Quote Originally Posted by RockyR View Post
Again... the problem with statements like that is that we're PAST that mentality on many levels. Unions, health care (provided by the company), safety equipment, mandatory breaks, 8 hour working days (some of us still work 12 hour days 6 days a week... us small business owners... but that is OUR choice), vacation time, sick days, maternity leave, 401 K, profit sharing plans, etc...
Sadly, there is a movement in this country , right now, to strip workers of all of these things. It's going on in my state, and all across this country.

Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
To that "brave new world" you talk about where we might find ourselves in a thirld world country ourselves in a few generations.
And this is exactly where we're heading, due in great part to the above movement.

Back onto topic:

I think the craftsman/artist vs industry produced issue is much like everything else. There is a middle path.

We all cannot wait several months for a pair of handmade shoes, or attend three fittings for a suit, or spend the time and money for a fully custom made sporran.

I believe that there is a place for industrial production alongside custom craftsmanship.

The real problem lies in the attitude of business and investors today. Nobody is happy with 7% profit anymore. People demand 15-30% on their cash. Businesses don't seem to care about their product as much as they do their stock price. Decisions are made to cut overhead (firing skilled employees, lower quality materials, slipshod work) all to placate the market's insane need for profit, with no thought to the future of the business (primarily because the executive who is getting that big fat bonus based on stock performance won't be around in 5 years to feel the effects of their actions).

It's not "production" that is the problem, it is profit OVER product that is the poison in our "production", and to a great degree, in the overall economy.

Sadly, we're only starting to see the effects of this cycle. Products ARE garbage in a huge number of cases. Stuff breaks before you can cut up the box for recycling.

I have personally given up buying anything except the very essentials. I don't want anymore crap in my life. It's just frustration.

I'm no luddite, but we as a culture have arrived at a place that is going to be incredibly hard to return from.

$8 greeting cards with a computer chip and battery? WHY? They don't work after a few days and simply end up in a landfill poisoning the earth and water.

rant over

ith: