4 ms·

The original premise was that trades are where all the money is, and Gen Z should be listening to that. My point is that we were previously told: the money is i

by joecot 4y ago

The original premise was that trades are where all the money is, and Gen Z should be listening to that. My point is that we were previously told: the money is in college degrees, the money is in STEM, the money is in nursing. And people invested a lot of time and money in taking that advice and it went nowhere. Then we were called stupid and foolish and entitled for believing that advice. So why aren't Gen Z taking this magical advice on trades? Because they know older generations don't have a crystal ball, they've seen what happens if they listen to that crystal ball advice, and they're not falling for it. And if you talk to Gen Z, they have very little hope for the future, given we are doing very little to stop climate change, runaway capitalism, and they're watching jobs get automated without any change to the "cost of living" agreement when people are watching jobs disappear. Boomers don't have to worry about any of that anymore. And there's nothing more tone deaf than Boomers giving advice on a world that no longer exists for younger generations.

yucky 4y ago
> The original premise was that trades are where all the money is Nobody has ever said the "trades are where all the money is". This premise is flawed already. > My point is that we were previously told: the money is in college degrees, the money is in STEM, the money is in nursing. And people invested a lot of time and money in taking that advice and it went nowhere. It still is. It sounds like too many people have deluded themselves into thinking college is a public jobs program and if they show up and get a piece of paper they will be the most in demand in those fields. However, that requires an illogical leap on their part to believe that any and every person in a field will be at the top of their field and thus command exorbitant salaries. It defies logic. Plenty of people still make good money in those fields, and still will years from now. But not everyone is entitled to make a ton of money in any fields their heart desires. Everyone learns the law of supply and demand before adulthood, or if they haven't then they shouldn't be going to college anyway. So if the supply of labor in a field increases beyond the demand, what would we expect to happen? Also, if you're really good at something people will generally pay you more than they'll pay people who are mediocre. Maybe the problem is younger generations can't wrap their heads around the fact that a lot of people are mediocre. Not everyone is special or a superstar or whatever, so maybe this egalitarian mindset is the issue. This isn't boomer shit, I'm far too young to be a boomer. It seems like common sense. Is this not common sense?
- Avshalom 4y ago
  "Common sense", "laws of supply and demand" imply kids probably shouldn't all rush to go be plumbers because it will decimate the pay and most of them will end up in poorly compensated jobs because on they are, on average, not special. And wow, look, we're commenting on an article about how kids aren't rushing to go become plumbers so you're here saying what exactly? Or did you just want to go on about kids-aint-shit and the die landed on joecot this time.
  - yucky 4y ago
    > imply kids probably shouldn't all rush to go be plumbers Correct, every kid shouldn't go be a plumber. Kids who might enjoy being plumbers (or electricians, or HVAC etc) should know that they can earn a good living doing it, they don't need to rack up $60k in student loans to go to an out of state college to get a useless communications degree or whatever. Makes sense, right?
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > everyone learns the law of supply and demand before adulthood, or if they haven't then they shouldn't be going to college anyway People learn it, but I don't think many Americans actually believe it. Exhibit A is housing. Exhibit B is this bandwagoning effect around career choices.
- maxsilver 4y ago
  > Everyone learns the law of supply and demand before adulthood, or if they haven't then they shouldn't be going to college anyway. Yeah, the problem is that the "law of supply and demand" is a simple metaphor to help children gently begin learning economics, not how anything actually works. Almost no price any real person encounter anywhere in their daily life is actually determined in any meaningful way by "supply" or "demand" -- unless you stretch the definition of those two words so thin they're practically meaningless. They're potential factors, sure, but only small ones. As one of a bajillion examples, see how every hospital is short staffed (low supply) and desperate for nurses (high demand), while we also see them constantly lay nurses off or reduce hours (and nursing has consistently-fixed low salaries, despite the shortages). Same for CNAs, nursing home staff, etc.

by joecot 4y ago

yucky 4y ago

> The original premise was that trades are where all the money is Nobody has ever said the "trades are where all the money is". This premise is flawed already. > My point is that we were previously told: the money is in college degrees, the money is in STEM, the money is in nursing. And people invested a lot of time and money in taking that advice and it went nowhere. It still is. It sounds like too many people have deluded themselves into thinking college is a public jobs program and if they show up and get a piece of paper they will be the most in demand in those fields. However, that requires an illogical leap on their part to believe that any and every person in a field will be at the top of their field and thus command exorbitant salaries. It defies logic. Plenty of people still make good money in those fields, and still will years from now. But not everyone is entitled to make a ton of money in any fields their heart desires. Everyone learns the law of supply and demand before adulthood, or if they haven't then they shouldn't be going to college anyway. So if the supply of labor in a field increases beyond the demand, what would we expect to happen? Also, if you're really good at something people will generally pay you more than they'll pay people who are mediocre. Maybe the problem is younger generations can't wrap their heads around the fact that a lot of people are mediocre. Not everyone is special or a superstar or whatever, so maybe this egalitarian mindset is the issue. This isn't boomer shit, I'm far too young to be a boomer. It seems like common sense. Is this not common sense?

Avshalom 4y ago
"Common sense", "laws of supply and demand" imply kids probably shouldn't all rush to go be plumbers because it will decimate the pay and most of them will end up in poorly compensated jobs because on they are, on average, not special. And wow, look, we're commenting on an article about how kids aren't rushing to go become plumbers so you're here saying what exactly? Or did you just want to go on about kids-aint-shit and the die landed on joecot this time.
- yucky 4y ago
  > imply kids probably shouldn't all rush to go be plumbers Correct, every kid shouldn't go be a plumber. Kids who might enjoy being plumbers (or electricians, or HVAC etc) should know that they can earn a good living doing it, they don't need to rack up $60k in student loans to go to an out of state college to get a useless communications degree or whatever. Makes sense, right?
JumpCrisscross 4y ago
> everyone learns the law of supply and demand before adulthood, or if they haven't then they shouldn't be going to college anyway People learn it, but I don't think many Americans actually believe it. Exhibit A is housing. Exhibit B is this bandwagoning effect around career choices.
maxsilver 4y ago
> Everyone learns the law of supply and demand before adulthood, or if they haven't then they shouldn't be going to college anyway. Yeah, the problem is that the "law of supply and demand" is a simple metaphor to help children gently begin learning economics, not how anything actually works. Almost no price any real person encounter anywhere in their daily life is actually determined in any meaningful way by "supply" or "demand" -- unless you stretch the definition of those two words so thin they're practically meaningless. They're potential factors, sure, but only small ones. As one of a bajillion examples, see how every hospital is short staffed (low supply) and desperate for nurses (high demand), while we also see them constantly lay nurses off or reduce hours (and nursing has consistently-fixed low salaries, despite the shortages). Same for CNAs, nursing home staff, etc.