disposable to craftsmen

DISPOSABLE TO CRAFTSMEN
We live in a disposable society. Almost every tool we use. Our homes. Our transportation. Our farm land. Our relationships. Our jobs. This has mainly been the result of the Oil Age. Incredibly cheap energy made almost everything else too cheap to repair. Just a few short decades ago this wasn't the case. But as Asia embraced the Oil Age, she took all of our factories, replaced the middle class tradesmen and craftsmen with legions of disposable laborers and priced us out of the market ( with the active encouragement of our corporate class ). Alvin Toffler got rich pushing the line that it was all okay, all is well, do not panic. We can all shuffle paperwork instead. To see how well that all worked out, refer to exhibit A- our financial and real estate implosion. If we still had oodles of oil still in the ground ready to be pumped out at almost no cost, it wouldn't matter. The US hasn't really had a true manufacturing economy for fifty years, we just lived off of our seed corn. It worked good for about two decades until our oil production peaked. The general trend since then has been down, masked by our Empire Legacy which allowed past accomplishments to pay the dividends that gave the illusion of prosperity. In effect, we've been drawing down on our principle to live well. But now, there are only a few withdrawals left before the checking account is empty and we start seeing bouncing checks.
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Now, the problem with our disposable society is not that we fill up our landfills and pollute the sky. That is bad enough, but there are more troublesome aspects. Our entire economy, our entire outlook, our means of production, all are based on disposable mentalities. In some ways that is good. It would not do to invest too much mental attachment to a home that is turning into a ghetto or soon to be twenty feet on the wrong side of high tide. The mental gymnastics necessary to uproot and move can save your sorry butt. It is seen as normal to be such gypsies, to be able to start over again. This has been the case as long as we've filled up the continent. But it really isn't normal. Normal is setting down roots and fighting for your family and friends and community. Putting effort into improving the home and neighborhood. In other ways this is bad. Disposable relationships ( and I'm guiltier than most ) mean no stable families for children growing up. And don't play the feminist card. I'll wager for every abusive husband divorce allowed a women to escape from, there are ten or more ill adjusted children not helped by the need of Mom to escape a "mentally abusive" relationship.
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Rigid societies, where change was never embraced and any that did occur was over lifetimes rather than years, allowed stability and security. No, members never advanced or made things easier for themselves. But at the same time they didn't take unnecessary risks that could have endangered their survival. It might be hard to remember that this used to be the norm, before cheap energy transformed our lives. Not that energy alone was responsible. Gunpowder itself changed most of the globe radically. But big picture, one can safely measure social change to carbon fuel use. As cheap abundant energy runs out, depopulation and a devolution back towards rigid social structures is sure to follow. If you are caught in this transformation, you are going to have to realize this sea change. You can't fight it, but you can roll with the punches.
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One example of a useless fight is your home. We are still at the beginning stages of collapse. Your house is still seen as disposable. Local government won't care how much of your life blood you've put into making a safe and comfortable home. They will still steal it from you and give the land to a corporation or developer if they so desire. I'm not saying you won't lose your home to theft at other times in history. What I'm saying is that no one has a sense of permanency. Progress is still seen as a need. The whole mentality is disposable. Don't put too much effort or treasure into your home. Look at it as a rental, and be flexible enough to move if needed. You can't fight eminent domain, the rust-belting of a region, the approach of a ghetto, insane local property taxes, etc.
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On the other side of this coin, you need to start looking at how you are going to survive once the disposable economy is washed away. You need a craft. Not car repair, or electronics repair. An old school craft such as leather worker, barrel maker, making shoes. Weapons inventor ( not just a reloader or parts replacer but a blackpowder manufacturer or some such ). Pre-carbon fuel crafts. For a time, organic gardening will serve you well. Just keep in mind that in time farmers will go from teacher-saviors to serfs. The most vital and skilled usually end up at the lowest ladder rung after the evil buttholes are finished fighting for power. Sorry, fact of life. You might be one of the few that can craft shoes from scratch, one of the few with tools. But you might still end up as a slave. A valuable one, but still vulnerable to anothers whims. I think this is one of the few flaws about Kurt Saxon's world view of the Apocalypse. He envisioned a nineteenth century economy. I'd say it is going to be more like pre-coal, pre-oil, pre-Civil War ( as far as slavery ). A lot from the sixteenth century with a few odd anachronisms thrown in from the pre-collapse times ( that will slowly fall apart and not be replaced, to include modern guns ).
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Be prepared to discard your worldview as needed.
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