" wrote in
:

On Sat, 21 Jul 2012 23:31:03 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On Sat, 21 Jul 2012 19:14:29 -0700 (PDT), "Gramp's shop"
wrote:

Here's an interesting piece found in the online New York Times
equating the business practices at HD to the general decline in
craftsmanship in our country:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/bu...-to-the-crafts
manship-spirit-essay.html?_r=1&hp

Remember that quote in Pogo "we have met the enemy and it is us".

Sometime in about the 60's or 70's, society decided that blue collar
work was not as good as white collar and professions where you did not
do that manual labor. College was more affordable and Dad, who worked
on the line an a factory, was able to send one of his kids off to
college.

Hmm, am I wrong, or did Home Depot become ubiquitous sometime after
the '60s or '70s?

Perhaps college should be made more affordable. Perhaps professors
should actually teach and student loans should be abolished (or at
least greatly reduced)? Maybe get rid of scholarships, too.

I think we should emphasize ability more. Guess what, I'd like to make
education more affordable. For anyone who can show ability and
dedication to persevere. Invest in talent. Do reward good students,
good teachers and good researchers. But set limits.

Technology was starting to boom. Hey kids, become a computer
programmer and you'll never have to clean under your fingernails
again. Make lots more money than dad ever did down at the mill.

Cameras, stereo systems, Pong, and a Commodore 20 became affordable
and it was imported, mostly from Japan. Big box store replaced the
corner store and offered discounts. We like discounts. Oh, if I send
my manufacturing off shore, I can offer discounts and sell cheaper
too. Yay, now we get all that new technology cheaper than ever.

We want cheap. We demand cheap.

We also demand good, if not cheap. That's something that went missing
in the '70s and '80s.

We should discourage instant gratification ...

Hey, why is that factory torn down and another shopping mall going up?
Great, it will have a big store that sells stuff from China.

Need a house? 0% down and low interest for the first five years.
Sure, you can afford it and can re-finance later.

Money is just about free now. What's that got us?

Bankers are (wrongly, IMO) in it for the profit that loans give NOW.
Somehow a focus on more long term yields, away from short term results,
is needed. People should qualify for the loans they take out. Of course
that gives the problem of the artrist-type with a good idea, but no track
record (just an example). I don't know how to solve that. Obviously I
would not want to get blamed for somone's inabaility to get financing
because he is from a ghetto background with no track record ...

--
Best regards
Han
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