In Praise of Manual Skill

It is hardly news to me that Italians now consider manual work degrading, and look on those who take it up as a rung below everyone else.

Among the young, the idea of becoming an influencer or the like is hugely popular. Someone who sells themselves on sites such as Onlyfans ends up being thought of as "smarter" than an honest manual worker. That is not the subject of this post, but I want to stress that, even if they don't realise it, those who earn thousands of euros exploiting porn or some similar depravity do so by turning themselves into a commodity and feeding the commodifying nihilism of our age.

Then there are parents who want their child to become a doctor, a lawyer and so on, almost ashamed if the child ends up becoming a plumber instead.

I want to stress that every occupation is potentially a means of self-realisation and self-understanding. It is not "what" you do but "how" you do it that makes the difference. The belief that manual work is inferior to what we might call "intellectual" work is the product of a sick, degenerative mentality whose roots lie in the Enlightenment. Every task done with presence is an art. There is far more art in an electrical system or a hole drilled with presence than in many of the "artistic" products whose content is, ever more often, a sick mental logorrhoea with no sense of beauty whatsoever.

These days we are in the thick of building work here at Cascina Bellaria, and I am witnessing people (electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, cleaners, gardeners and so on) who, through their work, are making this place better and earning a decent living, but who are also, without realising it, shaping themselves in some way.

I will add, and conclude with, a personal note: on the few occasions when I manage to fix something and get it working, I feel a sense of satisfaction that I find in no other activity.

m.m.