I saw this a few months ago, and it was quite interesting, at least to me, especially in regards to the proclivities of the American workforce and manual labor. I thought you guys might find it interesting as well.. All points made in the video seem to me to be spot on, what are your thoughts?
SoldierHawk
Moderator
Title: Warrior-Poet
Joined: Jan 15 2009
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 6108
Posted:
Dec 22 2009 05:23 pm
See, this is why I love Mike Rowe. I've seen this before but I still love it.
I completely agree too; some of the happiest times of my life were working on the ranch. Also, for the record, I have castrated many, MANY lambs--and kids (baby goats, sickos, not human kids) and foals. We never, ever used a knife though, since the band method is a lot safer and more sanitary (and since we had many, many children who come to learn about animals at the ranch and we didn't want to traumatize the hell out of them.) And for the record, the banding doesn't hurt the little guys nearly that much--if the lamb doesn't get up for a DAY, you've done something very, very wrong. I've banded dozens upon dozens of baby animals, and the most they ever did was walk away with a limp for a few hours while they adjusted to the band. As soon as the blood flow is cut off (which is very quickly if you did it right) the pain and discomfort stops for them. I have a feeling this sheep herder liked using his knife (which I understand; it IS easier if you know what you're doing) and wanted to make a point. He obviously succeeded, but I still don't like it. There IS a reason the humane society advocates banding and not cutting.
Anyway, my two cents.
William Shakespeare wrote:
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
TheThunderThief
Joined: Jun 07 2009
Location: Ditka's Moustache
Posts: 415
Posted:
Dec 23 2009 12:20 am
I have friends that relate to this story in some ways, some who have collegiate degrees and are miserable and some skilled tradesman (electric power linemen, welders etc.) who couldn't be happier, some of my friends who have decided to "follow their passion" aren't making squat and can't seem to grasp why my tradesmen friends are doing so well which seems easy enough for me to comprehend that not only are the jobs rather taxing in most aspects, but they are in high demand as there are less people going into these fields as a direct result of the "War on work" as he so calls it.
ETA: Yeah, Mike Rowe is fucking awesome, ever see any of the clips they have of him when he was working for QVC, he's hilarious, you can tell he absolutely hated it there, making cracks about the shit he was selling in the graveyard time slot, most of it probably flew right over the casual watcher of QVC's heads.
Burt Reynolds
Title: Bentley Bear
Joined: Apr 07 2008
Location: California
Posts: 1399
Posted:
Dec 23 2009 12:41 am
I think using your body does wonders for your overall happyness, and a lot of trade jobs are labor intensive. It gives you a feeling of accomplishment when the day is done, and you don't have to go to the gym and run on a treadmill for an hour because you worked your ass off all day.
That said, I love my job as a graphic designer, though the feeling of accomplishment is different. 90% of the time I make lame crap, but that 10% when I get to do something that I can put my all into, it feels good, especially when it's something that is going to be mass published. Still, sitting at a desk all day can drive you nuts, and I can totally see how a hard working, labor intensive, job could be satisfying. I feel good when I'm done working out at the gym, but that is only for my benefit, not the greater good of my community.
Dances with Wolves 2 is gonna ROCK!
TheRoboSleuth
Title: Sleuth Mark IV
Joined: Aug 08 2006
Location: The Gritty Future
Posts: 2739
Posted:
Dec 23 2009 11:02 pm
Nifty stuff overall, although I dislike his statement about the media propping these guys up as either trash or heroes instead of just guys, shortly followed by extolling their wisdom like some modern day noble savage.
OSHA is pretty damn good. No system is perfect, but for the most part OSHA is only resented by people who do not remember the time when losing limbs or being exposed to toxic chemicals was a given on many jobs. That is to say, the very definition of entitlement.
Also, just to note, that skilled labor is not necessarily a given of happiness. For one of relatives (a successful landscaper), its a great job and he is satisfied with life, it brings money and the hard work is rewarding. For my grandfather (a trained butcher), it was poverty and backbreaking labor(carting a side of beef is tough, and his arm no longer bends from a work related injury), and it ended his marriage of 20 years. My great uncle was a very happy priest, my brothers an unhappy chef, and my cousin is a happy violinist for an orchestra. I'm not sure what makes one happy or not happy at a job. It depends.
The labor market will correct as people, noting the lower requirements and high level of pay, start entering these sorts of fields. Also, the local program Job Corp trains people for these sorts of things. Good luck to them.
