I vas knoodlink through the last 2+ months of blog backlog (wow... I was THAT busy?), and stumbled across this
Intriguing Piece, by
Phillip Torrone.
The short argument: "It takes money, and manpower, and there is a lot of liability involved... but why not make Hacker Spaces a public asset?"
I agree with the sentiment, but I disagree with the means: We DO (in the State of CA, at least) have accessible public institutions that already cater to the safe, efficient training and supervision of would-be craftsman.
It's called Community College!
This would be the best forum to extend the facilitation of more advanced arts, such as laser cutting, 3D printing, and circuit hacking. Oh, yeah: there's still the old wood planer and lathe for the more 'classically-oriented.'
Certainly, Community Colleges are not above receiving more funding for the facilitation of the furthering Humanity... why not start an organization to lobby for their adoption of the Hacker Space paradigm?