Mike Rowe addresses Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Skilled Labor

[JEDIYoda]

I usually go to my doctor to get my lateral line scoped.

Now your male friend does it for you??

 

[SMOGZINN]

Right, and free trade results in increased exports of American goods, lower prices for American consumers, and economic prosperity for all!

Oh wait...

Sure, there would be a period of correction in which prices would increase, and that would be painful. But in the end it would be more then made up for by an increase in American manufacturing.
I doubt very seriously it would substantially hurt or exports. The few things we actually export are either necessary goods or extreme luxury goods for the countries importing them. The cost of American made products are too expensive for anything else.

 

[WHAMPOM]

... resulting in increased prices for imports, reduced exports due to the subsequent retaliatory tariffs, and ever greater economic hardship for the US.

We've seen this movie before.

Someone is going to put tariffs on military arms, the USofA's major export?

 

[pcgeek11]

As an electronics tech that never finished formal high school, learned a trade in the US Navy I draw in about mid 90K yearly in the south eastern US. Pretty good money for the area. The CNC Setups, Operators and Engineers at work are always commenting on why they pay us so much when we don't have to work as much as they do. My comment to them is they pay us for what we know, not what we do. Our work mainly consists of breakdowns and engineering modifications to automated machines. We spend a lot of time doing whatever we want to pass the time. Life is good.

 

[theevilsharpie]

Right, and free trade results in increased exports of American goods, lower prices for American consumers, and economic prosperity for all!

Generally, yes.

 

[Triumph]

I'm all for tariffs on all foreign goods, set based on the nations' respective economic level, human rights, and alignment with US interests. On the other, very few illegal aliens work for less than minimum wage. The problem is that they drive down wages for legal residents. I oppose a guest worker program except in a very, very few instances of national security and where real unemployment drops below 5%. If Americans won't do a job for the resource owner's preferred wage, the solution is to raise the offered wage until it matches the market-set value, NOT to import poor people happy to the job for the resource owner's preferred wage.

I agree, and low wage earners also create an economy that wasn't otherwise there. Like yard work, most people know how to cut their own grass, but because the cost to pay some day laborer to do it is so cheap, people choose to do that instead. If the day laborers weren't here, the price wouldn't be so cheap, and people would cut their own grass. Or they would pay the local high school kid up the street to do it, which doesn't happen anymore because I don't think kids are even allowed to work a job anymore. Everyone thinks their children are better than that.

 

[theevilsharpie]

Someone is going to put tariffs on military arms, the USofA's major export?

I doubt it, although the US has suffered some setbacks in arms exports lately.

However, other nations would definitely put tariffs on our other exports, like semiconductors, vehicles and vehicle parts, pharmaceuticals, various types of food, etc.

 

[frostedflakes]

He doesn't just host a show, he's involved in activism as well. He mentioned mikeroweWORKS and a couple other projects in the video.

 

[Doppel]

You can't outsource a brick layer or a plumber or an electrician. Hell, even a physician from India could work on your heart via robot.

 

[nonlnear]

which is why we have been trying to deport the illegal aliens for years...

Bailing with a bucket is not a good plan when the dam is broken. In fact it generally makes things worse if for no other reason than it is a complete waste of resources. Better to fix the incentives that bring people here illegally in the first place (and no, deportation is not a disincentive to someone who is already willing to risk death to get here).

what we need is some dum redneck hick president who does everything the backwoods way to get elected... fuck the rich... fuck the intellectuals... lets get dirty and get shit fixed.

Yes, that's exactly what we need... (Not that rich/intellectuals work out much better!)

 

[novasatori]

Say one wants to become a plumber, where should one start?

 

[sao123]

Bailing with a bucket is not a good plan when the dam is broken. In fact it generally makes things worse if for no other reason than it is a complete waste of resources. Better to fix the incentives that bring people here illegally in the first place (and no, deportation is not a disincentive to someone who is already willing to risk death to get here).

Yes, that's exactly what we need... (Not that rich/intellectuals work out much better!)

Fixing the dam isnt a problem at all... its quick, decisive, and immediate.
Temporarily eliminate all new immigration, works visa's, etc.

population reduction in the face of employment shortage IS the only solution. The fact that it simultaneously solves so many other problems (employment shortages, reduction on welfare systems, pollution reduction, etc) makes it a worthy goal.

 

[nonlnear]

Fixing the dam isnt a problem at all... its quick, decisive, and immediate.
Temporarily eliminate all new immigration, works visa's, etc.

Yes, because illegal immigrants care about immigration laws... Now if you had said something about making it practically impossible to hire illegal immigrants I'd be nodding along with you.

population reduction in the face of employment shortage IS the only solution. The fact that it simultaneously solves so many other problems (employment shortages, reduction on welfare systems, pollution reduction, etc) makes it a worthy goal.

It has some short term benefits, but if you're looking at those as a major selling point of an immigration policy, you're destined to be handed a bowl of shit from the legislators who would pander to those public goals. Politicians who push immigration issues as a response to employment and economic concerns (which to the hoi poloi are always short term) never produce good laws.

