[TheForge] Buy American?

[theforge@mailman.qth.net]

I encounter this all the time ( and given their temperment as a group, I
expect many blacksmiths do)  I tend to do most things myself,  and save
repair and recycle everything.   This mystifies most people.  For
instance, I spent this weekend with my son trimming dead limbs out of
huge oak trees.  Neighbors observed us out there with climbing ropes
fift feet and higher in the tree, swinging from limb to limb cutting
away.  The most common remark was it looked like a lot a work, and that
we would be better off hiring it out for several hundred dollars.   The
thing is, had I told them my son and I were off to spend the afternoon
and $75 at a rock climbing gym, they would have had a totally different
reaction.   In our society people pay other people to do their yard
work, so that they have time to pay gyms for the privledge of doing faux
work.    We order custom cabinets from a catalog,  have "homecooked"
food delivered to us,  and decorate our gardens with "wrought iron"
furniture made of cast aluminum.   At the same time, a  hot trend in
entertainment (the fastest growing segment of the economy) seems to be
watching other people do work, wether it is "Junkyard Wars", "American
Chopper", "Monster Garage", "Science Island", "Trading Spaces" or even
"Survivor".    On the other hand, it is interesting to note that even
old shows like "This Old House" and to a lessor extent, "Home Time" have
morphed from shows on how to do it yourself, to explanations of what
your contractor is doing.

Charles

Reynolds wrote:

>Mention the idea of Victory Gardens to someone. Must won't have a clue as to why those people 60 years ago did so, and if they do, they wouldn't know a mustard seed from a pumpkin seed. That work is for peons.
>
>Ultimately our success as a nation will contribute to our undoing. In the interim, just remember that the Romans had an unstoppable military machine and ruled most every area of the world they chose to rule. They rotted from within, having become consumed with eliteism, leisure, opulence, sexual preoccupation, and an endless selfishness and back-biting by its leaders. Sound familiar?
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