Has D.I.Y. gone D.O.A?
I'm trying to figure something out. It's a bit of a problem that I've seen over the last few years, and it appears to be spreading.
A few years ago, it was possible for me to go to a hobby store and buy a model kit for $5.00. A few months ago, it was possible for me to walk into Zellers and buy model kits, glue, and paint. But now I'm finding that the kits are gone, replaced by fully built and painted "toys".
What has happened to them? What is happening to us?
Athearn "blue box" model train cars have been the staple of model railroading for many years now. They are affordable, easy to build, and pretty accurate. But with people not having so much free time to pursue a hobby, Athearn now has someone overseas (as in less costly to pay them) build the kits and put them in a package. Those $5.00 kits now cost $19.99. Yes, they have metal wheels and magnetic couplers, two things we'd have to add anyway. But, those metal wheels are not that expensive, and couplers aren't all that expensive either. I can take one of those five dollar kits and put new wheels and couplers on it for about $3.00. There, $8.00 for me to do what they charge $19.99 for.
Even with the price increase, people are buying these models up. Why?
If people don't have time to build things, that's fine with me. They can buy these models. Even when I was able to work 40-50 hours a week, I still managed to find time to spend with my family, sleep, and build these kits.
But I like building them and the kits are now no longer available.
That's right...I don't have much of a choice. If I want it, I have to buy what someone else built.
Another example: I bought some Life Like P2K gondolas for $10.00. Nice kits. The company didn't release any in Ontario Northland paint. Ontario Northland decals are not readily available. Now they're releasing them in Ontario Northland. But they're fully built. And they're $43.00 a piece. Yes, you read that right. $43.00. For one car.
Radio Shack has gone the same way. Some time in the last two years, the little electronic components have disappeared. I can still buy a UHF antenna in a Radio Shack, but a 100 ohm resistor is impossible to find. Who really needs a UHF antenna for their television?
It's not just in the hobby sector. People seem to want things built for them at the push of a button. And as long as someone else is pushing the button, they'll buy it. IKEA used to be the store where you could buy a piece of furniture, take it home, and build it yourself. It was cheap and easy. Now they offer a service to build and deliver it right to your door.
Have we become that lazy?
Yes. And it's not stopping there.
How many manufacturing jobs are being created here? Compare that to how many are being sent overseas.
How many desk jobs are being created here? Or telemarketing? Lots of them.
We are losing our drive to create. And not many people seem to care.
We pay "experts" to build things for us. We pay "experts" to renovate houses. You've seen these "experts" on television. They're the ones on TLC who go into a house, build two shelves and paint a room and people go "Oh my God! It's perfect! We could never do this ourselves!"
What a load.
Anyone with some manual dexterity, a few tools, and some wood can build a shelf. And painting a room isn't difficult. I've done it. My children could do it. You can do it.
When the news tells us that our children are getting fat, lazy, and uncreative, they blame video games and the lack of physical activity. Is it their fault? I don't think so.
The food we feed our children has more growth hormones in it than the food we ate as children. That could be a factor. They are lazy and uncreative because schools have had to cut back in arts and physical education programs due to government cutbacks. Trust me, I've been in classrooms where if the children get a half hour a week of gym, they're lucky. Video games, naturally, are to blame for every modern evil known to mankind.
Video games cause school shootings.
Video games cause eye strain.
Video games cause children to become fat and lazy.
Video games are the tool of the devil.
There's several more loads to go with the one above.
Video games are an easy target because they're popular. Comic books were an easy target. Rock and Roll was an easy target. Rap music is an easy target.
Sorry for going off on a tangent there. Back to my main argument. We are being handed things fully built for one reason: so that we will accept that we have no free time. So that we will become workers for the corporations. So that we will become slaves attached to the corporate teat from the moment we are born until the moment we are dust. We are being made into fat, lazy people so that we will be unable to fight back and reclaim our creativity. Your free time is not important to them. You must conform to what they want. If Oprah or Dr. Phil tell you to do something, you better do it. You don't have free time. You don't need free time. Only the rich and powerful deserve free time.
Well, I'm not rich. And I'm certainly not powerful.
But I'm going to build my kits when I want. That is, if I can still find them.
And I'll play my video games (and beat the gnome AND Meta-Ridley in the same day, like I did last week!) when I want.
