The plumber who arrived to work on my water heater today brought an apprentice with him.
He told me the system for apprentices got a big help "under Trump."
We did not move beyond that to other Trump topics, but, clearly, from the point of view of this 69 year old plumber, the establishment of this program, which pays him to train apprentices, funds the trade school on Towle Farm Road and, importantly, demonstrates the affection of the government for training plumbers, electricians, HVAC and carpenters elicited a reciprocation of affection.
The master plumber told me there were simply not enough plumbers in New Hampshire, and all the way into the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts and he's worried about who will take over the important work he knows needs to be done and will need to be done over the next forty years.
I was unaware about Trump's efforts on the behalf of trades so I Googled it and here's a piece from NPR:
The White House wants to nearly double the total federal commitment to provide states with funds for career and technical education – from about US$1.2 billion in the current fiscal year to about $2.1 billion for fiscal 2021.
This proposal marks the first time in more than 20 years that the federal investment in career and technical education could change in a meaningful way after declining for the last two decades.
For instance, in 2004, total funding through the Carl D. Perkins Act – the federal law that deals with career and technical education spending – was $1.7 billion. By fiscal 2020 it had dropped to $1.2 billion. Adjusting for inflation makes the drop even larger.
Student participation in career and technical education had also declined during the era of No Child Left Behind, the 2002 federal law that required increasing the percentage of students proficient in math and reading by 2014. Meanwhile, an emphasis on testing dominated education policy during the same time period, which maintained focus on tested subjects like math and reading, and less on career development.
The proposal also calls for allocating $83 million to competitive grants to states. Proposing competitive grants suggests that the administration will look to fund states with the most innovative proposals. This is in contrast to just giving out money based on how many students a state may serve, which is how most of the federal funds for technical education are allocated.
Trump also wants to double fees associated with H1-B visas – visas that allow for the hiring temporary workers from abroad with high skills that are in short supply in the U.S. This hike could raise an additional $100 million or more. The idea here seems to be to use revenue collected from programs that use talent from abroad to invest in educating students here in the United States.
So, when Democrats (who are mostly white collar workers) get together and grumble about the mystery about why all those people we see on TV "vote against their own interests" it is just possible these folks are not voting against their own interests but are voting very much in their own interests, i.e. the interests of the people who keep homes and businesses running by insuring electricity, water, heat, cooling and building have seen Trump working to help them while President Obama constantly talked about getting more kids to go to college.
Obama's life, of course, was changed by going to college and then law school, so it's not hard to imagine why he talked about college so much. And it's easy to understand why people of color who look from the outside at those ivy walled campuses might think, if only we could get into that world, we'd be able to make the same easy money all those college men and women have been able to claim.
Of course, "the trades" are not easy. The money they make is not easy money. It's good money, but not easy money. They require significant intelligence and physical power and there's lots of emergency call which can make your life uncomfortable.
When I was 12 years old, my school made me take "Mechanical Drawing" which proved to be one of the most challenging, fascinating and illuminating courses I ever experienced in the 12 years of public schooling.
Trying to see an object from the discipline of the restricting your view to a single view was not intuitive and required me to struggle with problems of visual perception. I spent more time on this homework than I spent on algebra and geography, which worried my parents because Mechanical Drawing was a "minor" subject and something blue collar, and they wanted to be sure I grew up to be a professional, a doctor or a lawyer. Their own parents were tailors, and they wanted "better" for their children.
So, there was a class thing going on: Plumbers, electricians, HVAC workers might be important when you needed them, but they were blue collar and would never rise above a middle income status. Plumbers average $60,000-$130,000 annual income, which in most places in America allows for a comfortable life.
And this is a line of work which cannot be outsourced.
In the 21st century, work which cannot be outsourced to India and China may prove more stable and secure than some professional work. The radiologist, who had to go to college (4 years), medical school (4 years) and residency (3 years), now finds that the hospital has hired a doctor in India to read the CAT scan of the patient's head, because that scan is now on the internet and the doctor in India works for a company which underbid the group the American radiologist works for.
And beyond that, the whole notion of what work is important, worth doing, and what is valued is now more broadly appreciated. Just watch "This Old House" on TV and see the amazing stuff those construction tradesmen and tradeswomen can do.
One of the candidates for the U.S. Congressional seat in New Hampshire, some years ago, Deglan McEachern, said, "Hold up your hands if you think you can get a plumber to come out to your house tomorrow." Of course nobody in the crowd raised a hand. "This is what we need, not more college grads with degrees in basket weaving, but plumbers, electricians and other tradesmen."
He lost.
On the way out, the plumber mentioned that he has to undergo recertification every year with the federal government, as part of the apprentice program and last year they insisted he put up a poster at his office (which is in his home) saying that he endorses equal treatment for transgenders and gives telephone numbers where offended transgender apprentices can phone authorities if they feel abused. He said he ran track at UNH, and he ran the 800 meters and his times were always better than the women's world record. He said, "I could have gone to the Olympics if I were competing in the women's 800 meter event. But there's probably a reason they separate men's from women's competition."
Transgender Competing as a Woman
Later he added, "The thing about transgender, is it's got to be a disease, right? I mean who in his right mind would cut off his own balls?"
Broke all the Women's Records
Democrats have been preoccupied with being sure that 0.6% of our population which is transgender is not offended or disparaged. And I agree, nobody should be harassed or denigrated because of their gender or sexual identity, but from a strictly political, count the numbers viewpoint, transgender is a losing proposition. Trades training is where Democrats ought to be.
Some Psychopathology is Visible Augenblick
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