Reconsidering Manual Labor

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

JrzWrld — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:34:12 GMT

I have a successful academic career (private school, Ivy League college) behind me and a challenging white-collar job. My younger cousin is an electrician with a high-school degree and easily out-earns me. He works hard and has wonderful business ethics and has cultivated the respect of his colleagues and customers. And his business has THRIVED throughout this recession. I love my life and the path I took, but my parents weren't necessarily doing me any favors when they started me down it. Touting college as a goal for everyone is just silly. I know plenty of people who do just fine without it. Sure, I've worked with big earners in the finance field, but those folks had no lives, tended to be miserable, and filled the void by spending their giant paychecks. My cousin has time for family and friends and truly loves his work. Funny enough, he was very unhappy growing up, but now he is probably one of the most joyful people I know. Education is important and valuable, but education with the sole goal of a secure and lucrative white-collar job is just misguided.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

jay_worley — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:40:01 GMT

The gist of this article is spot on, but it does not go far enough to outline what's causing America's employment problems. First and foremost, America needs a fence along the U.S. - Mexican border that ensures illegal immigration is virtually eliminated. Second, America needs to revise its immigration policy and hiring policies to allow for the needed immigration while imposing significant penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants. Finally, America needs to recognize that outsourcing can't be stopped, but tax policies could be implemented to slow down or even reverse some types of outsourcing. Along with this author's points about manual labor, the American economy could take a slightly more protectionists stance, while ensure free market policies remain in place. Ultimately, illegal immigrants are passing along job loses, rising healthcare costs, and increased crime rates. Moreover, without these illegals running around at will, employers would be forced to pay more for these manual labor / blue-collar skilled jobs, which in turn would significantly lower out unemployment rate. As a final note, America has to come to grip with the fact that globalization creates winners and losers. Over the past 30 years, the American middle class has been the big loser, which needs to change. And a big part of getting there is recognizing that immigration policy and the mindset of some American workers needs to change. As a final bonus, American education needs to stop pushing for so many students to go to college. Rather, our educational system should promote the fact that blue-collar skills and jobs can be just as rewarding, both financially and personally, as suggested by this author. The end result would be a more flexible educational system that strives to meet the real economic needs of our country,

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

alfacanguro — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:42:53 GMT

For a large minority of young people, a college liberal arts degree is 4 years wasted preparing for a floor sales job at the local electronics store. They and society would be far better served if we put the focus back on trade schools that teach important and practical skills in such fields as plumbing, electrical, and mechanical. We should look to the European system of apprenticeships for those who are not or should not be college-bound.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

techresmgt — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:45:16 GMT

What real use does the media serve today? They sit there, in their ivory towers, pontificating about what is 'best for us' as a Nation and a people. Maybe the media should climb off their soap box and report accurate news and give up on the arrogant sermons. We don't need sermons, we don't want sermons, and who is the media to claim superior wisdom in the workforce, economy, or anything for that matter? If the media suggests everyone go back to a 'manual labor' mentality; go for it, baby. Get off your duffs and start earing your wage.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

Robin Steele — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:48:42 GMT

As a specialist cabinetmaker in the trade for 30 years now, I have often looked at the white collar world, and wondered just exactly what is it that so many of them do really. I think that the last couple of years have shed light on this question, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. The work that I do has an audience limited to those who can afford it, and I have observed in the last 15 years or so a growing divide between what I do, and the inexpensive, ready made imported goods shipped from overseas, both in cost and quality. My work represents a dying culture, one of individuality and craftsmanship, which is becoming lost as our government parcels out the spoils of our once proud nation between themselves and their friends.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

sandman123 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:58:44 GMT

I know This. As a construction superintendent I have seen the age of our construction workers increase and the lack of younger people to enter. The work is hard the hours long and the weather is tough.But the person who puts on the hard hat is very special. I see the same kind of hard hat workers from coast to coast the true every day soul. They feed there family, serve the community,and serve God. These peoply know what the value of the dollar is. The sweat of there labor. They know the value of there service. The smile of there neighbor. And when disaster comes our way they put our world back togather. But this is only one part of the hard working man and it takes all parts to make a nation.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

pinget — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:10:57 GMT

How ridiculous. Of course we need skilled tradesmen and craftsmen. We need plumbers and electricians and refrigeration techs and a zillion other skilled workers to maintain all the modern conveniences we are used to.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

Divashels — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:18:50 GMT

These so called white collar morons they look down on the rest of us who make them rich ?

