Robs thought for the day...... have we gone forward or backward

Rob Keeble

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Thought for the day….

Have we as man gone forward or backward in the past 200hundred years?
A number of stimuli have given rise to this thought over thepast few days.
I caught a bit of investigative journalism that CBC did onsustainable forestry and a crowd call the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (aquestionable organization if ever I saw one). Sure they plant new forests wherethey clear-cut the old. But they only plant pine. No hardwood. And then theyspray with herbicides to kill off the shrubs and bushes while the trees grow. Theycall this sustainable forestry. So bye, bye hardwoods. Never mind the longhorned Asian Ash beetle.
Then I watched Dances with Wolves for about the 10[SUP]th[/SUP]time and it got me to thinking how we as man nearly wiped out the AmericanBison, Beaver and in Africa have been steadily chipping away at Rhino,Elephants and loads of other species. This got me thinking about aboriginalpeoples all over the world who managed to live for hundreds of years in harmonywith their surroundings only harvesting what they needed.
Then I received a newsletter from a favorite woodworker writerand it had an article about the quality of service of a company that stillmakes hand tools in North America and it gotme to thinking why is this not common place in our values today.
Then I have been slowly going through a book of Gaudi's work, sentto me by a friend in Spainand it was the final push that got me thinking have we gone forward orbackward.
I have been fortunate to see many historic sites all aroundthe world. Given that most are physical sites architecture becomes thedominating element.
When one considers most of this architecture it all datesback to a time when people were governed/ruled by monarchy or nobility. Whetherthis be in Egypt, China, Paris or Spain or any other country with substantive historical treasures.
It had me comparing our modern democratic ways and thinkingof the modern architecture.
Today we find it in ourselves to fund the development of warmachines with very short life cycle, that cost enormous sums of money yet leavelittle behind. Yet when it comes to architecture we require an event of globalsignificance like the Olympics to coalesce around and build something of morelasting architectural significance.
Sure one can say the only reason the rulers of the past hadthese “monuments” created was for personal self benefit in some way or another.
However the commitment to artistic design, craftsmanship andthe resources it took left us with many inspirational treasures all around the world.
Now we build a building, make a product, consume resources withwhat appears to be little care or values associated with any of it.
Is it that hard for us to get our minds around some artisticdecoration/theme to a building?
Has it become too much effort to make a product and stand byit with good service?
Are we going to consume ever last bit of our environment?
When are woodworkers going to do justice to those that havegone before.
We make Shaker reproductions or copy a Federal piece or makean 18[SUP]th[/SUP] Century cabinet of some sort.
But few venture into curves and carvings by comparison tothe numbers of us that exist.
There is nothing preventing our venturing into a new designor artistic form for furniture yet there seems little to have emerged in moderntimes that could be considered on a par to what the masters of the past leftbehind.
Are we doomed to be nothing more than “copiers” or imitatorsof the past. ?
Have we become victims of “fit for purpose” and “valueengineering”.
We have superb tools by comparison to the masters of old.Yet produce nothing that rivals their creative and artistic effort.
So I ask have we or are we going backward or forward.?
Where do our values lie?
Is it not time we came up with something original of our agesomething more than engineered hardwood flooring. J
 
well i am from the camp where money has taken over the world in almost every form, from the petroleum industry to the forest industry. in nature rob, the pines would grow and the hardwoods would co exist with them and the pines fostered them threw the beginning years till they could stand for them selves.. in a normal ecosystem. and as for the waste produced by us filling up landfills and not being transferred in energy threw burning and creating steam power or using the methane gas that is produces for a energy source.. or the depletion of hydro plants to use the petroleum or nuclear energy when water runs freely .. let alone the water we are constantly turning into poison in the process we use to be prosperous.. i feel we are eating and using ourselves out of house and home. definitely going backwards. even take a solid structure and tear it down to make a new style rather than use the existing one and make it work for the purpose said company needs..reuse them not rebuild..
 
This could turn into a political rant - and it need not.

Rather than cuss and discuss how things are not like they once were, I think there is another factor at work here. It is my observation that the older folks get, the less likely they are to allow themselves to be creative. Younger folks don't have the perspective to recognize the things that have not previously worked, so they are not limited in their imaginations by those failures. The younger generation also is less preoccupied by other generation's opinions as to their abilities. Thus they are willing to demolish those things around them to build something new. My generation, and that includes a whole bunch of you people, was indoctrinated with the thought that we needed to seek the approval and attention of our elders. We did not raise our children that way, though. We affirmed them for their efforts, just as we wished we had been affirmed when we were children. That was born out of the philosophy of making sure our children had it 'better' than we did. Now we see some of the unintended consequences of that philosophy.

Older generations also often view things as right or wrong, or black and white. Younger generations see things as different rather than from such a polar aspect as do we. They have far more confidence in themselves than do we. They are more willing to risk than are we. They are nearly not so put off by 'failure' than are we.

So the question of forward or backward depends entirely on your generation. But then, hasn't that always been the case? :) :)
 
well thanks for the definition of why i am gray and why i dont see things like once did carol:) never thought of the possibility of us doing things to make things better for our kids as coming back in this way.. just as anything one does for a extended time, unknowing of what might happen later because of it.
 
Woah.....i think my point is being taken down the unintended road.

I am posing the question in a design sense. From woodworking perspective can we not come up with more original work to be considered say in the way that Sam Maloof has left us with a rocker?
Or can we not come up with a Shaker style? But something new and original?

Or is engineered hardwood flooring the best creation we can get into?

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
 
Woah.....i think my point is being taken down the unintended road.

I am posing the question in a design sense. From woodworking perspective can we not come up with more original work to be considered say in the way that Sam Maloof has left us with a rocker?
Or can we not come up with a Shaker style? But something new and original?

Or is engineered hardwood flooring the best creation we can get into?

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
Can't reinvent the wheel so the answer to your question is yes engineered flooring is the best we can do and that aint so good.:thumb::doh:
 
Rob, there are considerable points in your post that are highly debatable.
Fer instance: there is a huge body of evidence that the bison died out from natural causes such as disease. This is not ignoring the wanton killing that did occur. But it did little to reduce their numbers to anywhere near genetic threshold danger levels. The elephants in Africa, in areas where they are scarce, were displaced by human population expansion and farming. Not by hunters. That is mostly eastern Africa. In western parts of the continent, elephants are so plentiful many consider them vermin. (this first hand from a Zimbabwe rancher who invited me to come to his ranch and kill as many as I could on his property. About 12,000 acres. I didn't go.) Elephant hunting in those areas is now a thriving industry that helps keep the numbers in check and brings much needed cash to the economy and protein to the native populations. Yes, I decrie the loss of hardwood forests also. That is an issue, without more knowledge, I agree with you.
 
Can't reinvent the wheel so the answer to your question is yes engineered flooring is the best we can do and that aint so good.:thumb::doh:

Ding, ding, ding...I think there are tons of artisans, woodworkers etc that are coming up with new and incredible designs. The problem is that there are to many cheap stores, websites etc. that can mass produce items at such a low cost it's a no brainer for many to go the cheap way. Buy fast, use fast and throw it away then repeat...:(
 
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