specialists

“Akin to the idea that time is money is the concept, less spoken by as commonly assumed, that we may be adequately represented by money. The giving of money has thus become our characteristic virtue. But to give is not to do. The money is given in lieu of action, thought, care, time. And it is no remedy for the fragmentation of character and consciousness that is the consequence of specialization.....  Most important, even if we could give enough to overbalance the official and corporate misuse of our money, we would still not solve the problem: the willingness to be represented by money involves a submission to the modern divisions of character and community. The remedy safeguards the disease.”
― Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture

I've been reading this book by Wendell Berry, sometimes he can get kinda wordy, but the section where he starts talking about specialists really caught my attention.

Sometimes I am self-conscience because I feel I try to do too many different things. Perhaps I'm not specialist enough. I think maybe if I tried to focus on one thing it would be truly good.

Berry reminds me that "the problem with the specialists system is that it produces specialists". I quickly realized we have plenty of specialists.

I can't imagine doing only one thing. Or go to a job where at the end of the day I'm trying to accomplish only one goal i.e.-sales, production, ? clients, customers.... you get the point?

Our entire education system has subscribed to the specialist system and I believe it is brainwashing our students into thinking that when they grow up, in order to be successful, need to become some sort of specialist.

Berry goes onto say that a specialists can't even entertain themselves, they have to hire (at a hefty price) a specialist for that!

This is a new painting influenced by the book.