The Glade 4.0

As our society becomes increasingly more entangled in global economics and politics I am noticing that raw materials and physical acts of creation are disappearing in availability; and with them many practical skills are lost. America used to be a nation of skilled workers and craftsmen. We are quickly becoming a nation of managers and stuff-movers. There are many technical jobs still, but very few where people with technical skills may put to use their creativity and innovation.

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"Consider yourself lightly; consider the world deeply." - Musashi

I agree. This should be posted in Hellfire, though. Welcome to the Glade


/bonk

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Ron Paul 2012

Thanks. From the sounds of it mentioning economy or politics at all, even in the context of a rant, means it goes in Hellfire? I will try to learn your structure here quickly.

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"Consider yourself lightly; consider the world deeply." - Musashi

You will try but not succeed.

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Ron Paul 2012

Blame mass production.

I dabble at cabinet making, but am employed as a computer consultant. The trade-off is, I can afford to NOT rely on making furniture for my income.

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In time, this too shall pass.

I build guitars, but I wouldn't dream of trying to do it for money, let alone try to make a living at it.

I consider it therapy for having to grind away at a job...

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Hokanu
Duty is a magnificent blessing because it is the sign of trust from the universe.
END OF LINE.

Sadly most people are not willing/able to afford what skilled craftsmen need to be paid to live in this country.

IF I owned property and had huge wooded areas and IF I owned a mill and IF I cut my own lumber and IF I owned the space to let the wood cure....and IF all this was already paid for...

I could possibly turn a small profit on building furniture.

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In time, this too shall pass.

Therein lies the problem solved by people called "entrepreneur".

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Ron Paul 2012

Yep.

Local markets for raw materials have more or less disappeared. Lumber is so commonly needed that there are still local markets for it, but it is expensive. It trades hands many times before reaching the end consumer, is taxed at every step along the way, and is expensive to ship.

It's expensive to even live here, your house is expensive because it took a massive effort of hundreds of people to build it, like a Russian nesting doll of commerce. Not to mention, I've worked on several construction sites, and all of you may realize that you pay for mistakes during construction. What you mean not realize is how bad this is right now: I kid you not, a 13 story high rise apartment building I was doing HVAC installation for had 8 different blueprints floating around the job site, resulting in different teams with inconsistent floor plans. Our plans would show a place to run a ventilation duct, and plumbers, or electrical, or networking people would have already run their stuff there. Each team had a different blueprint, and every time they conflicted somebody had to tear down their completed work and start all over. When pouring concrete they dropped the entire 13th floor and injured 7 people. I spent 6 hours one day stuck on an elevator outside of the building 75 feet in the air because someone dropped a 2x4 from the 12th floor and it smashed the control box. Twice everyone except the electrical crew was sent home early because someone digging tore through a power line and knocked out all the power. I worked at this building for a total of 6 weeks.

These kinds of problems are not atypical for most construction sites. One customer returned a 1500$ air compressor a week after he bought it because it was "defective". Let me tell you what I found: the customer had failed to put oil in the compressor and ran it dry. Of course it over heated. This particular compressor has a safety shutoff system, and when it over heats it simply throws a breaker. Duct tape residue was surrounding said breaker and the compressor had thrown a rod. This brilliant man decided his compressor was turning off on him because it was defective, and then duct taped down the breaker to continue working. I WISH I could say this was not commonplace.

What we need is not entrepreneurs but skilled and educated workers. We don't need dozens of managers that can't communicate with each other we need people who know what they're doing.

The state of affairs here is crushing the morale of the American workforce because it stands against and in the way of creativity and innovation. To the point that we actually pay to use our creative skills, rather than turn a profit at it.

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"Consider yourself lightly; consider the world deeply." - Musashi

Well, to me an "entrepreneur" is a skilled and educated worker who is their own manager. Not "entrepreneur = manager"

...and lol about the air compressor guy.

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Ron Paul 2012

They're in separate sentences because I'm complaining about entrepreneurs and also managers. I'm not using the terms interchangeably.

