The Case for Working with your Hands
Matthew B. Crawford
When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an
assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize
the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur – the hazards faced
by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well
to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s
poem “To Be of Use”, which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/ and a
person for work that is real”. Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.
This seems to be a moment when the useful arts have an especially compelling economic
rationale. A car mechanics’ trade association reports that repair shops have seen their business
jump significantly ∈ the current recession: people aren’t buying new cars; they are fixing the ones
they have. The current downturn is likely to pass eventually. But there are also systemic changes ∈
the economy, arising from information technology, that have the surprising effect of making the
manual trades - plumbing, electrical work, car repair – more attractive as careers. The Princeton
economist Alan Blinder argues that the crucial distinction ∈ the emerging labor market is not
between those with more or less education, but between those whose services can be delivered over
a wire and those who must do their work ∈ person or on site. The latter will find their livelihood
more secure against outsourcing to distant countries. As Blinder puts it, “you can’t hammer a nail
over the Internet.” Nor can the Indians fix your car. Because they are ∈India.
If the goal is to earn a living, then, maybe it isn’t really true that 18-year-olds need to be
imparted with a sense of panic about getting into college (though they certainly need to learn).
Some people are hustled off to college, then to the cubicle, against their own inclinations and
natural bents, when they would rather be learning to build things or fix things (...).
A gifted young person who chooses to become a mechanic rather than to accumulate academic
credentials is viewed as eccentric, if not self-destructive. There is a pervasive anxiety among
parents that there is only one track to success for their children. It runs through a series of gates
controlled by prestigious institutions.
Adapted from http://www.nytimes.com Published: May 24, 2009
Identify the meaning WHICH DOES NOT correspond exactly to the underlined item.
