Personal versus Commercial Production

Lyaiera

Is it economical for an individual or family to produce anything for themselves any more? Or is it all hobby/love based? A lot of people seem to be into making beer, but it's quite hard to do and you absolutely will have to supplement it with store bought beer. There's very little chance of making a permanent supply for yourself with the requisite taste, and if you do do it it takes a lot of your time, between brewing and waiting for it to brew. The same could be said of gardening. Sure you can get some fruit and veg, and you can probably fully stock yourself with herbs, but you'll still need some store bought. And what you do produce would take a lot of effort in the garden. If you look at sewing, I'm sure it's cost effective to repair your own clothes but actually making them from scratch is really expensive, fabric is really expensive. Has commercial production replaced all personal production in value terms?

Gone West

the world is heading straight for the lowest acceptable quality, the lowest common denominator.
Ever eat food in the USA? yeah.

Anything from Pennies, almost anything made in China has a cost that you don't necessarily have to bear.
That cost might be some 8 year old girl's childhood, but at least you can get 8 pairs of socks for a fiver, right?

The way I see it, anything that pushes back at this notion of the easiest & cheapest is a good idea.
Sure, making beer might take a long time, but at least your homebrew isn't maxxed out on chemicals.
There is a positive and a negative side to everything, and cottage industry can do levels of quality that you will not see in the bargain bin.

Turtyturd

All about perspective...I know a bloke who did some personal gardening....judge viewed it as commercial.

Lyaiera

Fuzzy wrote: »

the world is heading straight for the lowest acceptable quality, the lowest common denominator.
Ever eat food in the USA? yeah.

Anything from Pennies, almost anything made in China has a cost that you don't necessarily have to bear.
That cost might be some 8 year old girl's childhood, but at least you can get 8 pairs of socks for a fiver, right?

The way I see it, anything that pushes back at this notion of the easiest & cheapest is a good idea.
Sure, making beer might take a long time, but at least your homebrew isn't maxxed out on chemicals.
There is a positive and a negative side to everything, and cottage industry can do levels of quality that you will not see in the bargain bin.

I understand that. Which is where the value proposition comes into it. If you're talking purely financial value, including the opportunity cost of the time you spend producing the items it becomes very hard to not to go towards the cheapest option. And even now we're seeing the commercial producers making very good quality of products, whatever the moral cost.

I also think it's interesting to look at the domestic production at a commercial level. The "Buy Irish" element. Sure it's used to promote Irish jobs, but it's not a guarantee of ethical or quality produce, although that's what a lot of the advertising is directed towards (and with safety and traceability guarantees when it comes to meat.)

Tail Docker

I make all my own smart ar5e comments. I tried the bought ones and found them both expensive and often unsuitable so went back to making my own. It takes up a lot of space and consumes a great deal of alcohol and cigarettes but I feel the results are worthwhile. I'm possibly alone in that, but I don't care.

Gone West

Tail Docker wrote: »

I make all my own smart ar5e comments. I tried the bought ones and found them both expensive and often unsuitable so went back to making my own. It takes up a lot of space and consumes a great deal of alcohol and cigarettes but I feel the results are worthwhile. I'm possibly alone in that, but I don't care.

I'd say go back to the store-bought ones tbh.

bonzodog2

Lyaiera wrote: »

Is it economical for an individual or family to produce anything for themselves any more? Or is it all hobby/love based? A lot of people seem to be into making beer, but it's quite hard to do and you absolutely will have to supplement it with store bought beer. There's very little chance of making a permanent supply for yourself with the requisite taste, and if you do do it it takes a lot of your time, between brewing and waiting for it to brew. The same could be said of gardening. Sure you can get some fruit and veg, and you can probably fully stock yourself with herbs, but you'll still need some store bought. And what you do produce would take a lot of effort in the garden. If you look at sewing, I'm sure it's cost effective to repair your own clothes but actually making them from scratch is really expensive, fabric is really expensive. Has commercial production replaced all personal production in value terms?

You're doing it wrong. Get more buckets and bottles. And it's not hard.

Tail Docker

Fuzzy wrote: »

I'd say go back to the store-bought ones tbh.

Waay overpriced. I'm on a tight budget here. Recession and all that.

Lyaiera

bonzodog2 wrote: »

You're doing it wrong. Get more buckets and bottles. And it's not hard.

Not everyone has the space for more buckets and bottles. And making a really good beer can be quite hard.