Delray,
I saw exactly that while I was still in school, in the mid to late 1990's. Our senior project the was the SAE Mini-Baja. We had to design, fabricate and then compete with an all-terrain vehicle that was also buoyant and able to operate as a boat. There were only two of us that knew how to operate a wrench. I was astonished. I couldn't understand how someone could choose this course of study be unable to use simple hand tools. Fortunately for us, the other guy was good at welding and I was a decent machinist. Were were able to design and fabricate our parts and then assemble them as a working vehicle. The other guy was a motorhead and had built a wicked Ford Bronco that was his daily driver. I was a motorhead as well and built a 400 hp `77 Trans Am that was my daily ride. The rest of our team was about useless. Some of them were book smart but couldn't operate a screw driver if their lives depended on it. We tasked them with documenting our designs and producing the final report. They weren't even able to do that very well.
I still see this all the time in my career and still can't understand it. You gotta wonder why someone chooses this line of work if they weren't first inspired by the tools and machinery as a kid. This is precisely why I get along with the contractors that I deal with. They realize early-on that I can actually do their job if I had to.
Back to the initial topic, our county needs people that can design and build things. Not everything can be out-sourced, off-shored, or globalized. You cannot do everything with a computer or smart phone and doing great things requires getting your hands dirty. We are the adults now and as such we need to encourage the next generation to be enthusiastic about careers in design, engineering, fabrication, construction, and manufacturing. This has always been our strength and it is why our country has always been great. Think about the advancements we have made in aerospace from the early 1900's until the present day. Our country drove that and made it happen. Electronics, exactly the same thing. Metallurgy, chemistry, biology, medicine, etc...I'm sure you get my point.
While composing this rant I recalled an article that I recently read that talked about college debt and the alternatives to college debt. They provided statistics that showed a person who goes to trade school now will be more likely to own a home in less time than someone who incurred the debt of attending a four year college program. In two years or less you are working after (or even while) attending trade school. Your tuition is less, thus your debt is less. You can start saving for a home and retirement earlier. Not everyone is cut out for college or having a desk job. Most of the guys in the trades that I talk to couldn't imagine being trapped behind a desk. My favorite HVAC contractor has been running his own business for over 20 years. He has a 9th grade education. He's in his 40's now and is incredibly smart, funny, and witty. He made over one million dollars last year. I never met a poor electrician or a poor plumber. Those guys always have nice vacation homes and all the toys.
I could go on about this forever but the Eagle's game is coming on and I have beers to drink and wings to eat. Let's keep this going. We all need this kind of discussion. I'm growing weary of observing young people sitting at a restaurant , staring at their phones, and not speaking with one another. Get gotta do something!
-Ray