Shop Class as Soulcraft

“What sort of adult do we wish our children to grow up to be? Someone who can reason and build or someone lost in abstractions?”

1. The Decline of Hands-On Craftsmanship

The modern world has increasingly shifted away from individuals repairing or creating their own items, preferring a reliance on pre-made goods. Products are intentionally designed to appear seamless while often hiding their working components under unapproachable layers. This discourages people from attempting repairs or understanding how these items operate. For example, opening the hood of a new car now reveals a smooth plastic cover instead of an engine.

This transformation extends into our perception of labor, replacing the satisfaction of creation with passive consumption. People feel it’s impractical to fix or make items themselves due to affordable mass production. However, as society grows more dissatisfied with dependency, there’s a budding interest in returning to manual skills. This shift is seen in urban gardens, DIY repairs, and even chicken coops in unexpected locations like city rooftops.

As economic pressures grow, the desire for self-reliance becomes more relevant. People are beginning to reject the notion that manual work is outdated or unnecessary. Instead, they are rediscovering the joy and practicality of creating something tangible or restoring functionality with their hands.

Examples

• City dwellers raising chickens for eggs in areas like Brooklyn rooftops.
• People starting urban vegetable gardens to grow their own food.
• Websites and YouTube tutorials encouraging DIY home and car repairs.

2. Education Alone Doesn’t Guarantee a Future

For decades, the mantra has been that higher education secures better career prospects. However, this no longer holds true across the board. Economist Alan Blinder notes that automation and outsourcing often put white-collar jobs at risk unless they involve in-person interaction, such as medical professions. A college degree, once a hallmark of stability, now often fails to deliver job security.

This trend was predicted long before today. In the 1940s, economist Joseph Schumpeter warned that wages for highly educated workers could fall beneath those of skilled laborers as degrees became more common. Fast forward, and millions of jobs, even high-skill ones like in engineering or IT, are outsourced internationally. Disturbingly, many white-collar workers encounter shrinking wages and limited career mobility.

Rather than focusing solely on education, there’s growing recognition that skilled trades are a promising path. Whether as electricians, plumbers, or carpenters, these professionals meet hands-on needs that cannot be remotely outsourced, creating a more stable and often more lucrative alternative.

Examples

• Outsourcing IT projects to countries like India, reducing U.S. job opportunities.
• A plumber earning significantly more than an entry-level office worker with a degree.
• Reports like those in the Wall Street Journal highlighting the resurgence of demand for manual labor.

3. Separating Thinking from Doing Harms All Workers

Factory work may seem mindless, but over recent decades, even office jobs have been reduced to rote routines. Historical changes like Frederick Taylor's assembly-line system removed complexity from physical labor. Skilled blue-collar workers were replaced with low-wage employees responsible for small, repetitive tasks, like tightening bolts, all day long.

While this change made manufacturing cheap, it also stripped meaning and engagement from the work itself. Unfortunately, this “streamlining” didn’t stay in blue-collar work. Even intellectual jobs have been reduced into routines or algorithms. For example, medical laboratory technicians now follow step-by-step guides with minimal real knowledge.

This shift has dulled minds across all job sectors, turning work into a monotonous grind. Education systems, geared toward producing such workers, have also adjusted, leaving students disengaged and underprepared for enjoying rewarding careers.

Examples

• Assembly-line workers following repetitive motion patterns for hours.
• Lab technicians relying on machines instead of needing scientific understanding.
• School curriculums dropping shop classes in favor of theoretical schooling.

4. Schools Discourage a Hands-On Approach

School curricula largely downplay or entirely remove programs that teach manual skills. Over the last few decades, shop classes have vanished, leaving students with an education overly focused on theoretical learning. This shift reflects a societal bias that views manual work as less valuable or as limiting professional options.

Ironically, this approach often backfires. Students wind up obtaining degrees disconnected from their interests or real-world applications. Instead of preparing for careers they find meaningful, they’re often overqualified yet ill-equipped for the demands of the labor market. By promoting only academic paths, schools have left many young people adrift.

The growing dissatisfaction in both education and work stems from this narrow structure. Students want to feel practically prepared, but classroom experiences increasingly fail to deliver relevant, hands-on opportunities aligned with real-world work.

Examples

• Shop classes being cut from high school programs across many districts.
• Students obtaining non-specific liberal arts degrees leading to underemployment.
• Vocational training programs struggling against societal perceptions of manual careers.

