There is a realationship...

The hands and mind are connected, and one best gains an understanding of reality by doing real things. And so, as a craftsman, I sometimes feel that I've been granted some insight that at least a few others may not have. For instance, I understand that global warming is real, and I can understand the mechanism of it even though Republicans in congress and the current Republican presidential nominee refuse to accept its reality. I grew up in a household in which my father suffered from un-diagnosed PTSD from WWII. So I do know at least a bit of what happens when politicians decide to send young men to war, even when that war is as necessary as it was in WWII.

And so, to listen to Donald Trump deny the reality of climate change, and to demean Gold Star parents, and then to welcome the gift of a warrior's purple heart, saying "I always wanted one of those," tells me how completely out of touch he and his supporters are. It is my sincere hope that others leave the world's most flamboyant egomaniac stranded and abandoned.

Today it was revealed that Donald Trump had to ask a national security expert 3 times  why using nuclear weapons would not be advisable. Not only is this man dangerously out of touch, but support of him in this presidential election is a very dangerous choice.

This has nothing to do with woodwork or woodworking education, you might complain. In actual fact, there are no boundaries between human activities. Woodworking is deeply connected to every field of study including politics and economics. The use of the hands in the creation of useful beauty is the foundation of human culture, whether we are talking about music, the arts, or the making of useful objects that express concern for each other.

You may not like being lectured on the dangers of a demigod. What I suggest is that we all get busy making beautiful things and allow the wisdom of life to come alive through our hands. The hands and mind are connected and one best gains an understanding of reality by doing real things. Not by simply directing others to do so.

Make, fix, create, and extend by example the love of learning likewise.