Zach Larkins2H
Thomas Sowell made a stement in one of his articles some time ago that has nagged me, and seeing that it's a slow news day, I thought I share it with you, dear reader.
He simply said that no one person knows how to make a 2H pencil. Think about that. Simple, direct, correct and thought provoking. Do you know how to make one?
First you have to find a tree. Then you have to wade through a sea of tree-huggers to get all the permits and environmental studies completed before you can cut it down. Now you have a big log on your hands that must be cut into smaller logs for transport. And you have to get rid of any waste in an environmentally friendly fashion. Assuming you have done all this, now you have to cut the log down to the size and shape of a 2H pencil. I doubt you're going to do this on the lathe resting on your workbench in the garage, so you need someone to do it for you. You scour the yellow pages and hire ‘Ye Olde Woodworkers' to provide you the blank of the pencil.
Next on the list is finding someone capable of drilling said blank so you have somewhere to stick your graphite. Out to the trusty SUV you run to find yourself a graphite mine. Having accomplished this, you now need miners to dig the stuff out for you. They dutifully perform their work and you're left staring a one pile of graphite and another of waste product. Again, this waste must be disposed of in an environmentally correct manner. So you call your local trucker to get rid of the waste and have the ore taken to...........where? Nope, that garage lathe ain't gonna turn the trick.
Back to the yellow pages and you hire ‘Triple AAA Graphite' to make the lead that goes in your pencil. Your local trucker brings the graphite to, hmmm, oh yeah, your factory. This is getting to be a bigger deal than you originally thought. Now we have to put the lead in the pencil and, wouldn't you just know it, we don't have a press. So we go to the tool shop down the street, order a press and some spare platens to replace the ones that will undoubtedly wear out.
Okay, so we have a pencil with lead in it. Now, let's put an eraser on it. Off we trek again to find a tin mine. Same as the graphite. Find it, mine it, get rid of the waste, truck it to a mill to bring it down to a suitable thickness, take it from there to another mill that will form it into a proper circle, have some one paint the appropriate colour on it and bring it into your pencil factory. Another press is needed to put this item on to the blank. But we still need an eraser.
Find another forest, pick out the tree, tap it for its latex, distill the latex into rubber, find someone to make it into those cute little pink things, truck that to your factory, get another press to insert the rubber into the tin thing that sits atop the blank and there you have it. A 2H pencil. Pretty simple, eh?
The reason this stayed with me is because in this small example of building a relatively simple object, we can see just how many people are involved. All these people have jobs and the companies that employ them pay some menial wages while others pay good rates. No matter. They are all jobs that contribute to the economy and the general welfare of our society.
We are in the throes of globalization and we are watching jobs disappear every day. How sad is it that you will pay extra to make a flight reservation in the US rather than have it go through India? Corporate greed sees mergers of companies in order to reward shareholders while they toss employees out on the street with nary a thought. Ever wonder what a pair of Levi's cost to make in Mexico? About 5 bucks. Think about that when you shell out $40 - $50 dollars on your next pair. Wonder what a Chrysler 300 costs to make in China? A whole lot less than over here. And don't think for a minute they're not going be sold over here. Mercedes and Chrysler were a marriage of equals. In a pig's eye they were.
There is nothing wrong with helping third world countries raise their standards of living. But we don't have to hand it to them on a silver platter. People bitch about the supposed protectionist policies of the US, but I think it is time all of us took a harder look at it and started to apply more of it. You want to sell your goods here, great. Build a factory, hire some local help and start giving back to the economy. Stop the ridiculous taxes and duties you impose on North American goods that are shipped to your country. What's good for the goose is certainly sauce for the gander.
He simply said that no one person knows how to make a 2H pencil. Think about that. Simple, direct, correct and thought provoking. Do you know how to make one?
First you have to find a tree. Then you have to wade through a sea of tree-huggers to get all the permits and environmental studies completed before you can cut it down. Now you have a big log on your hands that must be cut into smaller logs for transport. And you have to get rid of any waste in an environmentally friendly fashion. Assuming you have done all this, now you have to cut the log down to the size and shape of a 2H pencil. I doubt you're going to do this on the lathe resting on your workbench in the garage, so you need someone to do it for you. You scour the yellow pages and hire ‘Ye Olde Woodworkers' to provide you the blank of the pencil.
Next on the list is finding someone capable of drilling said blank so you have somewhere to stick your graphite. Out to the trusty SUV you run to find yourself a graphite mine. Having accomplished this, you now need miners to dig the stuff out for you. They dutifully perform their work and you're left staring a one pile of graphite and another of waste product. Again, this waste must be disposed of in an environmentally correct manner. So you call your local trucker to get rid of the waste and have the ore taken to...........where? Nope, that garage lathe ain't gonna turn the trick.
Back to the yellow pages and you hire ‘Triple AAA Graphite' to make the lead that goes in your pencil. Your local trucker brings the graphite to, hmmm, oh yeah, your factory. This is getting to be a bigger deal than you originally thought. Now we have to put the lead in the pencil and, wouldn't you just know it, we don't have a press. So we go to the tool shop down the street, order a press and some spare platens to replace the ones that will undoubtedly wear out.
Okay, so we have a pencil with lead in it. Now, let's put an eraser on it. Off we trek again to find a tin mine. Same as the graphite. Find it, mine it, get rid of the waste, truck it to a mill to bring it down to a suitable thickness, take it from there to another mill that will form it into a proper circle, have some one paint the appropriate colour on it and bring it into your pencil factory. Another press is needed to put this item on to the blank. But we still need an eraser.
Find another forest, pick out the tree, tap it for its latex, distill the latex into rubber, find someone to make it into those cute little pink things, truck that to your factory, get another press to insert the rubber into the tin thing that sits atop the blank and there you have it. A 2H pencil. Pretty simple, eh?
The reason this stayed with me is because in this small example of building a relatively simple object, we can see just how many people are involved. All these people have jobs and the companies that employ them pay some menial wages while others pay good rates. No matter. They are all jobs that contribute to the economy and the general welfare of our society.
We are in the throes of globalization and we are watching jobs disappear every day. How sad is it that you will pay extra to make a flight reservation in the US rather than have it go through India? Corporate greed sees mergers of companies in order to reward shareholders while they toss employees out on the street with nary a thought. Ever wonder what a pair of Levi's cost to make in Mexico? About 5 bucks. Think about that when you shell out $40 - $50 dollars on your next pair. Wonder what a Chrysler 300 costs to make in China? A whole lot less than over here. And don't think for a minute they're not going be sold over here. Mercedes and Chrysler were a marriage of equals. In a pig's eye they were.
There is nothing wrong with helping third world countries raise their standards of living. But we don't have to hand it to them on a silver platter. People bitch about the supposed protectionist policies of the US, but I think it is time all of us took a harder look at it and started to apply more of it. You want to sell your goods here, great. Build a factory, hire some local help and start giving back to the economy. Stop the ridiculous taxes and duties you impose on North American goods that are shipped to your country. What's good for the goose is certainly sauce for the gander.
hey buddy? Ya got a #2 pencil I can borrow..?
Lmfao..
Fantastic post!
Too bad not many people would be able to analyze the problem in such a "unique" way...*winks*
Well done my friend, well done..
Take care,
Nick
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