Stepping Into The Shoe Problem
In the past, the challenge was more about stuff than about time. There were not enough shoes because to make even a pair took great effort and many days. This made them expensive too.
Now, while far too many people still do not have the basics, the challenge is less about stuff and more about time. For many people in wealthy countries, that is, the question is not, “how will I afford a pair of shoes for my feet?” But, “how will I spend fifty years of adult life in a meaningful pursuit?”
Someone who loves capitalism will need to tell me why a Nike sneaker that costs $3 to make but costs $200 to buy represents a good arrangement when neither the person who operates the machinery that manufactures the sneaker nor the person who advertises the sneaker to raise its status (and thus justify its cost) can see any meaning in their work. One worker has low status and is paid too little. The other has higher status and is paid too much. But there is a decent chance both of them would be happier to be making an actual shoe.
In the current paradigm, both do “fast” work. One because they must stay up to speed with an assembly line, the other because running from cubicle to meeting to computer while zipping through a “to do” list is how they show they have value. One works as cog in a machine, the other pretends to be a machine.
Obviously, the loss of a middle class, tribalism in politics, lack of character at Facebook, the gutting of a city like Detroit, employee burnout, and so on are all signs of, or symptoms caused by, meaningless work.
It hardly seems likely such problems will be alleviated, nor the time vs. stuff dilemma be resolved once robots completely replace people in factories. When only machines make, package, and deliver sneakers, those still in the office will need to do even sillier work so that sneakers can command a retail price that pleases Phil Knight and his shareholders.
And yet there is a long list of things that people can make by hand the making of which leads to the same engagement any craftsmen or artist knows. Not just shoes but instruments, and clothing, and furniture too.
What, then, would a world of artisans, working slowly, look like?
How would you dial that up on the control board of everything?
There are two models to work from: The renaissance and the internet.
But let’s get into that tomorrow.