The Craftsman versus the Industrial Complex

[DWFII]

And I will confess, I've been beat up by the kilt police....

The whole "kilt police" thing is bogus and simply a way to dismiss the opinions of people you've already decided to disagree with. Calling someone "kilt police" gets you off the hook of having to think about or respond to opinions that differ from your own. It's another one of those shortcuts (or should I say "efficiencies) that cut us off from other people--like calling someone a Nazi.

What's more the whole idea is so contrived...if there's is a kilt police, where is the enforcement?

If you can't stand someone disagreeing with you, or offering opinion you might not like, you probably ought to steer clear of forums in general.

and called a cross-dresser by so many people on so many forums that I loose track of who has and who hasn't..

All the more reason to respond to the words that are actually written and not your first (or uncertain) perception of the person or your hasty interpretation of what they mean.

And in passing...all things in comparison and in moderation. I don't know that everything made since the Industrial Revolution is crap. I was born well after and I'm making things. Boots, shoes, sgian dubhs sporrans, tools, wooden bowls, etc..

I do know that things made in a factory...or from a mentality that buys into all the priorities of a factory...reduce our sense of connection. The products themselves almost universally have a sterile quality about them that is devoid of authenticity. And how could they not be? It's all copies, clones and ticky-tacky.

Is it necessary? Only to the extent that it is so widespread that our economy depends upon it. Only to the extent that we welcome that sterility into our lives rather than resist it. Only to the extent that we defend it.

Do I buy factory made goods? yes. Do I buy cheap imports? Sometimes. But like wearing a flat cap, which I like and wear regularly or other "deviations" from Traditional Highland Dress...I don't defend it.