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John S. Bay Area, California 1 day ago
This should be required reading for every American — Democrat and Republican alike — not only as a wake-up call but as a key to understanding how globalization is breaking the backbone of our workforce.
In explaining away the loss of manufacturing jobs, we too often assume that workers can get a college degree and then reintegrate into the new economy. But this article tells the wrenching truth: We have abandoned those for whom the dignity of work in a factory is part of their identity. We reference the social safety net and plans to provide free college to re-educate the displaced, overlooking the human dynamic. We trivialize the education that blue-collar workers get through their years learning a trade, something that even the best so-called vocational schools can’t match with a diploma.
We have devalued the importance of people who understand how machines work, what goes into their production, and the art of making and maintaining them. We think we’ll make robots that will replace people on an assembly line or save them from the drudgery of performing the same task over and over, forgetting that human beings have brains that can perceive imperfections and take pride in correcting those imperfections. With our blind faith in faceless technology, in computer programs and models, we discount the human component of manufacturing.
Offshoring jobs to lower-paid workers is not the answer. We need to instill a respect for the work of human hands and the lives behind them. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/14/us/union-jobs-mexico-rexnord.html?&target=comments&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&modref=HPCommentsRefer&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news#commentsContainer