I love how you explain the guild concept - and the images!
I have been trying to formulate the concept of the guild for years while caring for my autistic nephew, Adam, who passed away in 2014. I could not believe the burden of autism on the economy and thought that a guild-like approach resulting in a sustainable household could provide a solution to families like ours.
One gutsy dad did - he created a car wash thriving business, “Rising Tide” around his autistic son in which the whole family got involved and his son loves what he does! https://www.risingtidecarwash.com/learn-to-lead-program
A trillion sounds very low to me. Each family is completely strapped down with unanticipated challenges. What might have been a two-income family becomes a one-income family. There are exhaustive medical expenses, special needs to be met, opportunities that cannot be accepted, worries, stress, and . . . well, you have been through it so you know. I never heard the whole story about Adam, but I suspect most autism is iatrogenic and this means the medical system is putting children at risk . . . and passing the buck.
This said, the car wash enterprise is interesting, but it does not solve the issues of childhood and special needs. I would not exactly compare it to a guild either because typically a guild exists within a community. Traditionally, the apprentices lived with the master, again, very much like a monastic community except that the goal was vocational and therefore involves all the training required to function within a certain trade or craft or area of specialization.
If someone were, for instance, to buy a ranch or farm where the families with autistic children lived more or less as a community and some of the members focused on education and future productivity while others provided care and researched the treatments, this would be a modern form of a guild. It is different from an institution where one goes for treatment in that the members stay much longer and take on responsibilities associated with the community.
For example, there are spas where one can go for detoxification and cancer treatment facilities offering a variety of approaches to cure, but these are places where services and treatments are offered. They are not guilds because they are not training others long-term. I suppose we could see a sort of gray line where the staff at such a facility could be part of a guild that offers public services. In essence, this is somewhere between the car wash initiative and a truly traditional guild. It has some of the attributes of teaching hospital and some of the attributes of a community.
What is most important in my view is the expertise of the master because the merits of the guild depend entirely on the ability of a genuine expert to impart the understanding needed and to aid the development of skills of the apprentices and journeyman. Every area of specialization would have a different learning curve.
Ask how long it takes to learn to farm or to make herbal medicines or how long it takes to learn to play the piano? It varies with every individual and does depend to a greater or lesser degree on the teaching skills of the master.
Absolutely, the expertise of the master is the most important! I believe that this is the only way that the true knowledge can be passed through generations. I so much wish that my children could learn from a master in a guild-like setting! This type of education makes the most sense for me!
I love how you explain the guild concept - and the images!
I have been trying to formulate the concept of the guild for years while caring for my autistic nephew, Adam, who passed away in 2014. I could not believe the burden of autism on the economy and thought that a guild-like approach resulting in a sustainable household could provide a solution to families like ours.
Since Adam’s passing, the problem with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and its burden on the economy has exponentially increased. Today I saw an alarming article in the University of California journal titled “Autism's costs estimated to be $500 billion, potentially $1 trillion, by 2025” (https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/autisms-costs-estimated-be-500-billion-potentially-1-trillion-2025).
What do we do to solve the problem?
One gutsy dad did - he created a car wash thriving business, “Rising Tide” around his autistic son in which the whole family got involved and his son loves what he does! https://www.risingtidecarwash.com/learn-to-lead-program
The story was featured on CBS: National “Hiring people with autism: how one car wash turned it into a winning formula”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QixutorIyb8)
Today Rising Tide car wash has 43 employees, with 35 of them on the autism spectrum.
That is a guild-like approach! Very much looking forward to the 2024 announcements!
Lana,
A trillion sounds very low to me. Each family is completely strapped down with unanticipated challenges. What might have been a two-income family becomes a one-income family. There are exhaustive medical expenses, special needs to be met, opportunities that cannot be accepted, worries, stress, and . . . well, you have been through it so you know. I never heard the whole story about Adam, but I suspect most autism is iatrogenic and this means the medical system is putting children at risk . . . and passing the buck.
This said, the car wash enterprise is interesting, but it does not solve the issues of childhood and special needs. I would not exactly compare it to a guild either because typically a guild exists within a community. Traditionally, the apprentices lived with the master, again, very much like a monastic community except that the goal was vocational and therefore involves all the training required to function within a certain trade or craft or area of specialization.
If someone were, for instance, to buy a ranch or farm where the families with autistic children lived more or less as a community and some of the members focused on education and future productivity while others provided care and researched the treatments, this would be a modern form of a guild. It is different from an institution where one goes for treatment in that the members stay much longer and take on responsibilities associated with the community.
For example, there are spas where one can go for detoxification and cancer treatment facilities offering a variety of approaches to cure, but these are places where services and treatments are offered. They are not guilds because they are not training others long-term. I suppose we could see a sort of gray line where the staff at such a facility could be part of a guild that offers public services. In essence, this is somewhere between the car wash initiative and a truly traditional guild. It has some of the attributes of teaching hospital and some of the attributes of a community.
What is most important in my view is the expertise of the master because the merits of the guild depend entirely on the ability of a genuine expert to impart the understanding needed and to aid the development of skills of the apprentices and journeyman. Every area of specialization would have a different learning curve.
Ask how long it takes to learn to farm or to make herbal medicines or how long it takes to learn to play the piano? It varies with every individual and does depend to a greater or lesser degree on the teaching skills of the master.
Absolutely, the expertise of the master is the most important! I believe that this is the only way that the true knowledge can be passed through generations. I so much wish that my children could learn from a master in a guild-like setting! This type of education makes the most sense for me!
Author: Max Freedom Long, “Growing Into The Light,” “The Sacred Science Behind Miracles,” & “The Sacred Science at Work.” The ancient “Huna” system.