Politics: labor labor everywhere and hardly a job to work
If I were gay, and Bush wasn't elected, and I could move to a state not full of bigots, I think I'd ask Matt Yglesias to marry me:
But in Ohio, West Virginia, and elsewhere that stuff's a huge deal and all Bush said to people who are hurting is that they should go back to school. It's pretty insulting for a president (especially this president) to suggest that the reason folks are struggling is that they're too dumb.
I understand that neocons (and everybody else who's rich, including Kerry, or an econ major, even the 'liberal' ones) think that America's economy shouldn't be manual labor/manufacturing/etc. America's economy should be in all the smart people jobs.
And that would be a great thing, if say, we had a few generations to transition into that naturally.
I realize that ANY econ major will rightfully take issue with me for this, but what the hell are people supposed to be doing in the meantime? Going back to school? Most people can't lose a 40K job and then pay to go to school and keep their family in one piece. Jack Daniels is a lot cheaper. Are these people supposed to send their own kids to college, go back to college themselves, and still have money to eat while they're not working? Sure, student loans are there, but is new debt what this country needs for its population of 40-somethings? We keep talking about the rising costs of health care, but expect people to be able to lose their job, and support their families by going back to school? Well, as long as their children don't starve in the meantime.
I talk to lots of kids about this, even lots of Dems, who just find my views entirely outdated. Of course, their parents are doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Their parents aren't going to have to go back to school. Is my 45 year old father, a well-paid machinist at an oil-refinery whose health has already been trashed by working in the sorts of condtions that most white collar workers wouldn't even believe existed, if his job was sent to the Tijuana refinery, just supposed to head back to college? And in the meantime, lose four years of income?
The economic transition away from the sorts of jobs our grandparents worked is inevitable, I know that. But I just wish politicians would quit acting like you can just leave a well-paying job, go back to college, and not have daily thoughts of killing yourself for the insurance money ala Willie Loman. And that's only if you can afford the life insurance.
1 comment:
economist, and everyone who thinks America's economy shouldn't be manual labor/manufacturing/etc. is going to be seriously dissapointed, no way will our country be able to get away from that form of basic labor and manufacturing. No country can run purely on service labor, and as the balance tips in one direction, wages will increase (perhaps, wages or outsourcing of jobs) the other thus luring people back. Also immigrate waves are going to always produce enough people to fill those spots, because they pay better, and are bette than many of the work places they are able find at home.
Also the idea that the University is the end all eat all of education, and that we all should go is pure bull. Most of the countries in Europe have only minority percentages of people going to the University, most go to a trade school after finishing their primary education. Let me tell you, those trade schools are something else. They learn to be craftsman, professionals in their trade, and journeymen in various others.
What need does someone heading into the workforce need a University level education? Increase the difficulty and expectations in High School, campaign to create true professional trade schools, and you will decrease the number of people going to the University for a horribly inadiquate education. Look at mine, my english is even worse than ever = ).
kevin
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