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"Consider yourself lightly; consider the world deeply." - Musashi

Wow...that is so true.. We do pay to exert our creative skills because it is a part of us and completes us. Unfortunately, it is rare that we can make enough to survive with what we create.

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Dream as if you'll live forever...
...Live as if you'll die tomorrow

Vivere Senza Rimpianti

People buy things these days for only the way it looks and not for what's put into making it.

Go to a furniture store and find the cheapest dining room chair and the most expensive, then lift both.

The cheapest will weigh next to nothing, and the most expensive will have you straining to move it. One, if it breaks it gets pitched, the other, a cabinet maker can repair easily. One lasts... a couple of years, at best. The other lasts your lifetime and many afterward.

In a disposable world, though if someone buys quality they still buy once where those that buy disposable buy many times and pay many times what quality costs.

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In time, this too shall pass.

so in other words, we need entrepreneurs. gotcha

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Ron Paul 2012

This. For these reasons I build my own furniture. I shave with a straight razor not a disposable razor. I've used it since I was 16 and is still unbelievably sharp. I repair my own cars, my computers, my bicycle. When and why did quality take a back seat to cheap (short term)?

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"Consider yourself lightly; consider the world deeply." - Musashi

Taskiss:

When I put in my new kitchen, I would absolutely pay for some handmade cabinets.

As to the OP, two words: service economy

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

People want instant gratification and change constantly..they don't care to have something of quality that lasts for years and takes time to save up for.

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Dream as if you'll live forever...
...Live as if you'll die tomorrow

Vivere Senza Rimpianti

...


Entrepreneurs choose a craft, make a business out of it, take risks, etc...all on their own. AKA someone who knows what they're doing.

I don't really see how your definition is any different than mine, but if you'd like we can step outside, and have a semantics fist-fight in Hellfire?

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Ron Paul 2012

We did just that Rynar, when we remodeled our kitchen. I designed the layout and types of cabinets I wanted and we had them built for us...we had to finish them ourselves but it was worth it to have cabinets that we wanted, not some cookie cutter cheapo cabinets from Home Depot or Lowe's.

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

The novel 'World War Z' touched on this subject, and gives some fantastic insight.

We recently purchased a new kitchen table and chair set. I was figuring we would just look for something disposable on Craig's List. But we ended up in our local furniture store and spent $900 when all was said and done.

It is a nice table and seating for 6 (four chairs and a bench for two). Weighs enough that I do not want to move it alone, and is absolutely beautiful to look at and comfortable to sit at...

I will never buy another table for the cheap price again.

Until a few years ago I had a great kitchen table and chairs that were my grandmothers. She kept them and used them for 20 years beyond the 15 she had already had them for because I said I liked them, so she gave them to me for my housewarming when I moved in with my previous girlfriend. The damned thing was older than I was. I hope that I am able to hand this one down to my kids/grandkids in the same fashion.

There is also a matter of pride in having nice furniture.

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Hah...that reminds me of back when we were kids, my brother wrapped the fuse in my parent's stereo system. Apparently the fuse kept blowing, and so he just wrapped it in foil, which then blew the whole stereo. My parents were not happy.

Anyways....Rizla, you're totally right. There aren't enough creative people out there....and definitely not enough people out there with the drive to use their creativity. An entrepreneur is someone who takes their own idea and makes something out of it...someone who isn't necessarily working a 9-5 job only to come home and cuddling in front of a TV to watch desperate housewives all day (like my parents, lol)....now, don't get me wrong. Cuddling, is the sh*t.

9-5 jobs working for someone else though...that's for the dogs!

I'm going to be an "entrepreneur" and use my creativity to write a book and make music and release it on the web. That's my plan, anyways.

So yeah, you're right. The fact of the matter is, most people are just lazy unoriginal bastards and are the tools in life. They are followers. They are mostly boring. The remaining few...the proud...aren't Marines, but we do cool sh*t and people follow us. We're the leaders. Entrepreneurs.

I'll post the Lion speech again...I love this!

[youtube]jzekDivpK3M[/youtube]

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Ron Paul 2012