How its made

[Luddly Neddite]

Is anyone watching this program? If not, its what the title says. The program shows short vignettes of all sorts of unrelated items and shows a nutshell version of 'how its made'. What is so striking about this show is that some of the jobs are just too mind-numbingly, dead end, boring and repetitive and others are done cheaper by robots. What does that mean to the jobs numbers?

Jump to a visit we had with an orthopedic surgeon today (one of us is having surgery tomorrow). We've been going to this guy for quite a while. He did my total knee replacement and some other procedures. He's quite conservative politically but likes Jon Stewart and Bill Maher because neither are strictly liberal and happily skewers both sides.

Anyway, he teaches various procedures in countries around the world and was talking about how the medical and education systems differ from country to country and that the US is headed for a two tier system. We talked about how education is some countries is geared to the student, that not all people should go to a big university, that some should go to a trade school. Also talked about how some countries are way superior to the US in health care. That conversation led us to talking about other issues which brings me to the subject of this thread.

Why can't the US do what other countries do? Why are we so stuck in the past that we cannot or will not demand that the country move into the 21st century?

Medicine
Education
Infrastructure
Health care
Alternative energy
Equal rights
High speed trains
And other issues.

Why can other countries, with much smaller tax bases, do better for their citizenry than the US? Why are we stuck in the 18-19th century?

First, we spend way too much on our military but the deeper question is, are we so cemented into our partisan opinions that we are unwilling to vote for what is best for ourselves, our children and grandchildren and our country?

Thoughts?

 

[pismoe]

last paragraph , ----------- parents are supposed to 'DO' for their kids and themselves . Overwhelming military superiority is best for the USA and that costs money Luddley

 

[Derideo_Te]

The paradox is that in some areas this nation leads the world and in others it is stuck in the past.

And I suspect the reason for this is because We the People are still neophytes at self government in the historical sense. The EU nations have had many centuries of making mistakes and killing each other in pointless wars to have reached the equilibrium that they have today.

And before anyone starts screeching "socialist" bear in mind that the EU nations are democracies that place a higher value on civil rights than is happening right here in the USA.

Yes, they aren't all armed to the teeth carrying guns because they don't need them. They have effective police forces and thousands of cameras everywhere so that they can record crimes and then use technology to identify the criminals and catch them quickly.

They do provide a social safety net because it is cheaper than dealing with crime and paying for a prison industrial complex. They have Single Payer healthcare because it is cheaper than having millions of citizens going through bankruptcies.

They also don't waste trillions on weapons either. They put those funds to better use paying for education for their children.

And they protect their economies by imposing tariffs and import duties. Yes, it costs more to buy things but they are not obsessed with consumerism. Instead they put their money towards long vacations because they don't have to work 50 weeks out of the year just trying to make ends meet.

In summary it is called an adult approach to life. Knowing the value of what is important and what isn't.

America and Americans still have to learn those lessons and the sooner the better IMO.

 

[Sherry]

trending.ly 13 Hypnotizing GIFs That Show How Everyday Things Are Made

 

[Luddly Neddite]

The documentary, Money-Driven Medicine showed that after WWII, other countries invested in their own future. We invested in military and that's what we've been doing ever since.

Interestingly, that some are so set against real education serves to guarantee that we must hire our talent as well as our laborers from other countries. Just watched a news program that stated we now have more than 5 million jobs that are unfilled. Until we educate our own people for jobs for which they are suited, we will have to import workers.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

The paradox is that in some areas this nation leads the world and in others it is stuck in the past.

And I suspect the reason for this is because We the People are still neophytes at self government in the historical sense. The EU nations have had many centuries of making mistakes and killing each other in pointless wars to have reached the equilibrium that they have today.

And before anyone starts screeching "socialist" bear in mind that the EU nations are democracies that place a higher value on civil rights than is happening right here in the USA.

Yes, they aren't all armed to the teeth carrying guns because they don't need them. They have effective police forces and thousands of cameras everywhere so that they can record crimes and then use technology to identify the criminals and catch them quickly.

They do provide a social safety net because it is cheaper than dealing with crime and paying for a prison industrial complex. They have Single Payer healthcare because it is cheaper than having millions of citizens going through bankruptcies.

They also don't waste trillions on weapons either. They put those funds to better use paying for education for their children.

And they protect their economies by imposing tariffs and import duties. Yes, it costs more to buy things but they are not obsessed with consumerism. Instead they put their money towards long vacations because they don't have to work 50 weeks out of the year just trying to make ends meet.

In summary it is called an adult approach to life. Knowing the value of what is important and what isn't.

America and Americans still have to learn those lessons and the sooner the better IMO.

People who want to overspend on our military don't understand that other countries are using us to do their dirty work for them.

Even now, there are some who actually believe ISIS is the worst threat the US faces and that we should actually bomb them. What do they think that means?

What some don't seem to know is that we already pay taxes for things we do not get.

 

[Sunni Man]

Liberals, Democrats, and other socialists, main goal is to eventually turn America into another N. Korea.

Where everyone owns nothing.

And all of the citizens share equally the poverty and misery. .....

 

[Hossfly]

The documentary, Money-Driven Medicine showed that after WWII, other countries invested in their own future. We invested in military and that's what we've been doing ever since.

Interestingly, that some are so set against real education serves to guarantee that we must hire our talent as well as our laborers from other countries. Just watched a news program that stated we now have more than 5 million jobs that are unfilled. Until we educate our own people for jobs for which they are suited, we will have to import workers.

Import workers because in many countries they have apprenticeships. In Germany, for example, a kid goes to school to age 16, then does his apprenticeship by working half a day on the job training then going to school the other half day. They can do this till they graduate high school, then go on to college plus working at their trade half time. By the time they have their education complete, they are also job qualified. I have a niece in Germany who graduates college this October then will go into her full time job in Personnel Management in which she has trained for 6 years. That's how import workers are hired, already trained and educated.

 

[Mr. H.]

They should have an episode on the Keystone XL pipeline.

Oh wait...

 

[Derideo_Te]

Liberals, Democrats, and other socialists, main goal is to eventually turn America into another N. Korea.

Where everyone owns nothing.

And all of the citizens share equally the poverty and misery. .....

Ironic given that it is the failed tax cuts and "free" market dogma of the Republicans that are actually pushing this nation towards 3rd world poverty and misery for ordinary Americans.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

The documentary, Money-Driven Medicine showed that after WWII, other countries invested in their own future. We invested in military and that's what we've been doing ever since.

Interestingly, that some are so set against real education serves to guarantee that we must hire our talent as well as our laborers from other countries. Just watched a news program that stated we now have more than 5 million jobs that are unfilled. Until we educate our own people for jobs for which they are suited, we will have to import workers.

Import workers because in many countries they have apprenticeships. In Germany, for example, a kid goes to school to age 16, then does his apprenticeship by working half a day on the job training then going to school the other half day. They can do this till they graduate high school, then go on to college plus working at their trade half time. By the time they have their education complete, they are also job qualified. I have a niece in Germany who graduates college this October then will go into her full time job in Personnel Management in which she has trained for 6 years. That's how import workers are hired, already trained and educated.

Yeah. The US can't compete with European countries in almost any area.