I’ve been struck over the last few days by an idea about Maker or DIY Culture in the US, and its slow but steady rise in importance. I think it’s safe to say the nuclear American Dream is dead. With divorce rates estimated to be at least 50% by the Census Bureau, the nuclear family idea seems dead (this is especially apparent as we move into the holiday season and I see so many folks juggling obligations to visit various parts of their estranged families). Add to that the realization gaining prominence with more and more people that the credit-drenched fashion we live in is unsustainable, rising foreclosures and repossessions, and other grim economic awakenings, any collective and consensual illusion of American life seems to have evaporated.

So emerges from the bottom-up a consciousness that’s rising, a culture that incorporates the work ethic of previous generations while summarily rejecting the often-accompanying droneism. From Maker Culture you get artistic engagement rather than assembly-line efficiency, resulting in things like this beautified bandsaw, this monster art made from recycled trash, and this reverse geocache puzzle that’s got to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Maker Culture is brand new. It’s been around for a long time. I’m just saying what seems to be the recent rise in interest is a direct result of all the traditional dreams we’re taught as Americans falling to ashes, and our search for a new collective paradigm. One that proclaims proudly that we are workers, artists, makers of things, but these things are not like everyone else’s. One that encourages monkeying with dominant logics and working on new ways of crafting, doing, and being.

I might be on target here, or I might be full of crap. I’m open to either opinion.

Tags: american dream, Culture, makers