In the field of macroeconomics there is a term called "creative destruction" which was invented by some guy in the 1940's. Joseph Schumpeter, IIRC. This guy wrote about the science of capitalism, and basically, creative-destruction is something new killing something old. Think of the handheld calculator killing-off the slide rule industry, or the electronic cash register doing-away with millions of forms of the old hand-written sales receipts. Think of the automobile doing away with the horse-drawn carriage.
Creative destruction not only means the death of something old, but also the beginnings of something new. Luckily for us, we know the old already and can always fall back on it like the NT guys already embrace. But for us, the real worry is the fact that our business relies almost entirely on discretionary income. Thousands of knifecollectors out there, and it only takes one knife to defend yourself with, or skin a deer, or clean a fish. SO along with this we come to the other truth that within this craft, this hobby, this world of knifemaking we all live and breathe there is fanaticism.
People will drive/walk/fly/crawl for miles and miles and miles to get what they want. I have seen my brother - who is seriously into baseball cards his entire life - drive to Vermont, NH, Maine, and back to Mass in one day just to collect cards and visit collector friends. Are we any different? How long have YOU driven to attend a show, or a hammer-in?
Perhaps that is why we will survive no matter what happens. So we go into hiding a while. Some of us go NT. Some of us find a new craft. It all works, and its all good... and all inevitable. Adapt and overcome. Make some extra utilitarian knives and salt them away. You can never tell when a world goes mad, and they will be as valuable as gold... again.
I think the best part about being a knifemaker for me is the friends. Most of us are friends, and dammit if not we are at least friendly and amicable toward each other. This is what we have. This is what we can rely on. As long as we stick together, nothing will harm our craft. :thumbup:
