I came across this, and thought it was interesting. It's Mike Rowe, host of the show "Dirty Jobs" giving testimony to Congress.
For those unfamiliar with Dirty Jobs, it's a show where Rowe travels around the USA and works various messy, smelly, and otherwise unglamorous jobs, and gives blue collar people a chance to visit American living rooms, introduce themselves, and share their lives.
I'm quite fond of Mike Rowe. I bonded with his show some time ago, when he did a show on the work my father does. I remember that after it aired, I heard people say that they had never heard of "turkey sexing." I greatly appreciate that he treats people with dignity and gets dirty with them.
Anyways, he was in the Senate to make a point: That we should actively create a PR campaign on behalf of skilled labor. I really liked the idea. So in your mind, what would you share? What would you want such a campaign to say?
Have you read "Shop Class as Soulcraft"? It's kind of a slog but the ideas in it are so right on. I recommend it.
I could tell a few stories about coming up against this mindset -- that a person doesn't have value if they work with their hands. I've been left stunned and blinking more than once.
I'm not sure what such a campaign should include, it's a BIG train to turn around. I'll be watching fascinated.
One of the ideas I have is to show some 20-30 somethings (gotta get the teens to think in a ten year turn around IMO) and their life outside of work as well as what they do.
Show them doing activities and bonding with friends (you know, like normal happy people). Show their hobbies and that they have interests and pursuits outside of bill to bill life. Show them with their families. Basically, show a life with dignity and fulfillment. Let people share their intellectual side and remind the public that there's more than one way to live happy and fulfilled.
They need to make sure that this man is involved in whatever initiative they start:
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boomerang
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Sat 8 Sep, 2012 08:45 am
Here's an interesting open letter from Mike Rowe to Mitt Romney:
Quote:
....Today, we can see the consequences of this disconnect in any number of areas, but none is more obvious than the growing skills gap. Even as unemployment remains sky high, a whole category of vital occupations has fallen out of favor, and companies struggle to find workers with the necessary skills. The causes seem clear. We have embraced a ridiculously narrow view of education. Any kind of training or study that does not come with a four-year degree is now deemed “alternative.” Many viable careers once aspired to are now seen as “vocational consolation prizes,” and many of the jobs this current administration has tried to “create” over the last four years are the same jobs that parents and teachers actively discourage kids from pursuing. (I always thought there something ill-fated about the promise of three million “shovel ready jobs” made to a society that no longer encourages people to pick up a shovel.).....
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