GroshLink

Quick thought on College For All? Experts Say Not Necessarily (Alan Scher Zagier, Huffington Post, 05/13/10), which I initially sent via email to the friend who brought the article to my attention, followed by my friend's response to my quick thoughts.

No, not necessary.  But we must be satisfied with having less.  Can we move back in the direction of enjoying handmade/crafted items (e.g., clothing, furniture), sustainability through home grown food/animals even in the cities (e.g., community gardening, chicken coops), shared life (e.g., communal living)?  Can we scale back the prevalent sense of 'right' to inordinate levels of consumer products, technology, travel/vacation, health care?

Response: "but discipleship training would need to include teaching on supporting ourselves from God's resources where we live..so we wouldn't be dependent on stuff sent from china to walmart...the mennonites and others do better at raising enough to store away or freeze for the coming year...and developing recipes that are inexpensive yet with good nutritional value...with grains, beans, etc...the first step is to get off addiction to expensive fast foods, and mcdonalds type stuff...less expensive clothing from thrift stores...more walking (many students at x [the college where I teach] drive five blocks to class)...."

What do others think?  Would such a perspective lead to a widening of the gap between a wealthy, educated class and the craftsman?  I've always found it of interest how much the aspirations of societal/individual success through education downplays the value of skills in the practical trades, crafts, home, kitchen.

Note:  3 related posts on the ESN blog. 

• Thinking with Your Hands: Part I (Tom Grosh IV, 3/6/2009)
• Thinking with Your Hands: Part II (Tom Grosh IV, 3/10/2009)
• Week in Review: Shop Class, Teaching Naked (7/24/2009) ... remember the interview of Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work on the Colbert Report (6/24/2009, 7 min, 19 sec)?