Sure, but the post you are responding to isn't talking about things like electricians or plumbers - which require some amount of training and licensing/certification. They're talking about things like garment workers - jobs with little to no requirements.
Plumbers and electricians don’t go to school for multiple years to learn a trade, they apprentice - learning on the job, until they get to the point where they propel themselves forward.
True, I started sorting parts in a plumbing shop when I was 12, you still have to get certified and to get certified you take the same classes as everyone else. That's the same for doctors, and lawyers and all that shit.
This is why we don't have a base of expected knowledge in the field and why we do strange coding tests to try to guess if someone is competent.
Are plumbers licensed? Should I assume that just anyone can become a plumber?
Licensed trades have gatekeepers, e.g., my high-school friend couldn't be an electrician because he couldn't get a union internship. They were full and he didn't know anyone important. Also, I believe that the licensing required the completion of course work.
I have never had a job that didn't require college and also paid more than rent. It seems a strong assumption that there are ready alternatives which pay a subsistence or higher wage. Of course it is also a strong assumption that higher education will necessarily result in a subsistance or higher wage, but my point is that it seems unfounded to simply assume that there is a reliable practicable alternative just because there used to be. As far as I know, I don't know anyone who didn't go to college and can reliably pay rent by themselves, and I know lots of people who didn't go to college.
Trade qualifications?? Have you ever worked in construction? HVAC, Electrical, and Plumbing are the only three trades involved with making a house that have any form of credential available. Literally everything else is the wild west.
Go to plumbing trade school! College really isn't anything special now adays, and plumbers have better job security and make more than most college grads I know.
Spreading your legs doesn't exactly require a detailed training regime. Electricians and plumbers have challenging jobs that require a lot of training. Changing out electric sockets doesn't make you an electrician.
Where I live, homeowners aren’t allowed to do most plumbing or electrical work on their own homes. Anything beyond replacing an outlet or a faucet and you’re in master tradesman territory.
I’ve no issue with getting the work inspected, but there is no reason that I can’t be allowed to do my own work. Of course, I do it anyway (and so do many others) but technicallly it’s illegal.
Related to this, it amuses (and saddens) me whenever I hear of a shortage of skilled trades workers. When it takes 7 years of apprenticeship to become a master electrician, plumber or gas fitter is it really any wonder that kids coming out of high school would choose something else?
I spent a few years doing under the table construction and also picked up the skills to work on mechanical things around the same time. Then I went to college, got a career and spent some money picking up the skills required to work in metal. Electrical and plumbing (not just for water) are things you kind of have to pick up along the way. I'm no means a professional at any of these skills because I don't get 40hr of practice a week. Nor am I unique. A lot of successful people from blue collar backgrounds wind up with similar skills. Even though I have software money now I couldn't afford to pay people to build the things I can build myself.
I don’t think you can reasonably draw a comparison from medicine to home electrics and plumbing.
My dad was a plumber and I’m preparing to pass the certification that permits me to work on home electrics. They are, to be blunt, easy. An average person can pick up most of it in a couple of months. Electrics and gas plumbing carry a certification requirement because an error can kill someone, but it’s easier than passing a driving test.
Obviously, there are higher tiers of those trades that require a lot more training, but even those aren’t really comparable to the level of knowledge and study needed to become a qualified doctor, let alone a consultant.
In the UK, shortages of tradespeople are less to do with the difficulty of training, or lack of course capacity, and more to do with people really just not wanting to do the job, for various reasons.
These comparisons never work for me. There's literally no amount you could pay me that would make me willing to be a plumber or electrician, and I'm grateful every day that there are a subset of people out there who will do those jobs competently without completely bankrupting me.
Plumbers and electricians make as much if not more than 'educated' jobs and are impossible to outsource. Education is great and today you can learn virtually anything with an internet connection but family expectations mean you are expected to go the college. 'The government is oppressing me with student loans' is pretty weak sauce and is par for the course lack of personal responsibility. Don't run up debt to major in art history.
reply