If you've got 20 minutes or so, I HIGHLY recommend you watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-udsIV4Hmc
For those who don't know the name, Mike Rowe is the guy who hosts Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. That's the show where he works alongside various people, doing some unquestionably difficult and, in some cases, awful jobs all over America. I love his show when I get to watch it. He is clearly in over his head on about 50% of the jobs he does, but he gives it his all, keeps his excellent sense of humor about him, and in so doing gives great respect to those men and women who actually do these jobs for a living.
Mike turns an anecdote about goat castration - be forewarned, you might have to survive a few minutes of mental discomfort to hear the broader message - into an awesome message on the value of the American blue collar worker, and their steady decline in our society.
The moral of the story is this - there is a great deal to be admired and lauded regarding manual labor as a profession. These people are the backbone of our country, and literally work to keep that backbone intact. Not every child can - or should - go to college. Trade schools offer excellent jobs, professions, and lives for those who follow that path. I cannot understand the logic behind pushing these professions into a "lesser" category. Mike is right when he states that people who do this kind of work, or "real" jobs, if you will, are happier with their lives. Speaking as a desk drone/engineer, and speaking as a friend of some wonderful people who do real work for a living, I have no doubt that they live healthy, fulfilling lives, probably moreso than me.
If I have a point, I guess that it is this. We need to break the mindset that every child needs to be prepped for college, and that college is the only way to "success". We need to de-stigmatize blue collar work, and promote its virtues, necessities, and value to our country and our future. The revitalization of our trades is about to become a big deal. I'm going from hearsay, but my understanding is that our workforces of plumbers, electricians, welders, carpenters, and other skilled laborers are steadily aging as a profession, with the veterans getting up in years and fewer and fewer apprentices coming up behind them. We're getting close to a point (maybe 10-20 years) where these guys will be retiring in large numbers, with inadequate numbers to take their places. Things are going to get rough if this trend doesn't get reversed soon.
I don't know of a broader solution to this, but we need to start pushing back against the forces that are subhumanizing the value of manual work. These people are the true lifeblood of America, and we're sucking ourselves dry in the name of "progress."
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unfortunately i find that the reason that there is less young people going into blue collar jobs is mainly because they dont pay well. i myself for whoever reads this am in construction. i install window frames and glass, and to tell you the truth, it doesnt pay well. there is no way that i can support a family on what i make. and until there is more emphasis on better pay for the skilled trade industry, it will go away, and will hurt america.
ReplyDeletewe have arrived at the point where we want things as cheap as possible at the cost of paying those who do the job-for a lack of better words..beans. and i am one of those. i posses the equivalency of a bachelors degree in glass andmake a third what you would make coming out of college. so if we want to progress, and make sure that the infrastructure doesnt go away, we need to be ok with spending the extra buck, instead of going the cheapest route. of course this only works in a "perfect" society. meaning the businesses would actually pay the workers their just pay.
but yes i agree, something must be changed!