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SamIam · 01-27-2012, 08:01 AM

Several thoughts. When times are bad enough, Americans will do the equivalent of staying overnight at the company. Look at my coworker, terrified of losing her crummy job, staying overnight at the motel for weeks on end so the owner won't fire her. She is not alone.

As far as Americans preferring to sell I-phones than make them, I feel that is a reflection of the lack of manufacturing jobs rather than a matter of worker preference. Look at Detroit. They have no shortage of workers when the production lines get rolling again. I strongly suspect that given a higher rate of pay to manufacture I-phones, people would enthusiastically work at making them rather than selling them for a lower wage.

Most of these Detroit auto workers (and other production line workers) don't have college degrees, so what people choose to major in at university is not the main problem. As I have stated repeatedly here, the problem is the quality of K - 12 education available to our children. We give kids who are functional illiterates and don't even know the multiplication tables, a high school diploma despite these deficiencies. These kids get placed in "special classes" where they are baby sat, not taught. Thus, the pool of qualified American workers has dwindled.

But that's far from the only reason we have lost much of our manufacturing capacity. I used to live in Colorado Springs which was once dubbed "silicon mountain." HP, United Technologies, Intel and the other big chip manufacturers once had a very strong presence in that town. I knew several people who worked on their production lines. They may not have loved the repetitious nature of the work, but they did like the wages which allowed them to live a comfortable middle class life. Then out-sourcing began. I remember one friend in particular who had worked at HP and ended up working for a call center at half his old pay. He did not end up there because he was too lazy to work at HP. HP and the others abandoned him just as the rest of the electronics industry abandoned their American workers all over the country.

Everybody wants to blame the American worker. I must admit that I agree with tw - I blame the CEO's.

01-27-2012, 08:01 AM	#9
SamIam Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Not here Posts: 2,655	Several thoughts. When times are bad enough, Americans will do the equivalent of staying overnight at the company. Look at my coworker, terrified of losing her crummy job, staying overnight at the motel for weeks on end so the owner won't fire her. She is not alone. As far as Americans preferring to sell I-phones than make them, I feel that is a reflection of the lack of manufacturing jobs rather than a matter of worker preference. Look at Detroit. They have no shortage of workers when the production lines get rolling again. I strongly suspect that given a higher rate of pay to manufacture I-phones, people would enthusiastically work at making them rather than selling them for a lower wage. Most of these Detroit auto workers (and other production line workers) don't have college degrees, so what people choose to major in at university is not the main problem. As I have stated repeatedly here, the problem is the quality of K - 12 education available to our children. We give kids who are functional illiterates and don't even know the multiplication tables, a high school diploma despite these deficiencies. These kids get placed in "special classes" where they are baby sat, not taught. Thus, the pool of qualified American workers has dwindled. But that's far from the only reason we have lost much of our manufacturing capacity. I used to live in Colorado Springs which was once dubbed "silicon mountain." HP, United Technologies, Intel and the other big chip manufacturers once had a very strong presence in that town. I knew several people who worked on their production lines. They may not have loved the repetitious nature of the work, but they did like the wages which allowed them to live a comfortable middle class life. Then out-sourcing began. I remember one friend in particular who had worked at HP and ended up working for a call center at half his old pay. He did not end up there because he was too lazy to work at HP. HP and the others abandoned him just as the rest of the electronics industry abandoned their American workers all over the country. Everybody wants to blame the American worker. I must admit that I agree with tw - I blame the CEO's. Last edited by SamIam; 01-27-2012 at 08:19 AM.