Let me get this right we make, repair ,and ship all products as well as build mcmansions and other useless junk these people buy and they they can't deal with us ? I will remember that next time you need your crap done for you cause you are too weak and stupid to do it yourself. And your kids are just as useless as you are and you need bailouts ? morons everyone one who wears a suit is just uselesss

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

Jim1348 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:45:33 GMT

It is remarkable that people need to be told these things. The "elite", whoever they are, have bigger problems than just outsourcing.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

Ahlquist — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:50:21 GMT

My two sons, both in their 30s, decided that they preferred to work with their hands rather than be cooped up in an office. The older is in the heating and air conditioning business and the younger has a very busy lawn care business during the Summer and is a carpenter in the Winter. Both are very happy with their choices.

Myself, I went to college and got a degree in Electrical Engineering. That profession has been very good to me. I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing the equipment that I've designed and oversaw the building of doing its job.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

wildechild66 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:54:01 GMT

I am a college student, currently studying Arabic and Political Science, but I do agree about the satisfaction of manual labor. The results are more tangible and success less objective: does the car run, or doesn't it? It is certainly less objective than the B+/A- debate you can get into with professors.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

Still Free in the USA — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:54:58 GMT

So glad Dad taught my sisters and I to change our oil, fix a flat, shoot a bow, gut a deer, and weed a garden. Mom said "if you have to clean the oven, do it in capris, a *** Tee and for God's sakes wear lipstick". May they rest in peace

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

Hal Barker — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:08:47 GMT

After graduating from North Carolina State University in 1973, I became a carperter. It was a choice I have yet to regret. I worked long days in sweltering heat, worked eight winters outside in Colorado building restaurants and homes, built sets for Reba and Jerry Jones and Chuck Norris, and dug ditches when necessary. We have a saying in construction, "It all pays the same."

From my income as a carpenter and taking days off, I was able to found the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, lobby Congress, then go back to being a carpenter while the Memorial was being buit. In 1989, I put down my tool belt and went to Korea as a guest of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Korean and went up to Heartbreak Ridge in the DMZ. A week later I was back as a carpenter.

Manual labor is honest, healthy, and grounds a person in the real world of working people. It is dangerous work but the rewards are greater than the sum...

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

Dansterpower — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:14:52 GMT

Amen. I spent the past 26 yeas getting degrees, at times in a cubicle, and working for myself in front of computer screens.

I grew up working hard in our family restaurant.

Even in my mid-forties, I'm now working hard manually every day rebuilding my body, feet and hands to handle a hard day's work. It feels great. The kind of strength needed goes far beyond 'gym strength.'

For the young, just entering college, and for those nearing middle age, manual labor jobs will always be in demand over the next ten years -- perhaps the cubicle won't.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

airjackie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:23:14 GMT

Things are changing so fast for the better and the words of the Constitution are becoming to light. The KKK has to work fast to stop it. Now this manual labor is to bring back Slavery as those were the people who built the US to we rich. Yes let's put minorities back in their place and take their rights away. At lease the Republican Law Makers wouldn't have to pay for sex and child molester will be free to attack minority children without being charged with crimes. Yes we must act quickly as we could follow Republican Leader Rush Limbaugh who will become President of the United States. Americans don't want peace or equality but we want the Bush Policy of Hate/Racism back along with bringing back our Evil Pass. Katie Baker you make the KKK proud and keep up the pressure and great work to help the South raise again as soon as possible.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

2gofer — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:23:01 GMT

I believe it was Washington Irving who judged that Thomas Jefferson "had ventured forth into the fields of several sciences to the extent that he had become virtually good for nothing". The criticism was unjustified, but our academic institutions do have a propensity to produce graduates fitting the description. That is probably the result of a natural tendency to train people to be like themselves. Thus, as a higher percentage of the people have obtained advanced degrees the nation has become less practical and more vulnerable to foreign competition. Therefore, Katie is correct in that we need to be teaching our children practical as well as academic skills and dispel the notion that manual labor is subordinant to non manual. This is something that parents must do rather than academic institutions or governments.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

McLovinB — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:34:05 GMT

Of course the article is correct, but it ignores something that stares me in the face.

