“A vast majority of American men (including myself) can’t and don’t want to do that type of work.
If it were the case, the technical trade schools and union halls would be bursting at the seams for new trainees and apprentices. I’m guessing they are not.”
Not 50 years ago a recession shut down a lot of construction, but electical work and painting persisted. Electrical Workers are trained and licensed for all kinds of work with computer networks, electrical grids, household applications and Industrial.
I’m guessing you’re misinformed.
What is your definition of a blue collar worker? An infrastructure such as USA, requires a lot of upkeep and as long as “coding” is being actively promoted the industrial jobs associated with maintaining this country’s infrastructure continue to be barely talked about.
That’s a signal that the bureaucracy is sadly misinformed as well.
What is your definition of a blue collar worker?
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Any of the trades or manufacturing, for starters. Any job requiring manual labor, in whole or in part.
Infrastructure? Sure, but unless it’s management in an office somewhere, with a free MSc degree in Civil Engineering attached to it, no thank you. Rather run urban planning and infrastructure simulations using CityEngine, Autodesk and Unreal.
Never did manual labor in my life after the Army, and never will.