Hipsters – keeping the craft (and us?) alive

It’s all too easy to detest hipsters. They’ve got a tendency to come across as pretensions, anxious, condescending, and in many cases – downright assholes. But you’ve got to give it to them: they do keep traditional craft alive (at least as long as it doesn’t get picked up by normal people). While most of us are swapping the toolbox for a smartphone, this subculture is reawakening loads of forgotten trades we thought were lost to the western world. So if disaster strikes, and we’re left with a post-apocalyptic “The Road”-scenario, the hipsters will be the ones to turn to. Here are just a few examples:

Urban farming
First it was sour dough bread, then came the home-grown vegetables, now they are actually keeping chickens in theIr Brooklyn-backyard. I know what you are thinking: “dickheads!” But don’t be so quick to judge. If shit really hits the fan – and by now, this seems more likely than ever – you’ll be knocking on every hipster-door, begging for an organic egg or the left over scraps of last nights chicken-quesadilla.

Soapmaking
Hygiene isn’t just about looking fresh; it’s about actual survival. To prevent the spread of deices we need to keep our excrement in check, and stay decently clean. Throughout history, man has made his own soap by mixing animal fat and ashes – an art now largely forgotten. In the movie Fight Club überhipster/anarchist Tyler Durden makes and sells soap made from leftover human fat stolen from alleyway-dumpsters behind plastic surgery-clinics. This should now be seen as an instruction-video. Start stockpiling that soap, it will be worth its weight in gold…

Beekeeping
The bees are dying. The science community has been waving red flags all over the place for years; some claiming it could mean the end of the world as we know it. Of course, with a leader of the free world focusing on building walls, fighting the free press, threatening nuclear war and buying bronzer by the gallons, we may have more urgent things to worry about right now. Still, the thought of a bunch of Portland-hipsters designing labels for their homegrown honey made from urban beekeeping has an undeniable comforting quality to it.

Also check out T-post issue 130: Respect The Craft Of The Elder