 

[Cogman]

I think part of the problem is the whole ordeal it takes to become a certified X. It takes just as much work as a four year degree and requires you to FIND someone that is willing to supervise you as you train.

This is somewhat the same issue that the IT field has. In order to get an entry level job, many places are expecting something like 4 years of experience. Its nuts. We have developed an aggressive anti-beginners attitude in pretty much every field and industry.

With a 53% unemployment rate for fresh college graduates, I would say that Mike hit the nail on the head. There are a large number of those students that are getting very common or very useless degrees that may very well be happy working with their hands instead.

 

[highland145]

Say one wants to become a plumber, where should one start?

With a shovel, in a ditch. You have to put your time in with a pro to learn the trade which means grunt work for as long as it takes. The pay will suck until you can get your journeyman's license.

My bro is $85/hr for service calls.

 

[highland145]

I think part of the problem is the whole ordeal it takes to become a certified X. It takes just as much work as a four year degree and requires you to FIND someone that is willing to supervise you as you train.

Good. I don't want some idiot F-ing up my gas water heater and my house blows up. Or sewer gasses being vented in my house. Or some wanker electrician.....

4 years to be able to make good $$ and be in demand if you're good? Sounds reasonable.

 

[Cogman]

With a shovel, in a ditch. You have to put your time in with a pro to learn the trade which means grunt work for as long as it takes. The pay will suck until you can get your journeyman's license.

My bro is $85/hr for service calls.

And this is part of the problem. It literally takes about 4 years of hard labor before you can become a Journeyman.

 

[highland145]

And this is part of the problem. It literally takes about 4 years of hard labor before you can become a Journeyman.

You wouldn't want some under trained guy working on your house, would you? What's 4 years to learn a trade for a lifetime?

 

[Cogman]

Good. I don't want some idiot F-ing up my gas water heater and my house blows up. Or sewer gasses being vented in my house. Or some wanker electrician.....

4 years to be able to make good $$ and be in demand if you're good? Sounds reasonable.

This is the mindset that causes the problem. Most plumbing jobs aren't "Life or death this is going to destroy everything!" and even most electrical work isn't at all hard (in fact, in idaho a non-electrician can do the wiring, they just need an electrician to come in afterwords and certify that it was done correctly.)

The thing is, even with this system in place, it doesn't prevent some idiot from doing things wrong. No, it just makes sure that the idiot will have someone else in the general vicinity that knows how to do the job correctly (maybe).

 

[Cogman]

You wouldn't want some under trained guy working on your house, would you? What's 4 years to learn a trade for a lifetime?

Whether you want it or not, that guy has to start somewhere. And like it or not there is a chance he will work on you house anyways. He has to start somewhere.

The only difference is that you might have someone in the house at the same time making sure he does things correctly.

The whole "Oh, it is so terrible, there are no qualified laborers any more, What are we to do!" attitude coupled with the "Hell no, they can't work on my stuff, they aren't qualified yet!" is somewhat baffling and selfish.

 

[highland145]

Whether you want it or not, that guy has to start somewhere. And like it or not there is a chance he will work on you house anyways. He has to start somewhere.

The only difference is that you might have someone in the house at the same time making sure he does things correctly.

I'm not following you. Learn the trade, become competent, go work for yourself. You keep referring back to the trained guy overseeing the job. He started somewhere, too. We all do to become proficient. It's not a problem. OJT is how the trades learn a lot of the time.

Problem my bro has is that he can't find anyone that wants to work and learn. He has 2 idle, fully equipped trucks worth about $100K, counting tools.

Edit: Baffling/selfish? My $$. I pay for a job to be done right. I expect it to be. Not getting screwed by some slack a**.

 

[Cogman]

I'm not following you. Learn the trade, become competent, go work for yourself. You keep referring back to the trained guy overseeing the job. He started somewhere, too. We all do to become proficient. It's not a problem. OJT is how the trades learn a lot of the time.

Problem my bro has is that he can't find anyone that wants to work and learn. He has 2 idle, fully equipped trucks worth about $100K, counting tools.

Edit: Baffling/selfish? My $$. I pay for a job to be done right. I expect it to be. Not getting screwed by some slack a**.

How do you learn a trade that requires hands one learning, when nobody wants you to do any hands on work?

 

[highland145]

How do you learn a trade that requires hands one learning, when nobody wants you to do any hands on work?

What the heck are you talking about?

 

[Triumph]

You wouldn't want some under trained guy working on your house, would you? What's 4 years to learn a trade for a lifetime?

What skills do you think those day laborers building all of your homes have? They're just hired muscle, doing what someone tells them. I don't trust them to actually know how to build a house.

 

[highland145]

What skills do you think those day laborers building all of your homes have? They're just hired muscle, doing what someone tells them. I don't trust them to actually know how to build a house.

True. All they have to do is swing a hammer and use a tape measure. Not sure I trust the builder to do it right either. "Hit it and get it" seems to be their motto.

Plumbing, electrical, hvac etc require a little more knowledge/ability. If some guy doesn't aspire for better then let him dig ditches or pull wire for minimum wage but I expect his work to be checked by a professional.

The up side is that if he does want to better himself, he can do it.