We are flooded by :30 second media tags from both the progressive and the conservative, everyone with their own agenda.
I picked this up on my twitter feed (why I love twitter). The words of an academic turned entrepreneur. It was refreshing to hear such an honest, unbiased, non-political POV. I think he articulated what many of know to be true about what makes free enterprise the great system that it is. Education is not a free pass or entitlement to success but rather hard work and discipline.Now if you have to Jacks applying for the same plumbing job. The one with the masters degree in what ever it is, that has nothing to do with plumbing will be the better candidate...
or the guy willing to do the work at half the salary, will get the job
Maybe so but that creates competition. I've had the experience of having my job given to others at half the pay and it made me refocus my skill set and I found another opportunity.
Its the sense of entitlement that people need to shake.
for the same job at roto-rooter.
Both men posses the same skill level when it comes to plumbing. One has a masters degree, and one does not. What is the guy with out the masters degree supposed to do to increase his skill set for the job he's applying. Get a masters in a field unrelated to plumbing?
Many employers wouldn't even consider the guy with the masters, as lateral moves on the corporate ladder are frowned upon. In our pro growth society.
I think a person is happiest when s/he pursues his or her interests and passions. Haven't heard too many people feeling passionate about crawling underneath a house, and possibly getting cozy with snakes, Black-widows, gila monsters, tarantulas, skunks, etc. I've had to crawl under several houses, and that convinced me that plumbing was not for me. I started out as an electrician's apprentice out of the Navy, just to pay the bills, but transitioned into scorer's apprentice (combining computers, electronic, electrical, hydraulics, pneumatics, and metal working), then to high-tech physics lab. I received all of my education while employed, and now have a graduate degree, and I'm very happy and satisfied with my career.
I say, if a young person is interested in a skilled trades career, great. And, if they are interested in a career that requires a college degree, great also. However, there is a third path. Get an entry level job in a company, and pursue your education during your off time. Many companies will pay for your classes if they fall in line with the work that you're doing, and/or the work you hope to advance to doing.
I did read an interesting an analysis in, (I think it was an "Outdoor Life, or "Field and Stream" magazine). The author was calculating the cost of an H&R double barreled shotgun, made by a plumbing vs. the gunsmith. The one made by the plumber would have cost a considerably more! ;
in the field of skilled/semi skilled, and plain ole physical labor. I have noticed this about the majority. These jobs create the desire of substance abuse. I'm not exactly sure why, I'm sure the fact that physical labor is involved, but I think there are many other factors.
And, they have to manage the pain somehow; drinking, drugs, man toys, etc.
When you say man toys, you mean motorcycles, boats, and shit like that...Right? 
I will say that is an ingenious, all be it diabolical way to control people. I just find it disgraceful to feed of the working peoples vice. When the main reason people succumb to these vices, is the fact people only work jobs they hate, is to survive and feed their children.
I believe we are lucky to live in a country where we have options. As I mentioned before there is a bell curve, the intelligentsia on one end and the derelict on the other. However in the middle is this wealth of opportunity. Surely, it is not handed to you and there may be many hoops to jump but there are options.
Entitlement is what will kill the American economy - not the level of skill/education of the labor force.
With substance abuse, and buying material possessions?
I think most people would agree that both of the above, are used to fill the void. That working a job you do not like, or even like creates.
Globalization is what has killed the American economy. Americans consume a lot of products, the majority of which are produced overseas.
I will agree entitlements are not the best motivator, but every one wants the most money, for the least amount of labor. This is the foundation of capitalism
Globalization has done nothing but damage the union mentality. Entitlements are one of the biggest issues facing our economy today. Full stop. We arent talking capitalism here we are talking free enterprise.
Not everybody can be born into a family that can just set them up in business or pay for college degrees. It took every bit of experience, from every job, for me to finally be able to work for myself and the freedom that provides. My family certainly didn't ever have enough faith in me; or maybe in a sick co-dependent way they were trying to protect me from failure. Or maybe it was just their own fears of wanting me to work for a corporation like they did, with paid benefits, retirement, I think that is the path they wanted for me. My elder sister could do it, but not me the free-spirit wild-child LOL
So, I done one of the craziest things I have ever done in my life and became an escort to bridge the money problem I needed. And what a ride! I am eternally grateful for the generous men that helped me. Strange and crazy life it is that we have no idea how much we are progressing and changing until we look back. :
First question is, did he start a plumbing business out of necessity or by choice?
Second question is, what happened to his so called academic jobs? I assume he was teaching at a school since he has only a masters degree (may be community college at best and not at IU level schools)
Third question is, did his education help him in any way to make his business a success.
