Saturday, May 08, 2010

Ouch

clipped from pajamasmedia.com

Presently this country is facing a skills crisis because many of those skilled tradesmen & women who were the centurions of industry when this country was really great, are aging and retired or on the brink of it. When that institutional memory is lost we will not get it back because we have an education establishment that no longer values technical skills and has abandoned an entire generation of young people. As Dr. Ken Ryan at Alexandria Technical College has said, “We have duped ourselves into believing we can build a sustainable economy without the durable manufacturing activities that characterize those nations threatening to eclipse us.” So very true. I have been thinking and saying that, though not so succinctly, for years.

So ask yourself, when you are trying to add that room, repair leaky pipes, find the short in the wiring or fix the flood damage in your home, who do you want doing it?