General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: United States has lost 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000 [View all]AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)So many people have gotten themselves into $50,000 to $100,000+ in debt just to be able to afford to get a degree. Not to mention that many college degree jobs require you to take on higher levels of stress than working in a manufacturing job.
In the movie: Capitalism, a Love Story, Alvarado Bakery (which primarily makes organic bread) was shown as an example of a worker co-op, where the employees share in the decision making and the profits, and a regular factory worker there makes more than $65,000 a year on average.
Longshoremen make $80,000 to $120,000 a year, because they are unionized, and can come home and worry about other things. Not so for lawyers, doctors, nurses, etc... who work way more than 40 hours a week (yes doctors and lawyers may make more but how much time did it take to get their degree, how much in student loans did they have to pay, and what good is making a lot of money if you have to suffer a lot of stress and don't have the time to enjoy it?)