The Nature of Work

Jeff Rubin et al wax fairly poetic about the way the nature of work is going to change in the Next Economy. Rubin in particular posits that many of the manufacturing jobs we have sent offshore, will be returning in a hurry once bunker fuel surcharges wipe out the difference in the lower wage costs. Good news indeed for unemployed manufacturing workers in North America. The question remains, though, who is going to be able to afford to buy a new big-screen TV or swap cell phones every 6 months?

Pretty much all the pundits agree that the next economy is going to be 'post-industrial' – or rather an economy based largely on agricultural production more than the consumption of throw-away goods.

This is probably not a bad thing.

In the few weeks since my Grandfather passed away, I have been thinking more about his legacy, specifically his DIY mentality, and how more of us are going to need to adopt just such an approach. A while ago, I also wrote about how the “homesteading crafts' are making a resurgence.

I think this time may be now for each of us to pick which homesteading craft we wish to adopt now, knowing that in an economy based on the repair of existing goods (of which there are a whole lot in the system) rather than their disposal and recycling, it would be handy to have skills in line with these needs.

In his book, The Complete Guide to ADHD, Thom Hartmann talks about how the most successful entrepreneurs (many of which live with full blown ADHD) see needs before anybody else does, and move to fill them. Well, here's your big chance.

Grandad would have had a few tricks up his sleeve. Car repair would certainly have been useful, but so would have his plumbing, gardening (he often grew his own vegetables), drywall hanging, and yes, even shoe repair skills.

Frankly, I don't know a whole lot of people who know the first thing about repairing their own shoes, but I'm keen to learn how, because in 10-15 years it may be unthinkable to throw out a pair of shoes whose sole has come loose, when for much less money you could take it somewhere and have a new one put on.

The problem, though, is where does one go to learn a fairly archaic handicraft like shoe repair? There don't seem to be any apprentice programs in Ontario, and only a limited number of stores where you can even buy basic leather and leather tools to work with. It's similar to the fictional "letter from the Future" in Richard Heinberg's Peak Everything that describes how one of the most valuable skills a backyard farmer is going to be able to have, is the ability to harvest, save, and use their own seeds. These skills are all but lost to most of us, but not entirely. My Grandad was two weeks shy of 90 when he died, and pretty much all of his secrets died with him, but it doesn't have to be that way.

We are facing the greatest loss of traditional knowledge the world has ever known as our grandparents one by one slowly slip away. Their resourcefulness, work ethic, and perhaps most importantly skills and techniques are disappearing with them.

So walk, don't run, to your grandparents home, and get them to show you everything they know about how they did things when they were growing up...because there's a pretty good chance that's how you'll be wanting to do them before too long.