We are fortunate to have so many different tools, even though some of us are fairly inept in applying them correctly. With so many different tools, we would laugh at one who insisted on using a hammer, regardless of the situation. We would, likewise, be amused at someone applying only a screwdriver when other tools would be more appropriate.

We might call the first guy a Hammerist and the second a Screwdriverist. That sounds funny, doesn’t it? Does it also sound familiar? Capitalist? Socialist? Communist? Realist??? Well, they may share a suffix, you say. But, is that all? No. They have much more in common, though it hardly seems that anyone realizes it.

The hammer, the screwdriver, the wrench, they are all physical tools. Capitalism, socialism, communism, they are all intellectual constructs - i.e., tools. They are intellectual tools. Though you would not hesitate to use the most appropriate physical tool, or even a combination of such tools to accomplish a repair job around the house, almost everyone relies on a single intellectual tool, regardless of the nature of the problem. Sorry for the run-on sentence.

Why is that? Why the difference? For some long-forgotten reason we decided that intellectual constructs were different. We decided that they needed to be put on a pedestal. They deserved a total commitment, even a willingness to sacrifice one’s life for the sake of a tool.

A part cannot be greater than the whole. Communism represented only a part of one of the Marx brothers. It could not be greater than just him. How could it be greater than entire societies? Surprise! It can’t. It’s really difficult to see how anyone could justify giving one’s life for a part of Grouch . . . , uh, Karl Marx.

That is a large part of the stupidity that surrounds our attitudes and behaviors concerning isms. It isn’t all, however. The other part plays, perhaps, an even more important role. We limit ourselves to a single tool; appropriate or not.

If I stand in one place and scan my surroundings, there are some things and aspects I will see. There are also some that will be hidden from my view, by a tree, a wall, even another person. Moving to another spot and viewing my surroundings from another perspective will show and hide different views. This different perspective may, alone or in concert with the original perspective, give me a better understanding of my place and predicament.

You do not have to become a Hammerist to use a hammer. Wow! That is enlightening. You don’t have to be a communist to use that perspective in understanding a problem. I remember a time, long ago and far away, when I was studying the alienation of labor.

You were studying what? Well, back in our grandfathers’ time, a cobbler would make a shoe, from start to finish. When he finished he could hold the shoe in his hand. It represented a part of him, a part of his skill, a part of his talent. He could relate to it. He felt a sense of accomplishment, a sense of satisfaction. With the coming of the industrial revolution, massive machines were introduced. The job of making a shoe was broken down into its constituent parts.

One man punched the holes for the laces. Another person added the grommets. A dozen men, probably more, were involved in making that shoe and operating the machinery. How could any one man hold that shoe in his hand and relate to it as a cobbler would? They couldn’t. That is one form of alienation of labor.

What effects developed out of this alienation? How do you react to and deal with those effects? You don’t know? Why? Well, in that long ago time, I could find no studies of the problem done in this country. It turns out that only communist theorists had studied the problem. If one wished to address the problem, it was necessary to use only one tool. The only tool may have been sufficient. It may not have been. Another tool may have been useful.

Looking at and analyzing economic situations shouldn’t be a political problem. It shouldn’t require one to swear allegiance to an intellectual construct. It shouldn’t require anyone to lay down their life for a tool.

At the beginning of this post you undoubtedly agreed with me that it was laughable to think of someone being a Hammerist or a Screwdriverist. We were right. It is laughable to describe a whole person as an ist.