You have people like Mike Rowe who started out making this point ok, then it turned into what seemed like a step away from "higher education bad" when obviously that mindset and the lack of ability to think critically has gotten us to, well... here. But that's probably also a result from making it so prohibitively expensive for a lot of people that I don't blame them for saying "screw it".
I'm not really going to have a point, because if I had a solution I'd be in public service pushing for that solution to be implemented.
This is a tough one, and an unfortunate casualty of the extremism of America. Because Mike Rowe, and incidentally even the "This Old House" crew that he partners with, have identified a huge defect in skilled tradespeople. There is a "skills gap" forming. The problem happens when something as simple as we need more people that build things turns into the "nO OnE waNtS to wORk AnyMorE!!!!" or "wE liVe In moDErn tIMes, WHy dO KiDs nEEd to hAvE bLacKsMithIng skILLs!!!!" whine of the extremists on all sides.
Our community talking about this, kind of side skirts the issue because as a whole airline pilots are people that have time, skills, and the money to get things done. Myself, I had some formal training in building stuff, and some light apprenticeship in doing some constructions stuff when I was younger, (including paying tradespeople to shadow them when they were working on my own stuff) I had a grandfather that taught me woodworking as a child, I've watched a million videos, read books... and taught myself how to build stuff. I'm slow, but I can run my own electrical, wire boxes, work somewhat confortably in my main breaker box, sweat pipe, frame stuff, hang drywall, mud, install cabinets, plumb things, tile, paint... most people can't. They need skilled and qualified people to build and remodel their homes, commercial spaces, and etc.
It's hard. Home improvment shows make it seem easy. Real Estate flipping shows make it seem that you can replace old stuff with new particleboard junk and make huge profits. Nothing addresses the root cause that well, not everyone should go to college. Nor does it address the root cause that a high school education is getting worse and worse and that younger kids are coming out of the public education system without the life skills needed to survive in the world. My SIL teaches in a district like that. You have educators working their asses off in a system that is underpaying, underfunding, and undereducting - all the while both sides are saying eDuCAtiON FIrsT!!!! (and both sides are doing it completely wrong)
So, yeah, Mike Rowe talks a good game. Opera singer, QVC host. He panders to a certain type of audience. (FOX News watching, etc.) On it's face there are a lot of low hanging hypocritical talking points you can throw at him. He's a media guy, he's never been a tradesperson. The politcicans that champion issues, activitsts that champion issues... they very rarely are the thing that they champion. He sells ideas. He also devotes his time and energy to try to do something, what he belives will make a net positive change and move the needle, about a industry that at some point we all need. People that build and fix the places we live.
I guess my point is that there are a lot of broken systems and industries out there. They are all going to require a lot of fixes. There is a bill coming due, no matter where you sit politically... no matter who you blame... it's doesn't change the fact that the flight path needs to be corrected.
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