Skilled Labor - Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am a big fan of education. I love to study and ask questions and let my intuitive nature run wild. But as I also mentioned earlier, too much of today's education is merely for education's sake. And while reading, writing and arithmetic are essential, many courses are impractical except for further study in that particular field. I use math and geometric theroms every day as a contractor. I don't use much algebra, functions or statistics, however.
My point being this: education has become geared for more education. It's breadth and scope being much more vague and lacking in practical purpose.  Those of us who would prefer to spend our days in the wood shop or welding room are viewed as slackers, not wanting to apply ourselves by slaving over hours of AP course homework. 
This paradigm doesn't stop at high school.  The same can be said of those who go to tech school, or who choose simply to start working as a skilled laborer right out of high school.  Those of us who have chosen to work in the trades are viewed as having "consolation" jobs.  The mindset of society seems to be that those who work in the trades do so because they are neither intelligent nor ambitious enough to work in a field requiring a college education.  Or perhaps they have a college degree and couldn't find work in their respective field so they work in "second place" jobs.
I, for one, have a 4 year college degree, and have not attempted to find work in my field of study.  I know several other friends and mentors in the trades who also have good degrees from good colleges, but choose to work in the trades because they are good at it, and enjoy it!
Those who know me know that I am big fan Mike Rowe, host of the show "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel.  I think he is a great host and it's interesting to see the various people and families that do the work featured on that show.  As I was doing some research a while back for this blog, I was thrilled when, perusing through some construction-related discussion forums, I stumbled upon one hosted at mikeroweWORKS  There I found a video of a speech Mr. Rowe gave to a congressional committee on this very topic - skilled trade labor!  It is a phenomenal speech; it was as though he was reading my mind.  Check it out here! (click the TV screen on the center of the page)
As Mike Rowe rightly points out in his speech there is an interesting trend going on right now.  Unemployment has been on the rise, or holding steady, yet there is a large demand for skilled laborers.   Read through any classifieds section in a newspaper and you're sure to find them.  The jobs are out there, but there are fewer and fewer people being trained in how to do them.  These aren't jobs that just anyone can pick up as a consolation job when they aren't able to work in their preferred field.  These are not jobs you can learn how to do with a classroom education.  These are jobs that are learned by doing; by being taught by someone who has done them for years.  Skills that are acquired the good old-fashioned way... apprenticeship!