Black Boxification and Money

 The economic system is based on some concepts that were developed during the 18th century--mainly the idea that people should only do the simplest possible "job" because it was more efficient than a cottage industry where people did a variety of tasks. That is, if someone grew and processed wheat into a loaf of bread it was less efficient than 10 individuals doing just one of all the separate (mindless) steps.

As a consequence, most people don't know how to do anything except their job. People are significantly dumber, I think than we were even just 200 years ago. Every capability was outsourced to the "system" and money from banks became the universal token for every exchange.

The world became a series of black boxes for most people. A small fraction of the population knows how their car works, for example, or knows how their house is wired, or how it's connected to the water system. The bulk of people just use a system to fulfill a need, whether it's slaking their thirst, or eating, and have zero understanding of how they got their needs filled. The system has even destroyed the family, and has stripped people of really basic soft skills too, like tending to elderly people, or dealing with death and harsh diseases.

There are, of course, exceptions to this way of life. There's a youtube channel about a Russian guy who is like the youtube era version of Dick Proenneke. There's actually many youtube channels of homesteaders and other people who bailed on the system to live a more complete human life, which actually means reverting to a tech-updated cottage industry economy that's closer to self-reliant. Those people need to be experts on many topics. Their inner world is much larger than the average corporate office drone.

Here's the Russian guy:

The dominant economic system in the western world turns people into a shadow mainly because there's a lack of engagement with the real world on its terms.