5. Cubicle Work Breeds Discontent

The allure of the white-collar job wears thin when faced with the realities of office life. Many knowledge workers, like the author in an earlier career, find themselves crushed under tight deadlines or workplace inefficiencies. The pressure to quickly switch between mental tasks also saps energy and limits productivity.

This dissatisfaction extends to the constructed environment. Cubicles isolate workers, leaving little room for personal connection or creativity. On top of that, vague jargon-filled management communication often frustrates employees further. Workers are left feeling excluded or even blamed for management’s failings.

Being physically confined and mentally stressed can lead to a significant loss of pride, engagement, and productivity. Unlike manual labor, it can feel impossible to measure progress or see meaningful outcomes.

Examples

• The author’s stressful work reading articles and summarizing abstracts.
• Managers giving unclear instructions like “improve cross-marketing synergies.”
• Endless dissatisfaction and disconnection for many cubicle workers.

6. Crews Work Better Than Teams

Modern work culture often glorifies teamwork, but this can feel restrictive compared to the more straightforward collaboration in crews. Teams tend to emphasize individual behavior within a rigid set of conduct guidelines, which often stifles spontaneity or natural interaction.

Crews, on the other hand, are judged purely on their outcomes. Take a construction crew: their success is measured by the quality of the building they complete. Members of these crews are free to express themselves without being subject to subjective standards like political correctness or micromanaged gestures of “passion.”

This freedom creates a more harmonious dynamic, allowing people to contribute based on skills rather than appearances or forced attitudes. By eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy, crews offer meaningful engagement and visible results.

Examples

• A construction crew rewarded for building safe homes.
• Teams stifled by cultural rules or excessive management interference.
• Crews often using humor and camaraderie, compared to the formality of corporate teams.

7. Meaning at Work Transforms Life

A job isn’t just about making money; it should resonate with your sense of purpose. All too often, people work high-paying jobs they dislike, only to squeeze their real joy into vacations or hobbies. This disconnect between work and life creates imbalance and dissatisfaction.

A meaningful profession that aligns with personal values allows people to live more rounded, fulfilled lives. For example, firefighters or doctors know their contributions directly impact people’s lives. Manual trades also offer satisfaction because they allow workers to engage with tangible results.

These “purpose-driven” jobs merge activity with personality, creating coherence between what we do and who we are. This connection is what truly enriches day-to-day life.

Examples

• Firefighters finding pride in protecting communities.
• A skilled carpenter taking joy in a perfectly built table.
• A teacher shaping young minds and finding joy in their growth.

8. Building Something with Your Hands Feels Fulfilling

Unlike abstract office tasks, working with your hands provides visible, lasting results. Creating something, whether it’s a piece of furniture or fixing a motorcycle, lets you take ownership of your achievements and shows measurable progress.

Additionally, manual work forces you to confront the realities of failure. Making mistakes, such as causing a repaired engine to sputter, keeps you grounded, focused, and away from unrealistic self-importance. The hands-on nature of these jobs creates honest assessments of one’s abilities and inspires constant learning.

Moreover, craftsmen gain pride through competence – not through boasting or external validation but because their results speak for themselves, creating inner confidence and authenticity.

Examples

• Crafting and finishing handmade furniture.
• Repairing a car and noticing immediate improvements in performance.
• Gardeners enjoying their crops growing from seed to harvest.

9. Manual Work Requires Sharp Thinking

Despite stereotypes, manual labor requires as much intellect as desk jobs – if not more. Problem-solving in physical trades tests observation skills, reasoning, and intuition. A mechanic diagnosing clinking engine noises, for instance, uses a process similar to deductive reasoning employed by detectives.

Moreover, solving hands-on challenges often involves navigating unique factors, making it less straightforward than following academic formulas. This complexity sharpens the mind through constant practical application.

By working with physical objects, workers develop an intimate understanding of the world’s mechanics, offering insight into materials and tools – skills that build autonomy and deepen appreciation for the environment.

Examples

• A carpenter assessing wood resilience under varying conditions.
• A mechanic troubleshooting engine noises systematically.
• Surgeons balancing intuition with technique during operations.

Takeaways

1. Explore trades through internships or classes to test practical skills and discover new passions.
2. Reevaluate your work’s purpose; seek a career with tangible results to achieve personal fulfillment.
3. Reconnect with the physicality of creating or repairing something yourself as a weekend activity.