I agree with your point, the trend to 'de-skill' a lot of trades is a real one. However, there's still plenty of old buildings around and, in the UK at least,

I agree with your point, the trend to 'de-skill' a lot of trades is a real one. However, there's still plenty of old buildings around and, in the UK at least, a real shortage of people with the necessary skills to maintain them. In the context of the tread, a middle-aged taxi driver, looking at a future of redundancy, only has to worry about the next 15 years or so, not how things are going to play-out in the distant future. Maybe?