Needed now and next decade: Electricians, roofers, plumbers

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

29. Not everyone who will make a good plumber or electrician gives

a flying fuck about literature, history, or philosophy. And they shouldn't need to.

Don't get me wrong. I'm the person who has always loved learning for its own sake. I took calculus when I was 47 because I was just loving math. I have a son who's a physicist and who I call frequently to ask questions about things in his field. And even though I think everyone should love learning the way I do, I understand that a lot of people out here simply aren't that way. And I don't want to cut them out of education just because they don't love that stuff.

When I first started college, back in the mid 1960s, schools typically had distribution requirements that included humanities, math, science, and foreign language. They were operating on a model from the 19th century, that had students already versed in the humanities, who were happy to learn foreign languages, who agreed that a foundation in math and science was essential. But things changed. And they mainly changed because the kind of person going to college was vastly different. And college itself changed. A lot. It was no longer the place that "gentlemen" received a specific and limited kind of education appropriate to their class. It had become something that many others participated in, including women (oh horrors!). There could no longer be the presumption that those attending college had a common background. Nope. Now people from all across this amazing and diverse country, who only had a very rudimentary basic common education, were now attending college. And this change was not a bad thing at all.

Here's the thing. A lot of people who will make excellent plumbers or electricians just don't give a flying fuck about literature, history, philosophy, or other parts of higher education. And why should they? Let them learn plumbing and electrical stuff. If they really are interested in other things, they can read or attend classes later on. Meanwhile, they can earn a living.

Your example of a plumber who is a philosopher is an anomaly. Which isn't to suggest there's anything wrong with him, but is to point out that he's far from the typical run of plumbers.