And I'll build my own shelf. Ty and Hildi can stay away from my house. Far away.
A few years ago, it was possible for me to go to a hobby store and buy a model kit for $5.00. A few months ago, it was possible for me to walk into Zellers and buy model kits, glue, and paint. But now I'm finding that the kits are gone, replaced by fully built and painted "toys".
What has happened to them? What is happening to us?
Athearn "blue box" model train cars have been the staple of model railroading for many years now. They are affordable, easy to build, and pretty accurate. But with people not having so much free time to pursue a hobby, Athearn now has someone overseas (as in less costly to pay them) build the kits and put them in a package. Those $5.00 kits now cost $19.99. Yes, they have metal wheels and magnetic couplers, two things we'd have to add anyway. But, those metal wheels are not that expensive, and couplers aren't all that expensive either. I can take one of those five dollar kits and put new wheels and couplers on it for about $3.00. There, $8.00 for me to do what they charge $19.99 for.
Even with the price increase, people are buying these models up. Why?
If people don't have time to build things, that's fine with me. They can buy these models. Even when I was able to work 40-50 hours a week, I still managed to find time to spend with my family, sleep, and build these kits.
But I like building them and the kits are now no longer available.
That's right...I don't have much of a choice. If I want it, I have to buy what someone else built.
Another example: I bought some Life Like P2K gondolas for $10.00. Nice kits. The company didn't release any in Ontario Northland paint. Ontario Northland decals are not readily available. Now they're releasing them in Ontario Northland. But they're fully built. And they're $43.00 a piece. Yes, you read that right. $43.00. For one car.
Radio Shack has gone the same way. Some time in the last two years, the little electronic components have disappeared. I can still buy a UHF antenna in a Radio Shack, but a 100 ohm resistor is impossible to find. Who really needs a UHF antenna for their television?
It's not just in the hobby sector. People seem to want things built for them at the push of a button. And as long as someone else is pushing the button, they'll buy it. IKEA used to be the store where you could buy a piece of furniture, take it home, and build it yourself. It was cheap and easy. Now they offer a service to build and deliver it right to your door.
Have we become that lazy?
Yes. And it's not stopping there.
How many manufacturing jobs are being created here? Compare that to how many are being sent overseas.
How many desk jobs are being created here? Or telemarketing? Lots of them.
We are losing our drive to create. And not many people seem to care.
We pay "experts" to build things for us. We pay "experts" to renovate houses. You've seen these "experts" on television. They're the ones on TLC who go into a house, build two shelves and paint a room and people go "Oh my God! It's perfect! We could never do this ourselves!"
What a load.
Anyone with some manual dexterity, a few tools, and some wood can build a shelf. And painting a room isn't difficult. I've done it. My children could do it. You can do it.
When the news tells us that our children are getting fat, lazy, and uncreative, they blame video games and the lack of physical activity. Is it their fault? I don't think so.
The food we feed our children has more growth hormones in it than the food we ate as children. That could be a factor. They are lazy and uncreative because schools have had to cut back in arts and physical education programs due to government cutbacks. Trust me, I've been in classrooms where if the children get a half hour a week of gym, they're lucky. Video games, naturally, are to blame for every modern evil known to mankind.
Video games cause school shootings.
Video games cause eye strain.
Video games cause children to become fat and lazy.
Video games are the tool of the devil.
There's several more loads to go with the one above.
Video games are an easy target because they're popular. Comic books were an easy target. Rock and Roll was an easy target. Rap music is an easy target.
Sorry for going off on a tangent there. Back to my main argument. We are being handed things fully built for one reason: so that we will accept that we have no free time. So that we will become workers for the corporations. So that we will become slaves attached to the corporate teat from the moment we are born until the moment we are dust. We are being made into fat, lazy people so that we will be unable to fight back and reclaim our creativity. Your free time is not important to them. You must conform to what they want. If Oprah or Dr. Phil tell you to do something, you better do it. You don't have free time. You don't need free time. Only the rich and powerful deserve free time.
Well, I'm not rich. And I'm certainly not powerful.
But I'm going to build my kits when I want. That is, if I can still find them.
And I'll play my video games (and beat the gnome AND Meta-Ridley in the same day, like I did last week!) when I want.
And I'll build my own shelf. Ty and Hildi can stay away from my house. Far away.
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