The inevitability that an uncomfortable conversation would begin among the kind of multi-generational and politically/socially disparate group congregated for thanksgiving at the first mention of the occupy movement was palpable, and I was prepared to waffle. I like that people are getting together and voicing that they are paying attention, and that they don’t like what has transpired to the detriment of many for the enrichment of a few. I can’t get behind the stark contrast that is made between capitalism and ambition with a way forward for more people, though. I spent the entirety of the movement momentum here in Boston at the chase for the 1 %’s scraps and I’ve got to say, I loved many a minute of it. As long as there is a logical and useful means for me to make an honest dollar I am not going to have time to make a placard and join the movement. It’s not a black and white situation.
The brown MTB bike I just joined my customer on its maiden voyage may as well be a case in point. While it is a point of begrudgement that the globalized supply chain and credit backed capital of the big players can reduce the price of the commodity I supply to a tenth of my expense, I can’t deny that I benefit greatly from the same system since damn, that SRAM shifts quite nicely and if it weren’t for venture capitalists, a technician in bio-tech would not have had the money to commission me to make something the slow way. Whittling away with hand tools at the advanced alloy steel that a belching furnace forged to perfection while listening to tales of strife boiling over among the multitudes on the radio I wondered if working on something so small while so many big things are happening in the world is the equivalent of putting my head in the sand, getting out for a ride on the thing I made makes me wonder if I really care.
