600,000.
We are fucked.
If you know any younger folks who haven’t decided what they want to do or are looking for a path forward, here ya go.
Bustednuckles
Documenting The Death Of America
600,000.
We are fucked.
If you know any younger folks who haven’t decided what they want to do or are looking for a path forward, here ya go.
Well it looks like a heap of the experienced old farts that read blogs like Phil’s are going to become contractors to the DoW. You’ll be able to specify your own rates, it’s time that the workers who keep your country ticking over got paid their true worth instead of all that tax money going into the pockets of the corrupt politicians (a redundant tautology) who have conflicting interests.
The trades are in big trouble. I’m a plumber (doing strictly repair work, no new construction) and we are starving for fresh blood. There is a dearth of people entering the field anyway, and those who do generally want to do new construction as it is viewed as easker, cleaner work with regular hours (as long as the housing market remains propped up, anyway).
To make matters worse yet, there are so few naturally capable troubleshooters, which causes the repair side to suffer even more. Troubleshooting is both an art and a skill, and requires a certain mindset (logic, critical thinking, and ability to visualize how and why things work they say they do) to do well. I can’t speak for other trades, but suspect the situation is much the same in any field one looks at.
Got it in one, Big Ruckus D.
Decades long propaganda and the crisis of competence, are combining to cause systemic failure through “Idiocracy”.
Last year I had to clear and repair kitchen to septic drain lines under our manufactured home on block foundation (double wide! WOOHOO!). It was simple, NOT easy!!! Took this tree guy way too long. Had to crawl out and back in too many times, it was way too painful. I absolutely couldn’t rent a plumber.
The symptom reliever was a VA vicodin, a spaz tab and hot pad draped over my chair backrest. Next day, same thing.
I have urged both of my daughters to consider a Trade, have been for a few years now. My youngest today asked what it would take to actually be a welder, I told her about this great trade school that the Highschools near me offer and the job placements that they do after she gets certified, she was definitely interested. Sure beats an indoctrination degree in gender studies…
Bathroom to septic lines were plugged 6 months ago. I went under the house, found the problem but my hand snake wouldn’t clear it. I called three plumbers. First one wanted 2 grand to set up his power washer but wouldn’t go under the house, the other 2 wouldn’t go under the house, only wanted to run new lines. I was finally able to get a drill powered snake to unclog it. I had to recuperate for a week after each trip under. It was painful.
Yes, but I bet it was done right.
Another reason I do ALL my own work.
Age and decrepit body is getting in the way, though.
Plus, the training is very available and cheap. Where I live in Tennessee, the local community college offers intense training in multiple trades set to a cost less than that of the lottery subsidy (every Tennessean, essentially, gets somewhere between 5 and 6 grand a year for tuition). So it’s essentially free.
When I retired, I decided I wanted to learn some machinist skills so I looked into it. Sure enough, it was open to all, and even I could get the tuition relief. The only problem for me was that the instruction was 8 hrs a day for 16 months, and I wanted to travel.
If I were 20 yrs old I’d consider this, or one of their si.ilar offerings in welding, plumbing, electrical, carpenrty,etc. Even if I then decided to do something else, I’d have an important life skill in my pocket.
Well, I’ll bet before long there will be a lot of ex-govt workers look for a job… good money in welders, plumbers, electricians … etc..
Government workers are majority retards or faggots or both, and FedGov workers run somewhere north of 85% the same.
There is a small contingent of capable people that have the integrity to do the job they were hired for, mostly in rural areas where they came from, and the rest take credit for whatever work comes out right.
Globalism is dead, nationalism has a mortal wound or six, states are run by a Big City or two and their corruption, and even most counties are fucked-up from the neck-up…
Ultra-local, like .30-06 distance, is the only thing you now have any control over, and you better either know people or use your head for something other than a hat-rack if you want to survive this rolling shit-storm of incompetence and apathy coming our way.
My two sons in the 90s had problems in HS. The HS teachers were bad, the admin was bad, and the school board would not help. Me and my wife had to tutor our sons thru each class.
When each son finished HS on different years we gave them the choice of college or Trade School. They chose TS. Each chose a different trade. Cost was half a year of college and two years. Within 5 years they each made well over 6 figures.
Back in the late 80’s, I was making more as a self employed builder than my fresh out of college sister with a computer science degree.
The problem with available workers in the trades started around that time, when kids could go to a Community College for 9 months and come out with a cubicle job paying 60K. Carpenters and other trades usually had to put in 5 years or so before they made half that much, so guess what happened.
By the mid 90’s the average age of construction workers had risen to 48.