If the entire US labor force becomes a craft oriented, who would seek their services? There will be glut of crafts people and the wagers will hit rock bottom.
Philosophy is not one of the most sought after degrees in the business world. I don’t know of any University’s that has a waiting line for Philosophy admission. Does any middle or high school teach philosophy.
True story, I interviewed a young man couplet of months ago for software engineer job and I noticed he had an undergraduate degree in acting and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science. I asked him why did he decide to get a second degree in computer science?
His answer was that while the degree in acting and drama was glamorous and the professors and advisors told him that every one graduated from the school got a job. I asked him why he didn’t pursue his answer was, yes, every one did get jobs but they were all unpaid in the local theater.
I hired the kid on the spot and paid him $75k/yr fresh out of school. I concluded, the kid was smart.
The moral of the story is all college degree is not the same. Subjects and schools where you get it from does make huge difference. A degree from University of Phoenix does not have the same vale as a degree from UCLA, University of Chico, Arizona State, or University of Colorado.
Funny stores but really misleading information.
IOW online universities?
The advertisement for this one freaks me out http://www.brandman.edu/
At least drones can receive and execute commands flawlessly most of the time. Online grads can't do shit when they come out. Some don't even do their own work.
Actually one of my colleagues asked me whether I would write paper for her. I said he'll no.
Of course it doesn't. I think the point is that free enterprise allows for choice and opportunity that individuals themselves create. In the bell curve of life, of course there are people on the edges on both sides of the equation but it is the people in the middle that arguably have the most opportunity to change things...At least that is what our founding fathers intended....
Free enterprise and what individuals themselves create is "kool-aid" mixed and given to the naive who has difficult time understanding the world today.
Fundamentally the free enterprise itself cannot and does not exist in isolation, it requires a collective at minimum.
Hey, I am not talking you out of not going to school and should not send your kids to schools either, now or in the future..
I for one would not do certain things for all the money in this world and the next.
Its called the pursuit of happiness. The understanding that our society was create with the freedom to go to college or trade school or to persue a living in the manner in which we see fit. Who is saying that free enterpirse exists in isolation?
I thought the blog post was insightful and straightforward and in a world that is highly political completely free of propaganda.
That is all.
They all felt it was a real heady experience until they had to go out and find a job. Then they found they either had to take a job that didn't require a B.A. or B.S. degree or go on and get a doctorate, and still struggle to find a position as a professor, not paying as good as a plumber.
Isn't philosophy thought applied to the past, present, and future?
Other then studying past philosophers, there can't be that much to study.
When I told my dad (who paid for my education) that I was going to be a political science major his response was " what are you going to do with a fish-wrapping degree?" I boldly told him I was going to be a lobbyist. I quickly realized that I was not an academician and that more school was not what I wanted - I just wanted to start working and make money. I wanted to get into marketing (this was back in 1997/98).
With no classes in business or marketing, everyone told me my prospects were bleak. I didn't listen and my focus was on that - a few months later I found a job working as an ASST AE at a yellow pages ad agency. That job lead to a 12 year career in advertising that was tough but an education you can't get at any ive-league school.
I truly believe that we are nation that want to give people a chance but the onus is on the individual to create them.
...well, to be honest, I used to be a plumber's assistant. The work wasn't mentally challenging, and to tell ya the truth, I rather liked that. It was nice to work and have my mind free to ponder things. The work kinda sucked though.
The first day on the job we go to this house to replace a toilet. The guy turns off the supply, drains the tank, takes it off, unbolts the bowl from the floor and makes me haul all this shit to the truck. I was fun hauling around 50 pounds of shit-stained porcelain.
When I get back the plumber has a big grin on his face as he hands me a puddy knife and tells me to clean off the old wax ring. "What's a wax ring?" I ask. He points to the hole in the floor where the toilet used to be. "That's a wax ring", he says. "What's that brown stuff on it?" I ask. "Shit", he says. "Lots and lots of shit."
Needless to say, I didn't last long at this job.
No, not everyone can be a lawyer or a doctor, or even a politician. Some people actually have to earn their living. Trust me, they earn every single penny.
-- Modified on 9/4/2013 7:23:21 PM
of all the fun of septic tanks and tampon blockages you missed 
Damn straight they earn every penny.
I was pretty clueless on how to do some basic repair stuff after I bought my first house.
I had to repair/replace some old galvanized sprinkler heads and nipples from my front lawn. Over time the head and nipples gets rusted and you just can't remove the head from the nipple by twisting it off with your hands.
