Turns out Marco took the welders line from Santorum.
What we need is fewer immigrants.
Especially when all the $20 an hour welding jobs are being done by illegals for minimum wage if that. Outside of big union/govt contract jobs like ship building, ordinary welding is almost dead for actual welders. A guy from Guatemala is doing it for cash.
The philosophy major I know is driving a cab.
The welders are worth a hell of a lot more than some cupcake with a philosophy major which is as useless as tits on a boar hog.
Not that there’s any reason they deserve higher pay...
Welder so don’t have to spend years paying off student loans...
I did not watch/listen to the debate, but I thought the point was that Welders make stuff whereas Philosophers really don't add a lot to building society. I.e., everyone is a Philosopher - in some regards (that is, everyone has an opinion) - and debating how many angels can dance on the top of a pin might be an interesting intellectual exercise - but not really all that necessary...
No Phil, only those Philosophers able to find a job.
Try a meaningful measurement.
Percent of philosophy majors employed in that field vs. percent of certified welders gainfully employed.
Most philosophy majors work at McDonalds.
Yeah, those philosophy jobs are in hot supply around here. Companies are desperate for philosophers to help them with their business. What are we going to do with this lack of philosophers which threatens to shut down all commerce? It’s an outrage.
I think the bigger issues are that
1. There aren’t THAT many jobs in the skilled trades. Yes, there are temporary shortages in some areas, but it wouldn’t take all that many trainees in raw numbers to swamp the fields.
2. Many kids, bless their hearts, just don’t have the capabilities to do well in many skilled trades. They don’t have the mind for it, the physical endurance, or whatever else. Skilled trades can become quite intricate and complex and there are definite IQ thresholds below which people just don’t do well in them.
These are difficult issues, and lack easy solutions.
A good pipe welder can go on the road and make a killing.
We’re just coming out of our fall shutdown, and the welders and fitters we just let go were all headed down to the gulf coast for $50/hr working seven twelves, all OT is doubletime, and $120 per diem (non-taxed living expenses for travelers) on top of that.
A lot of these guys only work 6 - 8 months out of the year. They’ll make their big money in the spring/summer/fall turnaround seasons and take the winter off, and still make 200k a year.
He has an overall very valid point. How much does a good BMW mechanic make? In the marine industry, a good diesel mechanic is making over $100K a year. It’s all about the trades. There is a lot of money to be made in the trades, the young lazy 20 years privileged kids need to actually apply themselves. Willing to bet, the vast majority of 20 some year old males dont know the difference between a Phillips and a regular screwdriver as an example, but they know how to look like an a__ o n Facebook
I know several welders that make well over $100.000. One used to work for me.
Rube-o could have pointed out that the philosophers are stealing money from welders while destroying Christian values (and replacing them with Kantian claptrap, Bertrand Russell gibberish, Peter Singer’s hatred of human life, Andrea Dworkin self-mutilation, etc.).
As a liberal, however, Rube-o wants atheists and lazy people to succeed, and wants useful people to fail.
I love how willfully the forest is being missed for the trees by the MSM. Marco’s point - which resonates with tens of millions of Americans - is that there is more than one track for Amercan kids post high school. Welder was a convenient stand in for all of the assorted trades and technical training available to people, just as philosopher was a stand in for all of the esoteric liberal arts degrees that are high on self importance but low on value (this includes jounalism majors, incidentally).
A kid could go to community college and get a certificate in a trade like plumbing, hvac, or (yes, even) welding, and be able to get a good starting salary with little debt and tons of mobility. If they want to branch out later, that same CC could give him an associates in business or management, which is sufficient to get a foot in the door at 90% of the white collar jobs in this country. He’ll likely be competing with philosophy majors for the very same jobs that most of the latter end up pursuing, with much less debt and baggage.
I get the MSM trashing him, but I’m a bit perplexed why the Trumpistas have decided this is a valid point of attack. Kind of elitist, I think.
A welder can walk on the rocks without slipping
Dole office clerk: “We need welders, electricians, plumbers and pipefitters, heavy equipment operators! What do YOU do!”
Comicus: Stand-up philosopher. “I coalesce the vapors of human experience into a viable and meaningful comprehension”.
Dole Office Clerk: Oh, a *bullshit* artist!
(Borrowed or stolen from THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1.)