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.
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 heavily 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 wide-open doors.
Undercut and outcompeted, these skilful craftsmen and women are left on the dust heap of Progress. “Should have moved on with the times.” the economists wag their sorry heads, whilst would be customers denigrate them as mere quaint oddities whose goods “are far too expensive”.
And the tidal wave of the Machine rolls on still…
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 an adequate reflection of their true worth. Just hold for a moment an old, handcrafted tool in your hand. The immensely satisfying sensation it evokes emanating 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 allures 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 have something to do with the ubiquity 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 deficient quality, have dubious ethics underpinning their means of production, and are the result of monumentally wasteful economies of scale.
As I have argued elsewhere, the fact that we are so readily duped into believing these products are worth buying betrays that our ability to discern what is truly valuable has been critically eroded by repeated onslaughts from tidal waves of mass-produced goods and advertisers’ lies. Our senses have been dulled, and our appreciative capacities for quality, beauty, ornateness, and durability have been shipwrecked on the twin islands of false promises and cheap knockoffs.
Having become thus dulled, the ultimate tragedy is we have become satisfied. Satisfied, that is, with that which can never make us content (for the last thing the mass producers want is for you to rest content with your purchases!). What’s more, we are seemingly satisfied for the craftsmen and women, who should be enriching our lives, to rapidly become mere museum pieces of a bygone age. There are few greater and more profound modern-day tragedies than this.
Normally at the end of a reflection like this I would implore you, dear reader, to buy things of greater quality and resist the mass-consumeristic temptations you daily face. Though that would indeed be a fitting end, there is something else I wish to dwell on: and that is the fitting (yet tragic) end of many of the mass-produced goods we purchase. Considering their end may help us see through their alluring packaging and superfluous advertising; for it coheres with the ultimately worthless, mass-produced nature of the products that they will one day enter the landfills and seas of our nations — ending their lives as a problem. A curse. A tragedy.
Like a morbidly obese man must live with the consequences of his poor diet, our modern societies must thus live with the “rubbish” consequences of our addiction to over-consumption and mass-production. And as most mass-produced goods are made from plastics which never decay, these wastes will persist with us for generations, enduring as a sorry testament to our rejection of quality.
The goods from the craftsman, however, continue to be a blessing even after their usefulness has eventually run its course. They become decorative pieces, treasured heirlooms, and precious antiques whose value appreciates as time wears on. We rarely, if ever, throw these goods away for we know they are the expression the craftsman’s love, wisdom, and skilful labour now embodied in the delightfully crafted knife, bowl, basket, toy, or jumper you now hold and cherish.
So, buy well, modern man; and resist the tidal wave.
Further reading
Though increasingly, the Chinese are becoming very good at making very good things.
I consciously decided more than 15 years ago to purchase only quality goods. In the last few years I’ve fine tuned it to women-owned businesses, B corps or farmers owned businesses. And only natural fabrics for clothing especially woolens and alpaca. My other avenue of purchases are artisan made jewelry, housewares or garden tools. I’m so totally done with cheaply made and environmentally damaging products that I’ll wear/use the same things until they are beyond repair. This is an excellent article to endorse craftsmanship in products that we need or use.
I will tell you the value of my wool clothing is evident every winter, while cheap clothing is essentially toxic waste. Wise words, thanks for this gift.