I've been thinking about the decline of shop classes. It would be nice if schools just had more stuff; basic proper calipers and micrometers, 3D printers, vinyl cutting machines, fountain pens, Rubik's Cubes, etc.. Somehow the trend of cheap goods just didn't make it to the classroom for whatever reason.
I think not only has manufacturing gone away, as well as the supply chain, but also choice. The moment you want something slightly different than what is sold in the typical big box stores, it's either non-existent, or costs a fortune.
I think that demographically we might be in a trough, of new born children. Also children born to the last major cohort (the children of the baby Boomers) are just becoming tweens and young teens, or very young adults. There might be a spike in crime, in the next 10 years, as they start to mature. It helps that they are more spread out, and not born in the same few years like the Boomers were, (a more flattened and spread curve).
Very rough midpoint years;
Baby Boomers 1949,
Gen X 1979,
Millennial 2009.
People also have fewer possessions worth stealing and trying to hock? It's not like TVs and radios cost that much anymore. People wear less jewelry.
Though this is not a significant factor, it might be worth putting on the list still.
The most valuable things on a person these days (credit cards, phone) are also incredibly easy to lock down and make worthless. Many of the things like jewelry, are also now rendered essentially worthless because a lot of jewelry now is cheaply sourced; pawning off crap from fast fashion is not going to be worth it.
I was thinking that as I was getting ready to sell my house. I'm not a particularly materialistic person to start with, but there are hardly any physical objects in my home that I value that much besides (a) some photo albums/pictures and yearbooks - and for newer generations these are mostly digital I guess, (b) my violin and (c) my espresso machine and grinder. I guess you could throw my cellphone in there as well - easy to replace but would be a PITA, like losing my wallet. It'd be a pain to replace all my furniture and other stuff but I certainly don't feel any attachment to those things.
I feel you. I’m selling my house and I joke that I’ll give someone a better deal if they just take everything in it as part of the sale. A suitcase for my clothes, my computer, and some physical mementos is all I need to keep. Even the clothes are optional, but I don’t feel like buying a new wardrobe.
My coffee grinder may have been on my list, but I moved countries and the power is incompatible hah.
Bicycles and tools seem to be the main things still stolen. They are often left unattended locked to poles or in the back of cars which can be easily broken in to, and can be immediately flipped for a lot of money.
Right, there has been a huge reduction in home burglaries over the past several decades. The only stuff really worth stealing anymore is cash, drugs, and firearms.
That's funny to see. Sometimes I get stressed about the lack of security around my house, but I'll stop and think, if someone broke in what would this hypothetical thief actually steal anyway?
I was wondering about this the other day. Do people even steal car radios/amps/subs anymore? When I was a kid in the 90s, having your car radio stolen was typical.
The more modern equivalent has long been the catalytic converter. I don't know how well legislative efforts to crack down on the resale of used catalytic converters has gone though.
It's been a while since I've read 'The Cheese and the Worms'.
I think that many of our conceptions of Europe, and history are off. There mas much more churn and people moving around than we think. Though Menocchio probably didn't travel far, the priests and members of the Inquisition did. If you where close to a river, you'd see lots of people moving around, they were highways of goods being moved.
This has been widely known already, it just takes pop history decades to catch up with what professional historians know and do.
And there is also the fact that a lot of people prefer myths to history, especially myths about sacred homelands unspoiled by people traveling and moving (i.e. migrants).
I think that there is something else happening. We as a society don't really recognize industrial design. Some Youtube channels like 'Technology Connections' does.
Perhaps in the future we'll spend more time recognizing the mastery of craft that industrial designers put into creating household lamps and such. Especially since the history is pilling up and ready to be mined for interesting content.
If feel that with Youtube you get a touch of the Zeitgeist. There are some milquetoast channels like 'Hoovie's Garage', 'Rich Rebuilds', that tap into what average people are interested in watching.
You can also see the small changes in the medium; everybody at once adopting click-bait titles once one person was successful with it. As soon as a channel gets some success like 'Hand Tool Restoration' then everyone starts doing the same thing.
If anyone reading this likes handtool restoration but has not come across the "my mechanics" channel, you have to check it out!
I agree with your assessment, but would add that sometimes fads popularize people with such skill and attention to detail that their success is well deserved. My Mechanics is one of those cases.
