Kudos to Labor

Nothing happens without the physical world - molecules, atoms, electrons, etc. From bridges to microprocessors, they all require labor to bring to fruition in some fashion or another.

People who focus on using their brains in their career (e.g. Engineers, of which I am one), we figure out ways to use and manipulate the physical world to enhance the way we live. And, we are rightfully and handsomely rewarded for that. But, what should not be lost in all of that is that those who implement the objects of our creative minds are people who use their hands - and also their brains - to bring theory to market.

This has been forgotten in this day and age of outsourcing and focus on the professional sector. But, as an engineer, the way I see it is that the efforts of my intellect-centric labor (telecommmunications, in my case) would be for naught were it not for those in the trenches (literally) laying the fiber optic lines in the backbone and running data connectivity to curbs and cell towers to make it all a reality.

Near where I live, a man died from a 200 foot fall from a cell tower. It was a story in the local news so long as the helicopter had good footage. But, after that, not so much. Was this person who fell a hero? You bet. He (or she) had just as much to do with expanding broadband telecommunications access as I do. The difference being that their focus was more on labor and realizing tangible infrastructure rather than engineering know-how that drives the use of that infrastructure.

But, all the same, we're all in this together and deserve equal accolades for realizing enhanced technology.

Engineers may be different in areas of skill and knowledge per our formal training. But, we are not different in our common humanity. Our contributions are no more or no less important than those who convert knowledge to tangibles - i.e. those who apply what engineers are able to imagine and create.

Kudos to Labor.

Reactionary Christians and Human Progress

There are so many things we take for granted today that fundamentalist Christians opposed once upon a time before they could no longer withstand the wave of change or just plain died out.

For example, Christians who were part of the abolition movement were largely progressive - the kind Falwell(s), Pat Robertson, et. al. love(d) to demonize and deplore.

Conversely, you can find much in the historical record of Southern Baptists and other fundamentalists (not all southern) denouncing abolition as evil and anathema to God's will.

The moral of the story? Fundamentalists should be the last ones in the world to be trusted to judge what kind of change is worthy of human dignity and progress.

For those who haven't read it, I recommend "A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom" by Andrew Dickson White, the founder of Cornell University, in 1896.

It outlines example after example of how reactionary/conservative Christians opposed science (just one area of human knowledge). When you read the examples, it will remind just how far we have come despite the persistent presence of religious reactionary forces.

Obviously, the book only takes you up to the 20th century, and I'm sure other authors have documents plenty of examples since then. But, it's a good place to start to get some historical perspective on fundamentalism's anti-progress role through the ages.