I've started getting into woodworking, and have been getting semi-serious about it. I've dabbled in a number of other crafts before-- knife-making, leatherwork, cardboard armour for cosplay, etc. Anytime I talk to people about things like that, they're generally something like "oh, yeah, man that's cool, wish I could do that".
Thing is, they could. They can. There's nothing stopping them. Finances, sure. Time, sure. Every now and then, someone makes something, usually to fit some odd need or as a gift or favor. But they don't pursue it. It's not a hobby or a pastime except for the occasional geek-- that's something else I've noticed. This is almost always a 'geeky' thing. You don't see your average McDonald's worker coming home and sitting down to throw some clay on a potting wheel or carve some wood. Stockbrokers don't, either. People come home, they sit down in front of the computer, flick about on their phone, or play some game or other, watch TV or a movie.
If people need something fixed these days, most of them call out and get someone to do it, or they take it to a shop. More often than not, people don't try to fix things themselves, unless it's something they're familiar with. Basic tinkering is one thing-- checking the oil, no problem-- but actually doing serious, or even middling, work is quite different and a job for the professionals (or that guy down the street who works on cars in the neighborhood. You know, that guy that's always got his head in a car...).
Along another vein, it has become far cheaper to simply buy things ready-made elsewhere than it is to buy local from local craftspeople. Take an example I just used in another thread: cabinets. You have three options if you want new cabinets. First, buy a bunch of tools and wood, and take the time to learn how to build cabinets and install them. Time-consuming and expensive. If you're already a woodworker, then no problem as you're likely to find further use for all that tooling and what not, but most people aren't. Second, find a local store and buy from them. Expensive, as you're paying local wages for locally made product. Third... go down to the big-box store, pay for cabinets, either install them yourself (a matter of a level, shims, and some screws. Any fool can do this) or pay someone to do it for you. Not as expensive.
Another example: Clothes. Go to fabric store, purchase a few yards of fabric, pick up a pattern if you don't have one, measure, sew, try on, adjust as needed. Or go to Walmart (or heck, JC Penney's, Marshall's, Kohl's, Belk...) and buy something off the rack. Pay less than you did for the fabric in the first place. No time consumed making it. Sure, the clothes off the rack were probably made in some sweatshop in Bangladesh, but who cares about that, right?
It's not as simple a picture as it may seem, to be sure. Many products are still made in the US. The hobby of 'making' is starting to step into the limelight. Hand-crafts are enjoying a (small) renaissance of sorts thanks to the Internet. The big problem with expanding handicrafts is that if you're going to charge a fair price, which takes into account the cost of material, the cost of time, and a small profit... it costs more, usually, than simply purchasing something already made or cheaply assembled.
It's 'cool' to own something hand-made, but almost always it's something hand-made somewhere else. People rarely purchase something hand-made locally because, frankly, if the price is fair, it's either small or expensive. I ran into that problem when I started trying to sell wood-work at a local farmer's market; nobody wanted to buy the stuff I made. It was nice stuff, but it cost more than they were interested in paying for something which they didn't really need because they already had a bunch of stuff that met their needs. Sure, it was shitty stuff, but a.) they didn't know it was shitty or b.) they didn't care that it was shitty because it was easily replaced or c.) they already bought or inherited something that would last (probably a minority).
As for the technology part of things-- I'm not sure how exactly this relates, it may be a separate issue, but I do feel that it is related in some fashion...
Bear in mind that I grew up with very little in the way of high technology. My parents were missionaries in the boondocks of West Africa. I had a computer (old Windows 95), but we didn't have cable, cell phones, Internet, or air conditioning. Even our electricity was extremely sporadic. The people around us existed with a fraction of what we had. Most of the things they bought and used were either made locally or in the same country, or at least the same continent. Very little was imported from overseas, and if it was, it was more expensive than most people could afford beyond the occasional splurge. For the most part people got by with few possessions.
Was it an ideal way to live? Certainly not. Everybody there (including me) hoped for something better. So, flash-forward to about, oh, I guess it's been eleven or so years now since I returned from Nigeria. How have things changed?
There's electronic media everywhere. Half (not most, but getting there) of the people I see are using smartphones. At home, they've got game consoles. Often enough there's a flat-screen TV, occasionally hooked up to Internet, frequently to some video-streaming service. Everybody's got a computer, and if they don't, the library has computers; it's gotten to the point where you can do almost all your communication via the Internet for multiple purposes. It's getting to the point where you will HAVE to do all your communication via the Internet. When the latest generation of whatever comes out, it's a must-buy. The current generation will be good for a few years more, sure, but NEW! COOL!
Ahem. I'll just wind that up before it turns into a rant. I'm not a total Luddite nor am I technophobic. I'm just happy at a, say, mid 2000's level of technology and intend to stay there as much as I can.
So. I invite your thoughts and discussion. Has my meandering made sense whatever? Do you see the same or similar trend, wherever you are?
