The Antidote to Alienation

I came across this passage recently while reading Barbara Kingsolver's wonderful book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and was struck by how much it resonated with me as a crafter. So I thought I'd reproduce it here for your perusal since I think a lot of you would probably relate as well.

A lot of human hobbies, from knitting sweaters to building model airplanes, are probably rooted in the same human desire to control an entire process of manufacture. Karl Marx called it the antidote to alienation. Modern business psychologists generally agree, noting that workers will build a better car when they participate in the whole assembly rather than just slapping on one bolt, over and over, all the tedious livelong day. In the case of modern food, our single-bolt job has become the boring act of poking the thing in our mouths, with no feeling for any other stage in the process. It's a pretty obvious consequence that one should care little about the product. When I ponder the question of why Americans eat so much bad food on purpose, this is my best guess: alimentary alienation. We can't feel how or why it hurts. We're dying for an antidote.

Comments

[Annette]

Glad to see you back on your blog :)

[jennifer m ramos]

Thanks for sharing that! It make complete sense and hits on two things I'm passionate about, which are actually symptoms of one huge issue . . .consumerism.

[Dana]

I loved reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It was a wonderful book.