On being useful.....................

      The scope of the economic crisis is still uncertain as I write this; it may turn out to be a mere disturbance, soon forgotten.  But, however briefly, we are experiencing a genuine crisis of confidence in our most prestigious institutions and professions.  This presents an opportunity to reconsider some basic assumptions.  The question of what a good job looks like—of what sort of work is both secure and worthy of being honored—is more open now than it has been for a long time.  Wall Street in particular has lost its luster as a destination for smart and ambitious young people.  Out of the current confusion of ideals and confounding of larger hopes, a calm recognition may yet emerge that productive labor is the foundation of all prosperity.  The meta-work in trafficking in the surplus skimmed from other people's work suddenly appears as what it is, and it becomes possible once again to think the thought, "Let me make myself useful."

-Matthew B. Crawford, Shop Class As Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work