Western Standard - May 02, 2024


Educational elitism has created the shortage of skilled labour we have today


Episode Stats

Length

4 minutes

Words per Minute

212.23941

Word Count

1,052

Sentence Count

57

Misogynist Sentences

3

Hate Speech Sentences

2


Summary

In this episode, I talk about why we don't need more liberal arts graduates, and why we need tradespeople to fill the gaps left by the lack of skilled workers in the construction industry. I also talk about how much better it would be if we focused on education and less on the liberal arts.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 I mean, economic times, they've been tough since governments around the world
00:00:03.380 decided to overreact and go bananas over COVID-19 in 2020.
00:00:08.160 They shut down aspects of the economy and they increased government deficit spending.
00:00:13.460 It was a recipe for mass inflation, so the outcome was as expected.
00:00:17.580 Of course, we had supply chain shortages that led to runs on consumer products,
00:00:21.480 while the currency creation of countries around the world shot prices through the roof.
00:00:25.540 It's going to take at least a decade before we see stable economic activity again.
00:00:30.360 Now, today in Canada, we're suffering from a housing shortage.
00:00:33.120 And it wasn't just COVID policies that led to this, that contributed.
00:00:36.200 The pandemic was just the final economic straw on an issue that's building for a long time.
00:00:40.440 We've had environmental regulations gatekeeping local governments.
00:00:43.480 They've been hindering housing starts as they have this obsessive focus on building up rather than out,
00:00:47.680 and they've stunted natural urban growth.
00:00:50.020 And of course, mass immigration has led to a huge increase in demand for housing
00:00:53.840 as over a million people a year flow into the country.
00:00:55.620 But let's say, let's say Canada figures it all out, and we're ready to get building.
00:01:00.880 Immigration, let's imagine, has been greatly reduced and is targeted.
00:01:04.080 City councils have stopped nasal gaining about rezoning, nasal gazing, and nasal, nasal gazing.
00:01:09.680 That's a tongue twister, isn't it?
00:01:10.820 About rezoning areas and began working on finding real ways to increase housing.
00:01:14.840 And the government somehow even managed to balance the budget and get inflation under control.
00:01:18.920 I know, a big imaginary world.
00:01:20.020 We'd still be left with a massive housing backlog to catch up on.
00:01:24.480 So the next question is going to be, who's going to build all these houses?
00:01:27.720 Well, in 2023 in Calgary, there were 30,500 job vacancies.
00:01:31.980 That's a lot of jobs, you know, vacant.
00:01:34.300 And nearly 7,600 of them were in construction.
00:01:37.140 And this trend is the same in every jurisdiction experiencing population growth.
00:01:41.240 While activists and politicians ramble about raising minimum wages
00:01:44.260 and finding ways to offer relief to baristas trying to pay off student loans,
00:01:48.560 they don't speak up much on the bidding wars that are happening in the construction market for labor right now.
00:01:54.080 Young people should be directed where the work is,
00:01:56.400 rather than trying to create markets where they don't exist.
00:01:59.360 We don't need more liberal arts graduates.
00:02:01.120 We need tradespeople.
00:02:02.620 There's been a stigma attached to the trades for decades.
00:02:05.760 And when I finished high school, I saw it myself.
00:02:07.600 I finished school in the late 80s.
00:02:09.540 I didn't have any idea what an apprentice was, even though I was finishing high school.
00:02:12.460 Well, do they not even teach you a little bit about that?
00:02:15.140 How do you even start in the trades if I'm interested?
00:02:17.360 But we were taught that your future is binary.
00:02:19.680 Either you graduate high school and go on to pursue a degree, or you're a janitor.
00:02:23.040 There was nothing in between.
00:02:24.580 Kids who underperformed academically, well, they might end up sent to a dreaded vocational school.
00:02:29.420 And they were considered objects of pity or shame.
00:02:32.360 The young folks who found themselves training for the trades, though,
00:02:35.060 despite the lack of guidance from the educational system,
00:02:37.600 usually did pretty well for themselves.
00:02:39.100 Instead of building up a debt of student loans, they went straight to the working world.
00:02:42.140 And if they got certified in a trade, well, they were pretty much set.
00:02:45.360 How many of you have seen any plumbers in the unemployment line lately?
00:02:48.020 Seen any electricians riding the bus to work?
00:02:50.440 Heard any carpenters complaining of being underemployed?
00:02:53.420 Journeymen in the trades are commanding high wages and good working conditions these days.
00:02:57.760 There have been ups and downs in the economy, but they've typically been always working,
00:03:00.900 and they're enjoying the benefits of hyper-demand for their skills today.
00:03:04.080 Can the same be said for people holding a degree in interpretive dance or philosophy?
00:03:08.580 Usually the only thing you can say to those graduates is,
00:03:11.180 yes, please use skim in my latte. Thank you.
00:03:13.760 Even if it isn't in a formal trade, there's many well-paying construction opportunities.
00:03:17.520 Heavy equipment operators, framers, drywallers, painters, they're all commanding high wages right now.
00:03:22.060 Even entry-level unskilled construction laborers are being offered over $20 an hour to start in Calgary right now.
00:03:28.180 What's the pay scale for a person with a degree specializing in gender studies or intersectional South American poetry these days?
00:03:36.000 There's nothing wrong with any other job, for that matter, as well.
00:03:39.560 And looking at the listings online, I see janitors, the ones I mentioned earlier,
00:03:42.360 they can make $20 an hour, and who's to say they don't move on to develop a cleaning business and make a lot more?
00:03:47.620 We've allowed elitism to take over our education system.
00:03:51.560 A large number of teachers are embittered liberal arts graduates who enter the field in pursuit of good pay and a pension rather than a love of teaching.
00:03:58.620 They still harbor a disdain for the world that forced them to work at Pizza Hut for years
00:04:02.460 before admitting their tribal music degree wasn't going to pay their bills,
00:04:06.640 while the students who went into the trades or went to the oil field, of course, were buying big trucks in their first homes.
00:04:10.680 They pass that attitude down to the students as they stigmatize non-academic career paths.
00:04:15.540 Even if unconsciously, Canada's education system has failed to create the skilled people we need for today's demands,
00:04:22.500 and we're all paying the price for that now.
00:04:24.380 It'll take years before the students of today are ready to take on the labor needs of tomorrow,
00:04:27.800 but there's no better time than now to start changing our paths.
00:04:31.080 AI, that's the big game changer, and it's going to be eliminating a lot of jobs.
00:04:34.680 It's foolish to direct students into fields vulnerable to AI replacement.
00:04:37.680 But it's going to be a long time before a robot's able to unplug your toilet,
00:04:42.020 especially after Taco Tuesday, or wire a new lighting system into your house, or change the shingles.
00:04:47.620 Let's start preparing kids for career futures that are going to be in demand.
00:04:50.740 And that means dropping the stigma applied to non-academic paths, and in particular, in construction and trades.