An old guy from across the street came by and asked if I needed any help. I told him I can't twist off the head from the nipple. He said, "did you have a vice?". I really didn't know this old guy that well, but I said, "yeah I got a few vices, one is eating pussy, and the other is drinking beer". Hint, I had no fucking clue that a vice is also a device that sits on a workbench so you can grip an object. The old man gave me a courtesy chuckle, and probably muttered under his voice, here's another young clueless dumbass.
Thank God for white collar jobs. And yes willy, many people do earn their living with their hands, and God Bless them.
-- Modified on 9/4/2013 9:03:12 PM
...pliers. Champion sprinkler heads are notched and a special tool fits in the notches to unscrew it. But as you say, there's no way to get the sprinkler head off a galvanized riser.
But the good news is you don't usually have to replace the sprinkler head. it's usually just the little sprayer in the middle that's clogged. The sprinkler head is brass so the sprayer can be easily unscrewed and cleaned. While the sprayer is off, you can turn on the sprinklers for a few seconds. You'll get a geyser where the missing sprayer is, but it will clean out the sprinkler.
...for taking off the whole sprinkler head (impossible) and the hex end is for just removing the sprayer in the middle.
-- Modified on 9/5/2013 3:59:45 AM
For some reason I can't copy an image. Just google it. Yes I would still use a sprinkler head wrench like in your other picture, but I have to first secure/clamp the galvanize head and nipple in the vice to get some leverage. Make sense?
This was close to 30 years ago, and the house was already 30 years old when I bought it, so the little sprayer in the middle didn't pop up like today's PVC models.
...while I was getting an education. After making it in the the white collar world, I invested my money where I could put my previous skills to work so that I keep a lot more of my money than many others who make the same investments that I do.
...cockroaches started running every which way. Fuckers! This photo is just about lifesize, but I've seen them bigger.
-- Modified on 9/5/2013 4:20:14 AM
Several years later, while the housing bubble was still sky high, I was renting out this horrible basement. I was able to rent it for cheap, but you know that old saying, "you get what you pay for?" Yeh, this damn basement would flood on the regular. I got used to having a hoard of crickets and wolf spiders as my room mates. I kept telling myself that it was worth it so I could save up for a down payment on a house after the housing bubble popped, but looking back, I'm not sure it was worth it.
The bathroom in this basement didn't have any working ventilation, and it would get pretty moldy. One day I noticed that one of the bolts holding on the toilet seat had completely rusted away.
I told my GF at the time, "look, I haven't gotten much sleep for the last few days, and I need to get up early in the morning. Can you replace the toilet seat? All you gotta do is unbolt the old one and put a new one on." She found that reasonable, and said she would put it on.
So here I am sleeping, dreaming of sugar plums, crickets and wolf spiders, and I wake up to the sound of my GF saying, "oh god! oh god! oh god!"
I sit up in bed at 2 in the morning and she looks like she's having a mental break down. She says, "I think I just broke the toilet!"
I laughed. I said, "you can't break a toilet. what's wrong?"
She said, "I was trying to unscrew the toilet seat, and the pliers slipped and punched a hole into the side of the toilet."
I said, "oh that's no big deal. Here, flush it and see what happens."
She flushes it, and a big jet of water comes shooting out of the side of the toilet. At this point, I'm in awe how someone could fuck up a simple task to this degree.
So she's in total meltdown mode now. "what are we going to do?!?!?! what are we going to do?!?!?!" I tell her, we just replace the toilet. It's no big deal.
So I go into work, still not having slept much, and I'm pissed about everything. She calls me up and says she's at Home Depot, and she doesn't know what to buy. I tell her to buy a round white toilet, and whatever you fucking do, don't forget to pay to have it installed.
So I come home from work to find a brand new toilet sitting in the middle of this basement. She says, "the install cost more than the toilet, so I figured you could just install it, and it would save some money."
At this point I'm ready to start campaigning for the legalization of domestic violence. I say, "do you have any fucking idea of how much it sucks to replace a toilet yourself? There's a reason why I told you to have it installed." She looks at me dumbfounded.
So I turn off the supply, drain the damn toilet, take off the tank, and unscrew the bowl from the floor, and haul all this shit to the curb, cussing and screaming.
When I get back I tell her, "I want to show you something." I bring her to the bathroom to look at the hole in the floor.
"That is a toilet flange. You see that nasty gooey shit on it? That's the old wax ring."
"What's that brown stuff" she asks. "that's shit", I say. "Lots and lots of shit."
"Oh god!" she says.
"Before the new toilet can get installed, the old wax ring has to be scrapped off so I can put the new one on." I had her a putty knife. "Guess who's going to scrape the old one off?"
To make a long story less long, I never did have to scrap off another wax ring. And this whole ordeal allowed me to fuck her face 3 nights in a row, after which, I dumped her.