Tuesday, September 7, 2010

We Need More Skilled Workers

We Need More Skilled Workers

"Equally important, we will promote the concept that essential skilled work is noble, is useful and creates the independent mindset and self-confidence in the individual that has resonated throughout our nation’s history — and can rebuild America with a solid foundation once again."

Take it from a retired college teacher--not everyone should go to college. This notion that each and every kid who goes to school should focus on college is BALONEY. We need MORE SKILLED WORKERS. We need people who know how to build things, fix things, and people who have ideas on how to design things. Those people are crucial. We've become a nation of whiners--too lazy to take jobs that some people think are beneath them. BUNK. I worked in a big box store selling tools and met a lot of different people--some contractors who were amazing folks who knew how to take the rawest material and build wonderful things and some who either knew how to fix stuff or could figure it out. I met just regular people who came in and had no clue how to use a tool or what was the right tool to select for a project. They knew they either took pride in doing something themselves or they just didn't have the money to hire someone to do the job--so they needed stuff to do the job right. Thankfully I am the child of self-made parents--who taught themselves how to do just about everything and worked hard. My dad in particular taught me how to do stuff--I remember him changing an engine in our garage. I learned at an early age that changing the oil in your car wasn't hard and it was a pretty cheap thing to do. My spouse is the product of working class folks too--and today we're both doing pretty well--because we scrimped and saved and knew that if we did stuff "on the cheap" we'd do ok.

More skilled workers--don't ship your kid to college if they're not suited for it. Send them to technical school--teach them how to DO STUFF, not just whine about their lack of talent. Workers have made our country great. We can do it again!