How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America

[midcan5]

Having worked now for over forty years I wonder what the children of today will do? When I grew up we had manufacturing, machinists, and other assorted craft work everywhere, today all is made in China, sold cheap in low wage Wal-Mart, and serviced by phone from India among other places. Americans buy foreign products and craft work, such as clothing weaving done by grandparents in Philadelphia is now done in some third world country. Companies like Nike sell here but build overseas. I've had a great life and cannot complain, but I hope we can make sure the global economy doesn't make us a third world nation. We can't just do war.

by Don Peck

"The Great Recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably just beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. It will leave an indelible imprint on many blue-collar men. It could cripple marriage as an institution in many communities. It may already be plunging many inner cities into a despair not seen for decades. Ultimately, it is likely to warp our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years to come."

How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America - The Atlantic (March 2010)

 

[Skull Pilot]

There is a scarcity of skilled tradesmen in this country.

The "everyone has to go to college" attitude has actually hurt not helped.

People have been discouraged from entering the trades. If you don't believe me, try to find a good electrician, plumber or carpenter.

Maybe we need more tradesmen rather than another generation of kids with a worthless liberal arts degree.

 

[Neubarth]

There is a scarcity of skilled tradesmen in this country.

The "everyone has to go to college" attitude has actually hurt not helped.

People have been discouraged from entering the trades. If you don't believe me, try to find a good electrician, plumber or carpenter.

Maybe we need more tradesmen rather than another generation of kids with a worthless liberal arts degree.

Actually unemployment among Carpenters, Plumbers and Electricians is well above 25 percent. We do not need more of them. We just need more jobs for them.

 

[Skull Pilot]

There is a scarcity of skilled tradesmen in this country.

The "everyone has to go to college" attitude has actually hurt not helped.

People have been discouraged from entering the trades. If you don't believe me, try to find a good electrician, plumber or carpenter.

Maybe we need more tradesmen rather than another generation of kids with a worthless liberal arts degree.

Actually unemployment among Carpenters, Plumbers and Electricians is well above 25 percent. We do not need more of them. We just need more jobs for them.

Regardless of the recession, we have a lack of skilled labor. Just because tradesmen are unemployed right now doesn't change the fact.

But yeah let's just have some kid with a worthless BA in Liberal Arts ring us up at Walmart

 

[Neubarth]

Retirement right now is a great idea, provided you have the money coming in and it is from a secure source. A mutual fund is not longer a secure source if it is in the stock market.

There will be a lot of college educated cashiers at the supermarket in the near future, all trying to work a little during retirement.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Recovery starts November 4, 2010 when Obama will have nothing to do with his time on Earth and may well decide to quit to run for head of the World.

 

[editec]

There is a scarcity of skilled tradesmen in this country.

Depends on what trades you're talking about.

The "everyone has to go to college" attitude has actually hurt not helped.

People have been discouraged from entering the trades. If you don't believe me, try to find a good electrician, plumber or carpenter.

They're a dime a dozen right now, sport.

Well... plumbers willing to do small jobs seem rather hard to find, but carpenters and electicians?

They're mostly hurtin' hereabouts.

Maybe we need more tradesmen rather than another generation of kids with a worthless liberal arts degree.

That may be true, but it really does not address the issue of the moment.

 

[TheSuaveOne]

People have been discouraged from entering the trades. If you don't believe me, try to find a good electrician, plumber or carpenter.

There are a bunch of them in the Detroit area, unfortunately they have been let go by the Big 3, so there isn't a whole bunch for them to do now.

-TSO

 

[Skull Pilot]

There is a scarcity of skilled tradesmen in this country.

Depends on what trades you're talking about.

The "everyone has to go to college" attitude has actually hurt not helped.

People have been discouraged from entering the trades. If you don't believe me, try to find a good electrician, plumber or carpenter.

They're a dime a dozen right now, sport.

Well... plumbers willing to do small jobs seem rather hard to find, but carpenters and electicians?

They're mostly hurtin' hereabouts.

Maybe we need more tradesmen rather than another generation of kids with a worthless liberal arts degree.

That may be true, but it really does not address the issue of the moment.

I said good carpenters etc. Not just any Schmo with a hammer.

The recovery is jobless because we do not produce anything of value anymore.

One of the reasons we don't is that everyone must go to college now. Bullshit.

We have a generation of kids who have no skills other than texting and video games and they all have some worthless BA in Psych or some other liberal arts crap that will do nothing to get them a job.

 

[Skull Pilot]

People have been discouraged from entering the trades. If you don't believe me, try to find a good electrician, plumber or carpenter.

There are a bunch of them in the Detroit area, unfortunately they have been let go by the Big 3, so there isn't a whole bunch for them to do now.

-TSO

working on an assembly line is not exactly a skilled trade

 

[TheSuaveOne]

People have been discouraged from entering the trades. If you don't believe me, try to find a good electrician, plumber or carpenter.

There are a bunch of them in the Detroit area, unfortunately they have been let go by the Big 3, so there isn't a whole bunch for them to do now.

-TSO

working on an assembly line is not exactly a skilled trade

I guess you've never thought how the assembly people have machines that work? Electricians, pipe fitters, die makers, tool makers, carpenters, all of whom have their journeymens card in their "trade".

-TSO

 

[Vanquish]

I agree with the poster who said that we pushed too many people into colleges and spat upon trade schools. As I was growing up (I'm 38) trade school was seen in our locality as a step down, but it's not.

A lot of people in this thread seem to be bitten by the bug of the "noble craftsman" which is kind of like the idea of the "noble poor". A job category isnt better or worse...nor is it the key to saving America just because "salt of the Earth" type people do it.

It's shocking to me that so many people who claim to understand economics don't realize that the manufacturing shift away from the United States was and is simply an equalization going on all over the planet.

The U.S. created laws that helped workers and raised standards, both environmental and for consumers, as well as workers. This raises costs at home. Meanwhile, there are other countries where workers aren't as protected, dont have as high a cost of living, and who don't work for countries with as strict rules as the U.S. I'm sure we wouldnt trade our laws for more money because they were the right thing to do...but you have to understand the effect.

We should have used our technological superiority to create new industries and more economic efficiencies in doing business at home. We're failing at that.

I will say this though...it's pretty DAMN CRAZY that we could be world leaders in Green Tech (whether you believe in it or not, neo-cons)...an industry the world wants and that we could be the market victors in...but republicans can't stand anything eco-friendly...so they decide to denigrate that opportunity.

 

[TheSuaveOne]

...but republicans can't stand anything eco-friendly...

Old flawed Democratic talking point.

-TSO