Paradigm Shift #1: Drudgery

Drudgery. Defined by Google as: "tedious, menial and exhausting work." Menial defined as: "A servant, especially a domestic servant; A person who has a subservient nature; Of or relating to work normally performed by a servant; Of or relating to unskilled work" (emphasis mine).

Manual labor is looked upon by most Americans as somehow below us. Many folks think manual labor is degrading, that it is not important work.

I recently searched Google News for the phrase "manual labor." And one of the search results was a news piece about Mexican immigrants. The thing that struck me was actually in a comment someone left. The commenter was lambasting the immigrants in the story because -- according to the commenter -- all they were skilled to do was manual labor and would not be able to get "real" jobs but instead would have to dig ditches and the commenter just didn't want people like that living in his country. I'm paraphrasing since the comment has since been taken off the site and I cannot find it. But I'm dying to ask that commenter what would happen in his world if everyone had "real" jobs and there was no one left to dig ditches?

Perhaps he has in mind a world similar to Isaac Asimov's. "Drudgery" was one of Asmiov's favorite terms. The writer of the "I, Robot" series of books thought that all forms of manual labor were beneath humans and that robots would be invented to do that sort of work to free humans to create art and other such "worthy" endeavors.

This is an unfortunate way of thinking. One that is inculcated in the modern American from birth. Everything and everyone around us is constantly telling us that we are meant for "great" things, "better" things. The television shows and movies we watch. The books we read. The schools we attend. And it is telling us that those of us who perform manual labor for a living are failures.

Our society rests upon the backs of the folks performing manual labor. If it weren't for manual laborers, the folks with "real" jobs would have no cars to drive to their "real" jobs, no oil to put in their cars, no roads to drive their cars on. No buildings to drive to.

If we are to break our addiction to oil then we must quit this way of thinking. We must realize the value of manual labor, and teach it to our children.

The problem with modern manual tools

The problem with modern manual tools is that the ones commonly available are not apparently meant to be used.

Since deciding to explore the world of human-powered tools I've run into this every time I turn around.

Yes, you can get a $15 axe at the hardware store but the $60 Snow and Nealleyis worlds better (I can't wait to see how much better the $200 Gransfors Bruks are). To be honest, the Snow and Nealley doesn't look all that different than my hardware store axe. But the difference shows in the use. It's hard to explain, but the more expensive tool is better. It's really no wonder to me that folks go and buy a cheap tool and hate it. Manual labor is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but a good tool properly used makes it a whole bunch better.

This was driven home to me again this past week. I was out at the Mitchell Family Farm visiting with my friend Josh Mitchell. I was complaining about my hoe, and he said that he had something for me to try.

He'd found a company called ProHoe. ProHoe is a small family-owned business that makes hoes from recycled ag discs. And they are good hoes. Josh let me try one out for a bit and the difference between that and my cheap tool is night and day.

First of all the ProHoe is sharp. It sliced weeds cleanly with very little effort, it felt more like I was "shaving" the weeds from the ground than what I think of as hoeing. Second the hoe has a bit of heft to it, which helps in digging into the soil.

Even better is that the ProHoes go for about $30. Which is not all that much more than the $10-15 hoes at the hardware store.

A good tool really makes a world of difference in manual labor. And yes, good tools will cost you more to purchase than their cheap counterparts. But it's not saving you money if you buy a cheap tool only to get fed up trying to use it then go out and buy a money-hog of a gas-powered machine.

So a large part of my exploration into human-powered tools has been finding folks producing good tools. If you have any tips or suggestions, leave a comment.

Burn Carbs Not Oil

Hello and welcome to Burn Carbs Not Oil.

The United States is facing several so-called crises, energy, obesity and unemployment are three that are often spoken of.

These three crises are always referred to as separate problems, but they are not separate problems. They are related.

We have an energy crisis because we insist on using power-hungry machines to do even the simplest of manual tasks, even when a manually-powered option is readily available.

We have an obesity crisis because we insist on using machines to do even the simplest of manual tasks, instead of using our bodies to do the work.

We have an unemployment crisis because we insist on using machines to do jobs that used to have been done by people. One machine can take the place of dozens of workers.

The thing that links those three crises is machines.

Would we have an energy crisis is folks made a concerted effort to use tools powered only by their own labor?

What would happen to our obesity epidemic if everyone rode a bicycle for trips under two miles? In six months of riding 3 miles roundtrip to work everyday I dropped from a 46-inch waist to 40-inches, and I wasn't even trying.

What would happen to unemployment if a farmer went and hired several dozen people and handed them hoes instead of using a massive machine to work his fields?

This journal is dedicated to the exploration and study of human-powered tools and their implementation.