Craft

We strolled through a crafts fair on Sunday. The quality of most of the product was poor. Kitsch for tourists and browsers, who were looking for an excuse to sit out in summer weather and eat from fashionable urban food trucks.

There is a visible problem here in the U.S. with the quality of craftsmanship. Mediocre work is touted as high quality. Sloppiness is excused by contractors and manufacturers who whine they are never paid enough. Vocational education has been gutted by government in favor of on-line universities and hyped charter schools. 

There is dignity in a job well done. It is hard to fix a price on this. It is a matter of personal practice and self-development for the craftsman's sake. Historically, the excellent craftsman is compensated well when the quality of his/her work shines. The mediocre craftsman extorts higher prices through hype and guile to cover his/her mistakes. 

The humanist who develops a committed daily practice is a craftsman. The quality of the labor of practice is reflected in relationships and the practitioner's own well being. It is not about numbers of friends on Facebook. The quality of humanist practice is measured in the application of humanist values in all aspects of a life. The practitioner is craftsman and ultimate beneficiary of the work.