Matthew Crawford appeared on the Colbert Report (24-6-09) last week. His book, “Shop Class as Soulcraft” explores the difference between manual labor (mechanics, plumbers) and knowledge work (office jobs), and the growing disdain for the trades industry in today’s world. Matthew himself runs a motorcycle workshop and has a PhD in political philosophy.

What struck me in the interview was this line from Crawford – “We impoverish ourselves intellectually when we devalue manual competence”.

I think sparkies are smarter than my fellow white-collar workers think.

Interview here however I don’t think it’s viewable outside the US.

UPDATE: I’ve embedded the clip below: