A sweet melody, with its muffled digital ticking, calls me back from my torpor. The unexpected sensation of well-being due to the light pressure of the autumn blankets on my body keeps me from reacting for a few moments. My arm slides towards the bedside table, automatically, until my fingertips reach the pleasantly embossed surface of the very expensive plastic and elastomer case. They explore the entire microlandscape, savoring its roughness and long smooth valleys. After the “bump” of the cameras they finally manage to reach the edge. Stopped. Steep. Safe. The whole hand grasps the precious artifact. It’s morning.
A few moments to recover from a poor sleep, and the calendar reminds me that I have to put the plastic bag outside the front door, that I have to buy bread, and that I have an appointment in just over half an hour. While I set the timer on the coffee grinder and adjust the right temperature of the water in the kettle, I stop to think about how lucky I am to have a small computer that memorizes and thinks for me. On the other hand, how could I remember all those things to do, while doing all those other things?
I can already hear the hordes of kids ready to be lynched. “How dare you say these things! Don’t you know that industry is the main cause of climate change?” “There is no planet B, boomer!” All this obviously shouted digitally from an iPhone 26 pro gazilion super ultra, while they munch on avocado toast while speeding on an electric scooter.
The truth is that we find ourselves in our hands a world very different from what we had imagined. And no one seems to find a way to resolve the situation, saving the proverbial goat with all its cabbages. Neither the boomers with their laziness, nor the naive kids with their inexperience.
And I certainly won’t be the one to distill pills of truth on the subject, as you well know, I usually make questionable decisions, without any rational basis. But it is undeniable that there are some problems in the end and that they affect us personally (I remind you that the ocean recently burned down. The one with the water in it.). The other evening, as I finished mashing the accelerator on several tools to help grow food from the ground, I had an idea. What if we were wrong?
Think of our civilization as a teenager. Imagine it. Born in 1745 (the year the industrial revolution began), with terrible parents (us), in all these years he has done nothing but behave following his primordial instinct. Grow. I remind you that in the brain of a teenager there is a voice that repeats, mantra-like, guttural sounds alternating with “who cares”, “fuck you”, “I’m hungry” and “fuck”.
But the crux of the issue shouldn’t even be the melting of glaciers or summer showers. At stake at the moment is humanity’s transition to a state of maturity. I mean, as a species we’ve reached an age where it’s definitely time to get our heads together, don’t you think?
I’m not saying we should all retire to a convent, for goodness sake, I’ve always been a decent pleasure-seeker. But continuing to persist in the error that causes numerous headaches does not exactly describe us as particularly intelligent creatures. To tell the truth, many adults also recite the mantra above. It would be worth reconsidering some choices.
Starting right from industry. In the last couple of centuries we have basically delegated to it the satisfaction of our most disparate needs (from food to vibrators so to speak), and we have also attributed to it the role of preferential supplier of jobs.
To put it in a very basic form, those who, like me, have been wondering for years about how to solve the problem (mostly to understand at least who to side with), find themselves faced with a paradox. Follow the reasoning. The climate problem is mainly caused by the overproduction of goods and services. The waste and disposal of this superfluous cause a large amount of further pollution. To survive, industries must continue to produce, otherwise they won’t cover their expenses, and they infuriate investors (who don’t care much about what is produced, how, and why, as long as they receive the dividend transfer). If industries stop producing, workers are fired, creating a major social problem (and here is the proverbial dog chasing its tail). A pendulum is therefore created between an environmental problem (medium term) and a social problem (potentially immediate).
Anyone wondering why governments don’t take serious action on the subject, well here’s the reason. No, there is not in fact a planet B, but not even a life B for a few billion people.
Upon closer inspection, what happened is all a question of opportunity. On the one hand, unscrupulous (and capable) entrepreneurs have seen earning opportunities like never before, on the other the workforce has seen the opportunity to be included in a large, apparently unstoppable machine that promises security, stability and pre-established (and predictable) work shifts.
But all this has a price. The industry loves standard. Products that are good for everyone but do not fully satisfy anyone, rules that aim to standardize Sicilian canned tuna with Saxon frankfurters, selling the same things in all markets in the world. The industry also likes to never stop, and has invented a brilliant stratagem. The shifts. And who cares about the alternation of day and night and the seasons. Inside the shed there are neon lights and air conditioning. Fuck you stupid (and harmful) nature.
I don’t know if you realize it, but we are the only species in the world that behaves as if seasons don’t exist. Same job all year round, with the same hours and the same tasks. We no longer notice it, but in addition to night and day, the seasons also alternate in activity and rest. Try planting a tomato in December (in the Northern Hemisphere).
The social and psychological damage created by this system is evident, it has been talked about for at least 50 years, and I don’t think it’s necessary to add further banalities. But there are some points that involve me personally, and that I want to share with you, who despite yourself have gotten this far.
It’s funny but despite being increasingly educated and informed about everything that happens in the world in real time, we need someone else (or something else) to do things for us. And I’m not just talking about pasta carbonara. We need a carpenter to hang a picture, a gardener to plant two flowers on the terrace, a courier or a rider to bring our purchases home, an influencer to tell us what to buy, and finally, we need someone to create a job for us.
We grew up with the myth of “bigger is better”, confusing the growth of a few companies with the increase in the well-being of our society. I often hear people talk about the redistribution of wealth, which must be a consequence, but not the origin of change. We can’t keep expecting someone to come along one day and change things. No one is going to take money from Elon Musk’s pockets and put it in yours. It wouldn’t even be right.
Learning a trade, having the courage and maturity to accept long-term horizons, knowing that the things built over time are the most solid and that they give us the greatest joy. Go back to seeing your work as a precious asset, and not the unpleasant parenthesis between one weekend and another. Going back to doing good things, done well, to be proud of, and done to overcome the most difficult test. That of time.
The craftsman does not waste, he only produces what is needed, when it is needed. The craftsman does not set standards, he adapts to what the customer needs. the craftsman does not flatten, he maintains his uniqueness, and contributes to enriching our culture.
However, it’s getting late, the iPad from which I’m writing to you is running out of battery, I put everything on the cloud, and I create an event on the calendar to remind me to post this article on the blog. I check my phone one last time before placing it on the bedside table. Is the cable connected? Yes. Well, I wouldn’t want to find it empty tomorrow morning.
Good night.
