We go to our places of employment and focus on a fairly narrow range of tasks. We usually don't make or repair our own possessions, hunt or grow our own food, or produce our own electricity.
But maybe we should.
In his novel Time Enough for Love, the late science fiction writer and former naval officer Robert Heinlein wrote that a human being should be able to "change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly." He added that specialization "is for insects."
In a future world without the benefit of cheap, abundant fossil fuels, we may all benefit from the possession of a wide range of practical skills. Indeed, such skills may become necessary for our individual survival.
So perhaps instead of looking down on those members of society who provide (in exchange for money) our food, shelter, protection and other necessities, we should learn to do what they have done for us, even if we can't do it as well as they have. It may come in handy.
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