Mike: I know many plumbers and welders that make six-figures a year. But I don’t know many parents who encourage their kids to explore those careers. That’s not a pay problem - that’s a status problem. The skills gap on the other hand, is not a problem at all - it’s a symptom of what we value. And until we rethink the prevailing definition of a “good job,” the gap will widen and swallow us all.
I have infinitely more respect for a guy who shovels shyte for a living than I do for an ivory-tower “journalist.” Although it could be credibly argued that they do the same job, at least one of them is honest about it.
The same goes for the rest of the chablis-and-brie crowd who look down from their penthouses on the Morlocks who make their pampered lives possible. I’d ride the bus beside a smelly working man any day before I’d hop into a limo with one of those perfumed pansies.