The Future of “Meaningful Work” (Pt. 2) — Everyone Makes Stuff

(bonus cartoons at the end)

I’ve always felt that the Long Tail concept was a great way to summarily describe the state of various trends of the new digital age, to the retailing strategies of the world’s largest e-commerce players, to the distribution and popularizing of content by OTT media companies, to techniques used in search engine, viral and display ads marketing.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the concept, let me attempt to summarize it in a business lens (using the argument of Chris Anderson, Wired’s editor who popularized the term):

There are only a significantly few “big hit” products that are extremely popular, and the collective volume of niche products could effectively create a larger market share than their much more popular substitutes.

I hope that made sense.

I had a distinct fascination with the concept that I imagined it being applied into a possible future scenario in where most people will become producers rather than consumers.

In a Producerist* economy most people will make more of the stuff that they consume, or will be buying more stuff that’s produced by individuals, instead of from corporations or medium-sized businesses.

In this kind of economy, large global corporations will still exist and will still produce the world’s most popular consumer goods. The many “mid-tier” companies, due to inefficiencies or increased competition will either close down, or be acquired by their larger competitors, hence will decrease in number. And who will be left at an even longer tail end will be local artisans with small businesses and individuals who have the passion and skill to produce products they love and can sell at a profit.

You can call it the “neo-consumerist” or “post-consumerist” future (Sorry, I’m not good with labels). But I don’t think it’s an entirely implausible scenario, especially given the recent rise in artisanship and DIY culture. More and more people are brewing their own beers, cooking their own gourmet meals, up-cycling their clothes, growing their own produce, and…hell…are already making and consuming free content for each other through social media.

In a Producerist* economy most people will make more of the stuff that they consume, or will be buying more stuff that’s produced by individuals, instead of from corporations or medium-sized businesses.

But I think a few essential things need to happen:

• Production of physical goods will be further democratized through the combination of developments in effective DIY production technologies, such as 3D printers, and increased, cost-effective access to raw materials.
• Online marketplaces for selling and marketing are well-established. This is already happening through the world’s largest “Super Apps” like Amazon and Grab, and digital marketing platforms like Google and Facebook has already been very accessible to individuals for the past decade.
• There has to be an explosion of a “producerist mindset” (a culture of artisanship and entrepreneurship) amongst a large amount of individuals, enough to create many local ecosystems of trade. (ex. in a typical neighborhood, there’s a lot of people there selling each other stuff)

In this producerist economy, there will be a massive influx of empowered micro-entrepreneurs creating stuff in their own homes, which in turn could even change the landscape of employment. Imagine a world where many of us are skilled craftspeople, making things that we love, well-enough for it to be sellable to other individuals that we can make a modest living out of our own passions.

Now THAT’S really meaningful work.

Although I have an even more important question to ask: Can most people step out of their consumerist mindsets and actually be fulfilled by turning into producers?

Skills and talent can be learned. I’m not so sure about attitudes and values.

Now excuse me while I sell a homemade pie to my neighbor.

*I’m using the term “producerist” or “producerism” for the lack of a better term. Apparently it has populist connotations, which…um…I don’t like. But oh well.

Can consumer 3D printers in the future NOT take half a day to print a tiny vase? Is that too much to ask?

I wonder if I can up-cycle my old clothes from a time not-so-long-ago when I fit into medium sizes and sell them to my skinnier male friends

god-forbid the bee population stays sustainable…stupid climate change

I kind of feel bad drawing a stereotypical Rastafarian as a weed grower. Most people I know who grow their own marijuana legally have short, very neat hair.

I highly doubt though that Civets make good (or even legal) pets. At least they serve more practical value than domesticated cats.

(In Part 1, I talk about how meaningful work should be solving important, societal problems)