In the years since, I’ve seen growing interest in the trades by the younger generation, but somewhere along the line they forgot what actual work is.
They don’t show up on time, want too much pay for their skill level and are just plain lazy, with very few exceptions.
Nevertheless, I still tell every teenager to forget college and get a trade. Learn a trade early and you’ll always have work. And be self employed, establish your business, return phone calls promptly, don’t over promise and under deliver and you’ll have more work than you know what to do with.
Even if you don’t want to do something for a living, learn the basics of various skills so you can save time, money and worry later on in life.
I learned to fix cars and while I am not a full service technician, what I learned kept me eating for a year and a half after I lost my initial career. The same repair skills helped me excel with my current career in manufacturing.
My oldest is a GM Master Mechanic. He is 40 years old and has a family. His base salary is $140k plus $20k in bonuses. He makes more due to how fast he works on the high level issues that as the top person of the dealership they give him.
What the F is the military gonna need 600.000 plumbers and electricians for?
Grab a private and make him do it.
That’s 1 tradeperson for every 2 military persons.
I personally think she is fill of sh/t.
I did find that number a bit…interesting. that’s a hell of a lot of people for just a couple of trades in the .MIL, I’d like to know how they arrived at that projected need.
I went looking and found this:
As of June 2025, the U.S. Army has approximately 452,823 active duty personnel, making it the largest branch within the U.S. military, which includes the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force.
So that would be more people than the number of active duty personnel.
The shipbuilding industry is backed up for years, not only on new construction, but also on repair/refit. The fleet is aging, and new orders were deferred or canceled in favor of DEI bullshit.
The infrastructure to build and maintain vessels is way less than needed. The Nimitz class carriers are backed up for refueling and modernization. Each one needs multiple years worth of drydock time. The infrastructure and workforce aren’t there currently
Think about the numbers of tradesmen just one base needs to maintain things.
We have 750 military bases overseas in addition to the ones here.
In my town of less than 2500 people, we have several hundred tradesmen and they’re all busier than a one handed Cederq on pornhub.
I am a switch hitter… Bat left, throw right. Or, I can mess with ya, bat right. I have more class than pornhub, I browse the upscale paid porno sites.
DMM gets innerwebz comment of the century
Well, if they would hire this unbalanced, crippled old fuck I can be an electrician and I can do some welding. A bonus, I can treat any wounds you accumulate…
while working at the VA, I helped trade guys with their wounds.
didn’t happen often, but man did they give back way more than I did
for them. I was restoring a MGB-GT at the time (yeah, stupid) and they passed on lots of tips and tools about the welding I was doing.
as for Plumbers, they always made money. hell, I made quite a few bucks swapping out hot water heaters for folks. most of the time I was in and out inside of 2 hours and 3-400 bucks richer
and by fixing a old lady sink, I got a 24/7 guard on my shop.
she lived across the street and asked to borrow a tool one day.
I asked her why and what for. a easy 20 minute fix every now and then
That is what I am talking about! Barter your knowledge and skills for some thing tangible and it pays back a hundred fold. Sure it took you a few minutes, now you have a built in security system and I bet she baked you a few cookies and brownies every once in awhile and you made a good neighbor friend. I always do it for neighbors and when I need help 95% they are there for me, you have me fix or work on something and don’t reciprocate after a few times, you lost me forever.
no cookies, but she did bring over a damn good chicken diner a few times !
and ran off 3 assholes that where trying to break into my truck with a ball bat, no shit, she really did that.d
Both states and the feds throw up roadblocks to working in the trades. People get frustrated with the nonsense and get out or don’t form there own company/go independent. Insurance is a huge problem but license requirements are too. Insured and licensed for commercial property, heaven forbid you work on a house unless of course you pay the appropriate grift (I mean fee) to three different agencies. Also many trade schools as well as colleges refuse to accept each others programs not because the courses are different but just because they want the tuition money. For instance, if I take electrical circuit design course for an electrical engineer degree it does not count (at least in my case) towards a basic electric circuits course in a trade school and vice versa.
Good thig I learned to wire/plumb/roof/build/concrete/brick before I went to college. Thanks, Dad.
1/4 mile drag racing really sharpened my mechanical skillz too.
Come in mighty handy, it has!!
Oh yeah, computers, networks, programming and various other small abilities. While not as good at medical as Cederq, I can keep you alive until we hit the hospital…
The jobs that illegal invading aliens don’t even want to do.
Good. I hope the good ones get out and it collapses because the others would just follow orders anyway turning guns on us, just ask “The Bonus Army”.
Those who are out and get out can form the new military and the rest of us can back them up.
ps “Who Runs Barter Town”, we will.