The loss of the iconic carpenter of yesteryear is a fault of any number of things... least of which should be 'manufacturing'. How about a lack of traditional carpentry education? Lack of respect for people who work with their hands? Push in high schools to eliminate the arts and vocational programs and push to science and math...
Respect and a decent wage would go a long way to bringing young people to learn framing - be it with timber or sticks.
Amen to that.
One factor seems to drive a seemingly headlong approach to the "minimization" of traditional carpentry skills: as a society we value the modern, plain and simple. We seem to worship the new-and-improved in nearly everything. Keeping up w/ the Joneses in a post-war "modern era" became a fever of sorts we still have firmly ingrained.
Why do car companies need to release a new model each year? Why not every 5 years? Because the public likes to trade up and have "the latest." Any car company that doesn't will be seen as falling behind and loose market share.
John Q. Public thinks a house designed by the latest in CNC-equipped technology will have more value than a "traditionaly-built" home. He can tell / impress his neighbors that his contractor employed the latest CNC, computer numerically-controlled, German-built Hundegger cutting machinery. Customized to integrate with CADWORK® software, to cut timbers up to 50 feet and joinery details within tolerances of 1/32 inch in one operation, quickly and affordably, with the highest quality and with a minimum of handwork.
At one time history tells us that artisans were highly valued members of society. Timber framers and joiners among them. We no longer have a model that values "working w/ you hands." But as we have stated, in reality working w/ your hands involves plenty of mental acuity (framing a compound roof).
I mean do parents want their kids to be carpenters or programmers?
Hopefully the pendulum can swing back a bit.
