Blue Collar Blues
May 24th, 2005 at 7:58 am by Susie
From the New York Times series on class:
It is not just that the American economy has shed six million manufacturing jobs over the last three decades; it is that the market value of those put out of work, people like Jeff Martinelli, has declined considerably over their lifetimes, opening a gap that has left millions of blue-collar workers at the margins of the middle class.And the changes go beyond the factory floor. Mark McClellan worked his way up from the Kaiser furnaces to management. He did it by taking extra shifts and learning everything he could about the aluminum business.
Still, in 2001, when Kaiser closed, Mr. McClellan discovered that the job market did not value his factory skills nearly as much as it did four years of college. He had the experience, built over a lifetime, but no degree. And for that, he said, he was marked.
Yeah, this is pretty much where things sit for me - and for a lot of other people.
Welcome to the “free market”.
Pull yourself up from the bootstraps. If you can’t make it, its your fault. Why can’t you be a self made person like the President!
Work hard and SING! Gawwwwd Blesss Amerrrrricaaaaa…..
If you don’t have the entries on your resume, what you know doesn’t make a hill of beans. And don’t even knock on the door if your hair is grey.