I have known about John Ratzenberger's campaign to bring back blue collar jobs in this country for awhile, but I was always stymied by how it was that America was ever going to get back it's production base. I don't expect it to ever be what it was post World War II but we do need some sort of manufacturing base in this country. One free of union influence and corruption I might add.
I came across this article today so I immediately thought of Mr. Ratzenberger. I agree with his sentiment that often times a college education is way over rated and it definitely isn't for everyone and should not the yardstick by which we measure our fellow citizens.
Martin Daum, the head of Daimler Trucks North America, told the gathering that he felt he had better skilled workers at his plants in Mexico than in the United States, where some workers have to be taught proper math and writing skills.Anybody who occasions a visit to Instapundit (and who doesn't?) knows that for quite awhile he has been harping on an education bubble. That bubble exists only in the world of academia, not in the world for those who desire to use their hands for a living.
He said that America produces highly educated professionals, but knowledge can be lacking when it comes to hiring for vocational jobs. According to Daum, the better skill sets of Mexican workers makes it easier to ramp up production at his company’s factories in Mexico than those in the United States.
“We have to bring in educators,” he said.
4 comments:
Here's the problem. Kids today are taught they don't need to get their hands dirty. I mean how many out of the current generation do you think will go into a trade?
Could it be that the workers Daimler gets in Mexico are indeed the best and brightest? The crony capitalism / socialism / aristocratic melange Mexico suffers from could be making manufacturing the best job many can get. Or, perhaps, these are workers that lived in the US for a while, picked up some skills, and then moved home where the culture is familiar and the cost of living is lower. It would be fascinating to know more.
Oddly enough, not all people are equal in ability. That's why some are professional NFL quarterbacks, why some win Olympic medals while some others win Nobel prizes.
The President, and other like-minded cockeyed optomists tell us that everyone needs a college degree. Not too long from now, it may even bew a new "right" the left has discovered.
I remember, not too long ago, when there was a vocational school track, where those who couldn't wrap their minds around ancient Greek or differential equations, could wrap their hands around the controls of a lathe, and make neat things for the rest of us to use.
Nowadays, making neat things with your hands is considered so lower-class. After all, there are lots of people who will do those things for us.
Ancient Greece depended a lot on their slaves. I think the slave population in Athens outnumbered the citizens. Because of that dependence, they didn't last.
We're in a bit of the same situation - but it's compounded by "child labor laws", and a thousand other crushing regulations that keep kids from running sidewalk lemonade stands or going around the neighborhood mowing lawns.
There's a reason there's so much emphasis on college. It used to be that a high-school graduate was ready for the workplace, and college graduates went on to do research and run businesses. Because the education system has turned high school into a joke, a college degree now means what a high school degree did a few decades ago.
Mike Rowe, Philospoher:
http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_rowe_celebrates_dirty_jobs.html
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