Saturday, August 4, 2012
Medicine isn't Supposed to Taste Good
We don't have a shortage of jobs in this country. We have a shortage of skilled workers. There are literally THOUSANDS of employers out there who are looking to fill positions AND THEY CANNOT FIND THE PEOPLE. And, while, yes, some of theses jobs in fact do require a four-year college degree (physical therapy, biochemical engineering, robotics, various IT positions including cyber security, etc.), it certainly isn't exclusively the case. I cite specifically here such areas as welding, carpentry, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and chemical technology, practical nursing, medical assisting, truck-driving (yes, truck-driving) advanced manufacturing, etc.. Somehow, someway, we have to be able to educate our electorate to fill these jobs or we are effed - big time.
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15 comments:
Truck driving: the long haul business has a turnover rate approaching 90%. Must be some downside to the 'joy of the open road'.
That cross-country stuff must be brutal. Gots to have some tunes, I would think.
Way to many lazy losers, is that what you're saying the problem is? Wow! That's way out of character for you!
Too many skilled jobs. Too many unskilled workers. You can call it whatever the heck you want.
I was referring to your view on who is to blame.
How about some government programs to get these workers trained? A tax incentive for businesses to train people, perhaps. As opposed to blaming the "lazy losers" and the "sluggards" which obviously isn't working. Or getting rid of unions via a national "right to work" law. If that were the problem then it would be virtually eliminated already (given the low unionization rate).
How 'bout an education system that doesn't treat the teachers better than it does the students?
And you can't unionize what doesn't exist.......Also, a part of the problem is automation. Not all of these nuts and bolts type jobs are going overseas. They're being faded out to to machines and we have a frigging failed education system that doesn't prepare people to work and repair these machines.
Will: How 'bout an education system that doesn't treat the teachers better than it does the students?
So teachers are lazy losers?
They (the union bosses anyway) support bureaucracy, protect bad teachers, and oppose reform (the summer vacation is a relic from an agrarian past and teachers want to preserve it simply so they can kick back for 2 months). Are they collectively a bunch of lazy losers? No, of course I wouldn't say that (I, unlike you, attempt to steer clear of collective condemnation).
Right-to-work would not get rid of unions. Only the ones that the workers dislike. I must have higher opinion of unions than you do, WD. You argue that if workers were given the choice, none would join unions. In contrast, I think that many unions would survive by appealing to and attracting workers.
With half of current union members currently in unions against their will (they are forced to join) it is a fact that unionization is artificially high in the US. In a major way.
Some are, yes. You have for example the ones in Wisconsin being paid $100,000 a year to do such an awful job that the students would learn more just by staying home. The wages are astronomical due to the complete divorce between wage and value in this sector.
Abolish tenure. Institute merit pay.
Unionization is artificially low in the US in a major way. Since zero people are in a union who don't want to be (they are free to work elsewhere), and many workers who aren't in unions would join one in a heartbeat if they could... which is why card check is desperately needed.
Also, workers already have a method of getting rid of unions if they don't like them. They can hold a vote to decertify.
So-called "right to work" is a major part of the Conservatives plan to get rid of unions. It doesn't work because it creates a freeloader situation. Workers who aren't in the union (and not paying dues) benefit from the presence of a union. Workers who are in the union question why they are paying dues and new hires probably won't join for the same reason.
As for your joke about you having a higher opinion of unions than me... I didn't laugh. Everyone knows how much you hate unions.
Tenure is good because it allows teachers the freedom to speak their minds without fearing being fired. Teachers get tenure by EARNING it. I thought you were in favor of people earning things... what this shows is all dmarks cares about is that the workers are in the weakest position possible... so benefits they negotiated for can be taken away and they can be paid as little as possible.
Tenure needs to be expanded and made easier to attain.
And this nonsense about teachers "kicking back" is total baloney... and collective condemnation. First Will does it, and then he says unlike me he doesn't do it. Teacher usually use the summer break to update their skills, work a part time job, or do research/author papers (college professors).
I know both Will and dmarks believe the "little people" should put in 80 hours a week and never be allowed to take vacations. Why? So they can work themselves into an early grave for the benefit of the plutocrats.
I was a teacher for 15 years, wd and I never knew a teacher who worked antwhere close to 80 hours a week (I almost laughed when I read that). And summer vacations and tenure are a joke.
I wasn't referring to teachers in that section of my comment... I was referring to a previous post of yours. Teachers do put in a lot of time away from school though. Grading papers and preparing lesson plans. Do you deny that?
If you were a teacher then what did you do on summer break? Were you "kicking back"? I'm going to guess your answer will be no, which is why you're so angry about the lazy losers who did.
Some do. Some don't. When I was a state school teacher, some of the deadwood teachers would work maybe 5 hours a day. And they'd do their "paperwork" during the day while the aids were running the programs. And in the public schools where I worked for a regional educational service center, I saw a lot of teachers book off as soon as the last school bus left.......As for summer breaks, I was classified as a 12-month teacher (all 15 years). I did get one week in June and another at the end of August but that was it. And I always went to school, too, first to get mt Masters and then to get my 6th Year.
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