A Tidal Wave of Mass Production

Wisdom From The Agrarians

“Attempts are made, here and there, to revive the rural crafts, and sometimes with excellent results; but there is nevertheless something Canute-like in these endeavours, for the unpalatable truth is that quality and durability, which were the virtues of the crafts, are qualities incompatible with the age of mass production, whose aim is not to provide what is needed but to make people need what is provided.”

From C. Henry Warren, Essex.

Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

Old King Canute attempted what only a fool would do: he tried to hold back the tide by his own might, by a mere command from his lips. Needless to say, the sea disobeyed the arrogant old king, and the rest they say is history.

Advocates and practitioners of the rural crafts can feel a bit like old King Canute as they labour away on their handmade wares, whilst facing down a tidal wave of dirt-cheap, mass-produced goods flowing in from the Far East —which eventually hits our ports as a never-ending cavalcade of cargo ships laden with vanity. With abundance, efficiency, and price heavily stacked against them, old-time craftsmen must go to great lengths to find an ounce of hope (and willing customers) — and even then, they often fail to get a single foot through their doors.

Undercut and outcompeted, these craftsmen and women are left on the dust heap of Progress. “Should have moved on with the times.” the economists wag their heads, whilst would be customers denigrate them as quaint oddities whose goods “are far too expensive”.

And the tidal wave of the Machine rolls on still…

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Though old King Canute’s foolish endeavour was based upon inflated self-worth and monumental pride, the same cannot be said for the rural craftsmen. Their crafts, though expensive, are hardly inflated. Instead, their costliness is a reflection of their true worth. Just hold for a moment an old, handcrafted tool in your hand. The satisfying sensation it evokes from its obvious quality, durability, and even ornate beauty, simply cannot be replicated by mass-produced plastic knock-offs from Temu which bear the fatal stamp “Made in China”.¹ Yet like moths to a light, something about mass-produced goods is irresistible to the modern mind — and holds a devilish power over our wallets and bank details.

The monumental effort advertisers and marketers expend to get these cheap products in front of our eyes must be part of the cause of our mass-consumeristic habits. But it is dirt (and relative) cheapness which I believe we find most alluring; for the rock-bottom prices of these mass-produced goods leave the modern consumer with plenty of disposable income to spend on more “important” things (like entertainment). Anyway, who wants a handcrafted knife, or a handwoven basket to get in the way of us affording yet another subscription to a streaming service? Never mind that these goods are of poor quality, have dubious ethics underpinning their means of production, and are the result of monumentally wasteful economies of scale.