What "skills gaps" are lacking among the lower 50% of Americans?

Question

In ref to today's news article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071012/bs_nm/irs_income_dc&printer=1;_ylt=AmxV8rxBKAvYja2d8TnQbR2b.HQA

To clarify my question above, Bush innocently says the reason for there being such wide disproportional distribution of wealth in the U.S. is because of "skills gaps." Without turning this into a classist issue, what skills is Bush referring to? Skills like: being born into priviledge? selfishness? the ability to lobby and get tax breaks? focusing on one's vested interests instead of the safety of the environment? supporting war to secure a region's oil? Or, are the skills Bush refers to as in a state of "gap" simply the same thing as the good old fashioned American job--as if the only thing we need to do is teach the lower 50% of the population the skills to get a job and that will balance the scale?

jurydoc quotes Bush as saying: "what needs to be done about the inequality of income is to make sure people have got good education" --so like I said, good education in WHAT, how to get away with tax fraud? Bush suggests education is all you need to stop the disproportionate amount of money skewed into the hands of the top 21.2%, but at the same time the government profits from student loans, tuition rates are climbing, and student aid is measly. The lower classes are at an immediate disadvantage for hoigher education. Education also does nothing to stop the people born into weathy families or who attain places of authority (like Bush) and then make decisions based on their desire to maximize their own monetary profit.

Answer 1

It's a shame, and I hate to say it, but the basics, reading, writing and arithmatic are lacking in a huge portion of our society. I work with people that don't know how to phrase a question, let alone write a clear and concise email.

When I worked as a manager in bank operations we had to hire temps for a while as we were going through a merger. The people they sent me didn't know where a decimal point was suppose to go when working with dollars and cents. I'm not kidding. I don't know how they used money every day.

When I went back to school in 1996, the freshmen in my English Composition class didn't know how to write a sentence let alone construct a paragraph. It was pitiful. I don't know how they got into a university.

My Father taught high school for 35 years, he watched it get worse and worse as more children got shoved through the system without merit. He was instructed that he could not give students that did not show up for class a zero grade. He happily took early retirement.

Don't be mistaken, there is a definite line drawn, and it is not just by class, of children that are learning and those that are not. The reasons are volumous, from mainstreaming and the elimination of special education to not providing technical schools for children not suited for the traditional classroom.

But the problem doesn't start and stop with the schools, it is also cyclical in families coupled with a lack of discipline in all classes. There was a time when my Father got results from calling a kid's parent, then at some point it turned into arguements... "not my kid!"

Another serious problem with employing the "lower 50%" is criminal background checks, and the unwillingness of employers to give those that have been convicted of a crime or incarcerated an honest job. Most, if not all, of the major chain stores perform the checks. My last 3 employers, a bank, a law office, and now a pharmaceutical research company, all performed checks.

Another problem with Bush's arguement is the lack of living wage jobs available. Even if we could get everyone employed, there are not enough jobs that would pay the "lower 50%" enough to keep them even above poverty level.

If you work 40+ hours a week for say $7.50 an hour, where is your incentive to keep working? You know what they say about money talks, bullsh!t walks...

Answer 2

"Scholars attribute rising inequality to several factors, including technological change that favors those with more skills, and globalization and advances in communications that enlarge the rewards available to "superstar" performers whether in business, sports or entertainment.

In an interview yesterday with The Wall Street Journal, President Bush said, "First of all, our society has had income inequality for a long time. Secondly, skills gaps yield income gaps. And what needs to be done about the inequality of income is to make sure people have got good education, starting with young kids. That's why No Child Left Behind is such an important component of making sure that America is competitive in the 21st century."

This is from the Wall STreet Journal report cited in the Yahoo article.

Answer 3

I don't know why it's less than 25%. Part of the reason is probably because most people don't leave North America and until recently you didn't need a passport for the Caribbean or Canada. I think you make some unsubstantiated assumptions. Not everyone has the means to travel to Europe or Asia. People have other priorities. Also, because a person doesn't have a valid passport now doesn't mean they've never had one. I can imagine that as people get older some don't bother renewing the passport.

Answer 4

I know what you mean, my husband and I both work really hard, full time. We are educated (some college, but neither had the money to finish). We obey the law, don't drink/do drugs, don't ask for assistance, don't waste money, don't cheat on our taxes, have no credit card debt, car/student loans, but we are still in the "lower" 50% of americans. Living expenses are unbelievable....healthcare, childcare, insurances, etc...We can't seem to get ahead, or even get a down payment on a house for that matter. So....what skills are we lacking? I don't think any....I just don't think there is a fair balance on wages/tages in the US.


And to Right on....my husband is a skilled manual laborer, and I work on a computer....so what now?

Answer 5

You need a skills gap to run an economy otherwise you end up like England.

Exams get easier - kids get higher marks - think they are better than low skilled work - refuse to take the jobs on offer - become scrounging whingers - more immigrants come in to do the work they refuse

Pretty soon you will need a degree to be a dustman. Not because it has all of a sudden become skilled but because degrees are now worth 1 GCSE fail!!

Answer 6

Yah a lot of it above and some own wasy of doing things!

Answer 7

the "skills gap" are the people that keep the country running.

Answer 8

Language, writing and math skills.

Answer 9

Americans are the most clever people in the world...

Answer 10

Americans do not want to learn how to work with their hands other then of course the key board of a computer.
I think it is becoming obvious that Americans do not want to get their hands dirty.. So it makes those who know how to work rich.