In my country (USA) it was very common for people to build their own houses less than 80 years ago. Also, it was very common for people to fix everything on their own cars. I would argue that this has only changed because of extractive capitalism. The fact that you're saying these things as though they are ridiculous is indicative of a mindset shift that occurred some time in the not-so-distant past, and many of your assumptions do not have to be taken as a given.