[lbo-talk] U.S. working class: buncha morons

[joanna bujes]

"skills" are hard to judge in a general way. When I got to my local 
farmers market, I notice that the folks who come in from the fields to 
sell produce can do pretty good arithmetic, perfectly, in their heads. 
On the other hand, I know lots of folks with college degrees and twenty 
years' work experience in "professional" white-collar "think" jobs who 
can't write their way out of a paper bag.

Joanna

Carl Remick wrote:


>> From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
>>
>> [this is the conclusion to a press release from the headhunting firm 
>> Challenger Gray & Christmas, reporting on their monthly tally of 
>> layoff announcements, which was way up in Feb.]
>>
>> The other factor that may be starting to contribute to more job cuts, 
>> according to Challenger, is the widening gap between the skills 
>> workers have and the skills needed by today's employers....
>>
>> This scenario could begin playing out again and again for companies 
>> across the country, particularly when one considers the following 
>> statistics from the Department of Education's Adult Literacy Survey:
>>
>> ·        52% of high school graduates lack the basic skills required 
>> to do their jobs adequately.
>> ·        50% of the U.S. population aged 16-65 is functionally 
>> illiterate.
>> ·        Only 25% of high school graduates are considered to have 
>> excellent basic skills.
>
>
> It's a good thing so many of these folks have Jesus pulling for them, 
> or they'd really be screwed.  The larger point, of course, is that the 
> ruling class has exactly the nation of dolts that it wants to have -- 
> gullible, tractable know-nothings who are easy to sell to and easy to 
> send to war.
>
> Carl
>
>
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