The Myth of Blue Collar Buffalo and the Josh Allen "Fit"

[SoTier]

On 4/19/2018 at 8:43 AM, DriveFor1Outta5 said:

True, but welders and nurses are blue collar workers. Ironic that you use them as an example while stating that blue calling workers rarely exist, and you call them ignorant. I’m not trying to discount your opinion or be abrasive. I just felt the need to point out that you talking about a class below what’s considering blue collar. The idea there are few blue collar workers remaining is a joke. We will need truckers, nurses, welders, construction workers, plumbers, etc well into the future. It seems trendy to say that blue collar work is dead (when it really isn’t), and that everyone will need to become a computer guy. Politicians have already paid the price for discounting and diminishing the power of blue collar Americans. 

Believe what you want. Most Hollywood actresses  look like rural Wal Mart shoppers without their makeup and plastic surgery imo. 

 

Somebody posted a whiney post about how horrible things were in Buffalo, and I responded by listing some of the reasons that I thought it was likely that poster made the claims that he/she/it did.  Those claims had nothing to do with whether an individual worked blue collar, pink collar or white collar, and everything to do with attitude because I have several well educated friends/acquaintances who whine exactly the same way.   You can believe the politicians claiming that you don't post-secondary education/training for success if you want, but remember that 99% of those spewing that BS have college degrees or more themselves, and you can bet that they aren't counseling THEIR kids that they don't need to get at least a two year degree. 

 

The future belongs to the educated and the skilled whether you like it or not -- and that's been true since the mid-19th century and the rise of the Industrial Revolution, and there's no turning the clock back.  It's no longer enough to learn to do a job a certain way because the new technologies and methodologies are changing constantly.  The days of working in the same place doing the same thing for the 30 or 40 years of your working life are long gone.  The pace of technological innovation is now growing by geometrical proportions, and that pace is only going to increase.  It's estimated that in twenty years, most jobs will be in fields/industries that don't even exist today.   Feel free to dig in your heels and choose to "go your own way", just don't come around me whining about how bad things are when you get left behind.

[DriveFor1Outta5]

2 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

Somebody posted a whiney post about how horrible things were in Buffalo, and I responded by listing some of the reasons that I thought it was likely that poster made the claims that he/she/it did.  Those claims had nothing to do with whether an individual worked blue collar, pink collar or white collar, and everything to do with attitude because I have several well educated friends/acquaintances who whine exactly the same way.   You can believe the politicians claiming that you don't post-secondary education/training for success if you want, but remember that 99% of those spewing that BS have college degrees or more themselves, and you can bet that they aren't counseling THEIR kids that they don't need to get at least a two year degree. 

 

The future belongs to the educated and the skilled whether you like it or not -- and that's been true since the mid-19th century and the rise of the Industrial Revolution, and there's no turning the clock back.  It's no longer enough to learn to do a job a certain way because the new technologies and methodologies are changing constantly.  The days of working in the same place doing the same thing for the 30 or 40 years of your working life are long gone.  The pace of technological innovation is now growing by geometrical proportions, and that pace is only going to increase.  It's estimated that in twenty years, most jobs will be in fields/industries that don't even exist today.   Feel free to dig in your heels and choose to "go your own way", just don't come around me whining about how bad things are when you get left behind.

Absolutely, but I still know countless truckers, plumbers, construction workers, and nurses who do not possess any degrees. None of these people who I know are doing any whining. To a large extent you are correct, but there are plenty of “uneducated” blue collar careers that will continue to exist well into the future. Many of the careers that I mentioned require technical training, but they do not require four year degrees.

 

There will always be a class of people who do nothing but whine, but it’s unfair to say that non four year degree blue collar jobs don’t exist. Who’s going to send all of the well educated folks their goods? Who’s going to wire the electric in the homes of the well educated? The answer is the blue collar worker, and they aren’t going anywhere. Factory work may be a thing of the past, but blue collar work is not. I’m not against education by any means, and I believe that vocational training of some sort is close to being a necessity. I’m just unwilling to say there is no place for those without advanced degrees.

 

What value does a bachelors a degree hold when everyone has one? The quality of a college education has decreased tenfold over the past 50 years. Universities used to have standards. They were reserved for those who actually possessed intelligence. I was struck by an admission quiz from the 50’s that I read online recently. It was filled with questions that very few recent college graduates could answer. We need to recognize that blue collar work isn’t a thing of the past, and use this to encourage vocational training rather than loading universities with people who don’t need to be there. Without this it becomes a. race to acquire the most degrees with college graduates left working at Applebee’s. Vocational training can help fill blue collar positions, and assist the workforce with acquiring necessary skills for the computer age.

 

I appreciate your very thoughtful response. Although I may not completely agree, it’s always nice to hear someone’s thoughts on these topics which I find of interest. 

Edited April 20, 2018 by DriveFor1Outta5

[The Frankish Reich]

Let me just say this is an interesting thread. Mods, please resist the temptation to close it or move it to OTW. It’s interesting because it reveals a lot about the Buffalo mentality. Equal parts civic pride and frustration. Longing for a bygone age but understanding that it’s never coming back and that things are generally .... kind of o.k. now; the steep decline is over, but growth isn’t exactly around the corner.

[BigDingus]

On 4/18/2018 at 1:06 PM, Buffalo716 said:

 

Now that is horseshit... 

 

there are tons of very very successful people in Buffalo and the city becoming more downtrodden over 50 years is far from their fault

 

how about all of the politicians and scumbags that have stolen from us...

 

yea Buffalo going down hill is totally all the citizens faults. Joke

 

While I disagree with the poster you responded to, and agree with most of what you said, the politicians thing CAN be blamed on the citizens of Buffalo.

The politicians are their choice. They only have the positions they do because Buffalonians elected them for those spots.

Not saying everything bad in Buffalo is the fault of the people, only that if people hated their politicians the past 50 years, they had direct control over whether or not to remove them from power time & time again.

 

I'd say what's more problematic to Buffalo is the city being located in the same state as New York City. All the high taxes and legislation passed to prop up NYC ends up impacting other smaller cities in the state in a negative way. Business relocate to more competitive environments, mainly in the South with less strict taxing policies & more benefits (like Texas), and the people of the city have no choice but to follow suit looking for better employment.

Then the city shrinks, money isn't there to pay for infrastructure and maintenance, taxes increase to cover costs, business go under or move to friendly pastures, people follow, and the cycle starts all over again.

Edited April 20, 2018 by BigDingus