[lbo-talk] School Debate: Central Focus

[Nathan]

On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 03:32:46PM -0500, Wojtek S wrote:
> Doug: "To appreciate manual labor we don't have to disparage the mental kind."
> 
> [WS:]  That was not my point at all.  Mental labor can be very
> challenging as well.  I do a lot of data analysis and a sloppy code
> can be very costly indeed.
> 
> My point was that first, certain types of mental work is less
> forgiving than manual work, in the sense that slacking off and
> bullshitting does not have a clearly visible consequences as, say, a
> botched plumbing system.  Second, there is no such thing as purely
> "manual" work (except maybe jerking off ;)) - a lot of blue collar
> jobs require not only a lot of knowledge but also the ability to apply
> this knowledge, be creative in problem solving, etc.
> 
> Wojtek
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> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk

This may be straying far afield, but since I've been looking for work in
several industries for a few months I'm amazed at the listed
requirements vs. the actual pay. Employers seem to expect a ridiculous
skill set from people they're paying $8/hour. The shame is that the
skill sets are all very real--stacking boxes in a warehouse may be
brutish but you can't just fake it and you can't do a shoddy job. I have
noticed that acquaintances I have who work in skilled trades have had
trouble finding work, but are like me suddenly 'overqualified' to work a
cash register. As if standing at a screen eight hours a day interacting
with a tremendous variety of humans was somehow not a skill--and as if
it was not a skill that could be, or should be learned.

I am not a fan of Michael Walzer but IIRC he argued that jobs that are
'dirty' (like coal mining) or disparaged (like cleaning) should either
be shared kind of like jury duty or should be generously pensioned.

-- 
Nathan