I think the main thesis is that we are being conditioned to consume, and if we happen to produce anything, it's supposed to be as an employee for a big corporat

I think the main thesis is that we are being conditioned to consume, and if we happen to produce anything, it's supposed to be as an employee for a big corporation. Clearly the HN audience is not his audience b/c most people here are definitely producers. The problem is that, as a consumer, and only a highly specialized producer who is dependent on so many up-stream and down-stream players, you lose a lot of freedom, and you risk becoming a pawn for the people who... control the means of production. Aw crap! We've gotten all Marx now, but Marx wasn't the one who ground up and discarded so much Russian humanity, that was Lenin and Stalin. Marx might have made some good points. I think the whole proposition requires a delicate balance b/w taking advantage of the division of labor, but not letting it take advantage of you, or if you have a bleeding heart, trying to not let it take advantage of others too. A good start is to just be handy around the home: Know how to cook, repair your car, do plumbing.