer, I have very little to show for what I did all day. There is nothing tangible that I can show my family or describe to my friends as it tends to be highly specialized and complicated.

But when I'm out in the shop, or do some work around the house, I may not be engaging my mind as much, but my sense of satisfaction with what I've completed can utterly fill my soul and give me a sense of pride and accomplishment. That, my friends, is why I work with my hands. I need that feeling of completion, and contentment...
 
I really enjoyed the article. I've just finished my 16th year teaching school. The demise of the shop class is one of my biggest pet peeves. I for the life of me can’t figure out why “they” think every kid should go to college. The county that I work in has a pitiful vocational program. They have one or two options at each high school and nothing at the middle school level. I’ve seen many kids with an aptitude for a skill and no inclination to go to college. They usually end up working a low paying job straight out of school. If they would have had some sort of training in a field they could have greater opportunities.

John,
I worked in the international shipping trade for nearly 40 years and did a little bit of traveling. I've always been interested in the way other countries approach the education of their young. In Germany, (this is from one of my Germany friends) but if the student doesn't have an aptitude for school, they have apprentice programs. Even after school is finished, the students are put into an apprentice program where they are taught all aspects of their trade. By the time they reach journeyman stage, they are very knowledgeable in what they do. I had a young man whose father was the manager of a German forwarding company that was our agent in Germany arrange to have his son sent to the USA and to work with our company for a year as part of his education. At 21 or 22, he already knew as much about forwarding as some of the people I had working with me that were twice his age.

In Trinidad, I'm told that at about the 6th grade level, all students take what they call a National Exam... it determines whether they will go on to college after high school or will be sent to a trade/apprentice program there. College in Trinidad is state run/state paid, but they students have to earn it.
 
Chuck,

I sometimes wonder if that system wouldn't work better here. The only problem I have with it is that you limit kids options. I think if someone wants to go to college they should have the opportunity to at least try.

I have two kids, one is 12 the other is 8. They both do fine in school but the 12 year old is much more "academic" than the 8 y.o. The younger one would much prefer to be helping me build something or see how something works. The older has never really shown an interest. The older one has always said when I go to college I want to be a what ever it is this week. The younger asks how much school you have to have to be a what ever.
 
any job that can be outsourced, most likely will. it's a matter of profit to corporations.we never dreamed that so many American jobs would have been sent abroad, but they have. as the dollar shrinks on the Global market, more jobs will be sent to countries where it can be done for less money. College educations are necessary in many jobs, but is not as important as the youth are led to believe. many youth can work a computer, but can't do math with a pencil and paper. many youth can master video games at early ages, but can't figure out basic constrution skills,like how to build a box or birdhouse. you see, common sense is no longer a "required course" for life today, and it shows. I, too, grew up farming, and always thought that I could do better. it wasn't until I worked many other "dirty" jobs that only paid better, that I came to realize how good farming really was. no time clocks to punch... no deadlines to meet.. no useless group meetings to attend... no boss to answer to...no layoffs/downsizings to endure...no union strikes to be involved in...could hunt/fish whenever I wanted...went on vacation when I desired to... plus many more benefits that attribute to healtier lifestyles. not that it came without cost in labor/lower income and the lifestyle that provides/major repair costs on equipment that happens at the worst possible times..etc,etc.... but if you ask any lifelong farmer if they'd do any other job, they may jokingly say heck yeah, but they wouldn't in reality... because the self-pride they gain/retain every day, can't easily be duplicated in a cubicle. the only real advantage to higher education is a chance to earn more $$, which somehow means more happiness. from my experience, that doesn't hold true. there are many degrees necessary that we couldn't do without, and I'd never say otherwise, but we, as a nation put WAAAAAY too much emphasis on "higher" education, and the pre-mentioned article sorta proves that.
 
For me, this is the line that I'll keep from that article.....

The Princeton economist Alan Blinder argues that the crucial distinction in the emerging labor market is not between those with more or less education, but between those whose services can be delivered over a wire and those who must do their work in person or on site. The latter will find their livelihoods more secure against outsourcing to distant countries. As Blinder puts it, “You can’t hammer a nail over the Internet.” Nor can the Indians fix your car. Because they are in India.

:clap: :wave:
 
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