The satisfaction that is lacking in most work that this system provides is something that Karl Marx warned people about a century and a half ago. Alienation of workers from what they produce is part and parcel of capitalist systems that require specialization, automation, and assembly lines to produce for profit.

You can see the result. Empty jobs. Exploitation. Worker vandalism. Theft. White collar crime. People clamoring for jobs to achieve social standing rather than seeking them from a desire to use a skill. When you take away job satisfaction, employment just turns into a money grab and EVERYONE starts working for the weekend.

To anyone who has studied Marx even a little, the shape of today's working world presents no surprise at all. The problems and, in some cases, the solutions, are as clear as glass.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

reddog1958 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:49:03 GMT

I have been in the construction trades for almost 30 years now. I have made a good living and like what I do. I agree with the previous persons comment regarding the age of construction workers getting older. I have three sons and none of them are interested in the construction trades. We are required to continue are education every year, to maintain our licenses and certifications. Yes, it can be a demanding job, cold in the winter and nasty hot in the summer. I have opportunity to work on some pretty cool projects, stadiums, arenas, power plants. So, this kind of work has been good for me and I am sure many many others.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

TooBemused — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:50:20 GMT

2gofer, I do agree that parents need to step in and examine their role of encouraging kids to seek manual labor versus cubicle. However, I disagree that it is not also the role of academic institutions as well. School is many times the earliest place a child learns about a career and the work force. Schools encourage students to go on to college and many actually discourage students from taking a break before entering college.

I felt kids should take a break after high school, go out into the real world and work at a manual labor job then decide if college is the right venture. So many people have wasted 4 - 6 years of college (not to mention the cost) only to find out that after a year of working in their graduate field they do not like what they are doing. But the kids are made to feel inferior if they do not go to college and take a desk job versus working manual labor jobs. School counselors make this point abuntantly clear in who they help and who they don't. School counselors seem to be right in the face of kids going to college.Those that are not? Well it is very likely the counselor wouldn't even know the students name. It was like that when I went to school, it was like that when my kids went.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

hootie1fan — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:16:40 GMT

I have nothing against manual labor. Unfortunately, most of the postions thatmost of us would qualify for just aren't cost-effective. it's sad, but the reality in our economy is that those who do usually get paid wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy less.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

memnir — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:19:15 GMT

High Tech companies offer what are called internships to students giving them a chance to experience the work environment for that industry. Why not let high school students get involved in summer internships for construction, plumbing, automibile repair, etc. so that they can get an idea if that field is right for them. Then they can go on to higher education at credited trade schools that offer work in their respective fields to enhance their skills. We might end up with a more highly skilled work force that can be just as proud of their jobs as their white collar counterparts.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

blacksmithn — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:57:43 GMT

I know of no surer way to consign someone to underclass status than to induce him/her into a lifetime of manual labor.

Yes, manual labor has it's place, and even works out for some few who can afford to open their own motorcycle repair shops (for example). But most folks who earn their living that way would rather that their children find some other, less backbreaking, way to earn their daily bread. I think there's a reason for that.

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

ironstone — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:25:07 GMT

I spent 20 years as a jr/sr high school shop teacher and was finally cut as the school system decided everyone should go to college (hi-tech is where it's at; money and jobs). Now we're finding those hi-tech jobs aren't there anymore (where did they go? overseas?). Furthermore, many of those who found themselves in high-paying hi-tech jobs, if they still have one, are not finding much self-fullfillment. What do they do to find satisfaction, they go home on the weekends and work in their garage (motorcycles, cars, etc); maybe doing woodworking..and if they really want a sense of self-reliance, they are building their own homes. There is nothing better one can do in an economic downturn than to be self-reliant....and that means working with your hands AND mind...there is nothing more honest that a day's labor .............

re: Reconsidering Manual Labor

MichaelX — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:05:44 GMT

Most laborers are, in fact, skilled at what they do. You want a foundation laid, and all the plumbing installed, framing and drywall, painting, all require some expertise.

Being an illegal, or migrant doesnt detract from experience. Some can command more money than others, but the learning curve is going up fast. I would rather hire five mexicans than one "engineer" fresh out of school to build a wall for me. It will get done without all the posturing.