Very interesting, Brian. I followed my son's education and teacher's influence during his schooling, and learning a trade was definitely perceived as, to put it bluntly, dumb person's choice. I had the same education and upbringing and remember my own despait when art or any manual trade for that matter was respected as a hobby but no more. Even my Dad who made great furniture had suffered under that perception, so this was the third generation of people being told that a trade was really no good, that it would lead to poverty and mistreatment by white collar workers. It is that conditioning, IMO, that still lingers, and tradespeople are bearing the brunt of the depression and aggression because they are perceived as someone that can be kicked, and their work being worth less than academic work.
My son, always handy with tools, studied sound and media technology and despite a 1.1 degree result found himself unemployed and faced with the reality that 'real' industries in real life want real experience, not some greenhorn fresh out of uni. What does he do now? He emigrated to Australia and is doing an apprenticeship in carpentry. To my mind a course of events that may well have had a different outcome if he had encouragement outside of the home, too, that manual dexterity and skill is worth admiration and respect, no more or less than any other ability.
And that lack of confidence in the worthiness of a trade rubs off on so many tradesmen, the kind of attitude, if 'they' think I'm a moron I might just as well behave/work/think like one. I listened to Mr Dyson speak once, where he lamented that invention and engineering has gone out of the country, and it's the same reason, and it's such a shame. What happened??, to make making and fixing things so unfashionable? It takes strong characters, strong conviction and the personal pride in quality work to make a difference in this tide of negativity, and the message has to change from school age onward, the message should be of pride and recognition of the trades. Those who determine the fashions and attitudes are those that have been conditioned all wrong. Conditioning can be overcome by personal contact and rapport and mutual respect, so that is the only way on an individual level the industry can change for the better and realise without its tradesmen and women there won't be an industry.
