It is not so much about specialization as the 'throw-away' culture. I emigrated to the United States from Russia more than a decade ago and was amazed how quick

It is not so much about specialization as the 'throw-away' culture. I emigrated to the United States from Russia more than a decade ago and was amazed how quickly people went to throw away or completely replace things here that broke down even if there was a simple fix. Specialization is good, however, fixing things yourself is a matter of economics and sometimes a matter of pride. I do fix my own plumbing if it is an easy enough job, I can often save some money and may end up doing a better job by using higher quality materials. I still have the first car I bought, which is a Jeep with 250k miles on it and is in good shape (not my daily driver though). I have had glass shops cut me custom glass panes before to fix a windows. Judging by the growing popularity of the DIY movement in the USA (see make magazine, techshop, popularity of home made 3D printers) I would argue that fixing things yourself is on the rise.