StickWithANose

Ostensibly, this NYT article is offering up praise for manual labor. Beginning with an inaccurate assertion that philosopher Matthew Crawford left the academy to work on motorcycles [he is a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the Univ. of Virginia], the premise of the piece is that the unexpected success of Dr. Crawford’s Shop as Soul Craft is evidence that Americans are re-discovering the value of “honest blue-collar work”. However, in reading the article, it quickly becomes apparent that the narrative of the piece details the ability of those who have options to exercise choice. A Wall Street economist making the jump into running a small business where he [gasp] gets his hands dirty is neither emblematic of the ‘rugged nobility’ of manual labor nor is it a sign of a larger shift in American society. From Education and Class:

I want to know not just that some white collar workers have rediscovered their souls by working now with their hands.  I want to know that an exodus into blue collar work is something other than just  another narcissistic move by people who do have exceptional choices in their lives.

I want to see a significant shift in policy, in attitude, in knowledge of the status of workers in this country so that even the pipe fitters, floor cleaners, and landscapers who do not happen to have  degrees in economics are worthy of such curious, respectful coverage in the New York Times.