On 8/25/01 3:25 AM, "Eugene Leitl" <Eugene.Leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de> wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Aug 2001, Brian Atkins wrote:
>
>> Actually where I live, housing construction continues to boom to the
>> point where if we didn't have all those Mexicans moving here we'd be
>> in a real shortage of labor.
>
> A construction worker does most assuredly not "pound nails" all his life.
> They're sophisticated professionals, which use many materials and skills,
> and they typically become teachers of novice workers, and then business
> owners, which is not at all like pounding nails.
Indeed. My "high school education only" uncle, who did in fact work for
many years as a construction worker, eventually became the big nail-pounding
fish in a medium sized pond in that business when he started his own little
company. His estate (including the riding stables) sits in the middle of
one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the US, and he earned every penny of
it in the true fashion of the American Dream. I would say that his generic
1950s/1960s public education served him pretty well. However, I wonder if
he could have done the same if educated in today's system.
While agree that virtually no Mexican construction workers are going to do
the same, I also agree with Eugene that you can't assume that *everyone* is
limited to their initial conditions. After all, two-thirds of the
millionaires in the U.S. are blue collar workers.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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