Originally Posted by Bristoe
Originally Posted by JoeBob
Would you have been a machinist if you had been required to take seven years of schooling and come out with $250k of debt when done?

You can be a machinist today without paying a bunch of money.

If you want to talk about attending elite universities and such, that's one topic.

But the working class opportunities that were available to me are still there today.

And the bottom line is, most Boomers spent their lives working at a job. I've showed you a job that's available to*day* that pays a good wage and has benefits.

There's undoubtedly others.

I can understand why someone wouldn't want to make the sacrifice necessary to work those types of jobs. They're a tough way to make a living.

But the vast majority of people who have had success "working" have had tough jobs. In the working class, the best money is made in the tough jobs. Not all of the tough jobs pay good money. But all the jobs that pay good money require a sacrifice.


Sure, but what if someone wants to be a doctor? That’s the point. Fifty years ago he could have gone to the best schools in the world and had very little to no debt when he got done. Not so nowadays.

You know, when I was a kid, I went to work in construction as a laborer to make some money or school. Had I been so inclined, I don’t think I would have had any problem getting on as an apprentice in a trade and before too long being one of the skilled hands. It would have been a good living. We had one guy from Mexico on our crew. I couldn’t do that now. I wouldn’t get hired as a non-Spanish speaking white guy.

Still lots of room for success for people willing to work, but a society will not exist for long if it requires exceptional effort and ability to succeed. Society has to be able to provide avenues for the marginal to do pretty well too.

If you want to argue that millennials are a bunch of pussies, I won’t argue. But they have a point too.

Last edited by JoeBob; 03/19/23.