Sunday, September 18, 2011

at work in the cubicle?...

"The so-called banausic arts have a bad name, and quite reasonably they are in ill repute in the city-states. For they ruin the bodies of those who work at them and those who oversee them. They compel these men to remain seated (at their desks?) and to work in gloomy places (their cubicles?), and even to spend entire days before a fire (computer screen?). While their bodies are being enervated, their souls, too are becoming much enfeebled. More especially, also, the banausic arts offer men no leisure to devote to their friends or to the state, so that such men become base in relation to their friends and poor defenders of their fatherland. And so in some of the cities, especially in those which are considered to be strong in war, no citizen is permitted to work at any banausic craft." --Socrates (words in parentheses mine)
This morning I've been taking advantage of the rain which allowed me to push dirt with the tractor, repairing our long gravel road and the Clear Spring School road to our pre-school. After long neglect through our summer drought, it feels good to be fixing things, and to have the power and skill to do so. The chart below should be self-explanatory. We are no longer a nation of makers and our wealth has declined significantly.

Make, fix and create...

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous6:48 PM

    Doug,

    I generally don't agree with anything Charles Murray writes (or that comes out of the Cato Institute in general), but I thought this was a provocative critique of the one-size-fits-all approach to higher education. Thought you'd appreciate it. http://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/10/06/charles-murray/down-with-the-four-year-college-degree/

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