Matthew B. Crawford's The Case For Working With Your Hands

In the passage “The Case for Working with Your Hands,” taken from Matthew B. Crawford’s book The Case for Working with Your Hands, Or, Why Office Work Is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good, Crawford makes a case on why our society and economy would be corrected if people chose their jobs based on what they like, not just what is accepted. He bases these claims on self experience. The evaluation Crawford concludes that the economy will be improved by “enlightened self-interest,” is both reasonable and probable creating an economy where less money would be wasted on unused degrees, an overall more content and higher quality workforce and the deletion of the mindset that working jobs are not prestigious. For one thing, it is not uncommon …show more content…
It is no secret that if a person from Wall Street and an electrician were in a same room, most people would think the Wall Street businessman is smarter. It is seen as wrong in society to chose a career that requires little to no extra education. Crawford says “A gifted young person who chooses to become a mechanic rather than to accumulate academic credentials is viewed as eccentric,” (451). As people promoted self interests it would help be able to close the gap between the rich and the poor since everyone would be able to invest their time and energy into what they believe to make more money. People believe “Because the work is dirty, many people assume it is also stupid,” (451). As these “dirty” jobs continue to increase their pay they will ultimately become more respected in society.
All in all, “The Case for Working with Your Hands” develops solid points as to why working jobs require just as much intelligence as what Crawford calls “knowledge workers.” The assessment that Crawford makes pertaining to “enlightened self-interest” would in fact improve the way the economic system runs today. The overall population would live a more peaceful life with less constant stress. Crawford’s message runs through the reader's mind and leaves a lasting impact next time they find a job “too

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Matthew B. Crawford's The Case For Working With Your Hands

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