David McWilliams talks about fixing a bike and finding freedom. His article talks about the freedom of manual labour, of doing something physical rather than intangible, getting your hands dirty, doing and something that has an immediate value. Despite the satisfaction of being able to fix something yourself or make a living from manual labour, our society he says continues to fancy the white collar above the blue collar.
We see a large number of people fixing things these days, getting their hands dirty, doing ‘manual’ labour they might once have outsourced or simply avoided by replacing with the new. There’s something at play here. If money was the only reason to fix something, it doesn’t explain why David McWilliams would be doing it! It’s deeper than that, there is a desire in people for authentic living, for real and simple experiences. That’s why David fixed the bike.
