There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Long Overdueby Ryan McGreal, published June 30, 2021 in Commentary
(0 comments)
- Third-Party Election Advertising Ban About Silencing Workersby Chantal Mancini, published June 29, 2021 in Politics
(0 comments)
- Did Doug Ford Test the 'Great Barrington Declaration' on Ontarians?by Ryan McGreal, published June 29, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- An Update on Raise the Hammerby Ryan McGreal, published June 28, 2021 in Site Notes
(0 comments)
- Nestlé Selling North American Water Bottling to an Private Equity Firmby Doreen Nicoll, published February 23, 2021 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- Jolley Old Sam Lawrenceby Sean Burak, published February 19, 2021 in Special Report: Cycling
(0 comments)
- Right-Wing Extremism is a Driving Force in Modern Conservatismby Ryan McGreal, published February 18, 2021 in Special Report: Extremism
(0 comments)
- Municipalities Need to Unite against Ford's Firehose of Land Use Changesby Michelle Silverton, published February 16, 2021 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Challenging Doug Ford's Pandemic Narrativeby Ryan McGreal, published January 25, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- All I Want for Christmas, 2020by Kevin Somers, published December 21, 2020 in Entertainment and Sports
(1 comment)
- Hamilton Shelters Remarkably COVID-19 Free Thanks to Innovative Testing Programby Jason Allen, published December 21, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- Province Rams Through Glass Factory in Stratfordby Doreen Nicoll, published December 21, 2020 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- We Can Prevent Traffic Deaths if We Make Safety a Real Priorityby Ryan McGreal, published December 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(5 comments)
- These Aren't 'Accidents', These Are Resultsby Tom Flood, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(1 comment)
- Conservation Conundrumby Paul Weinberg, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Defund Police Protest Threatens Fragile Ruling Classby Cameron Kroetsch, published December 03, 2020 in Special Report: Anti-Racism
(2 comments)
- Measuring the Potential of Biogas to Reduce GHG Emissionsby John Loukidelis and Thomas Cassidy, published November 23, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(0 comments)
- Ontario Squanders Early Pandemic Sacrificeby Ryan McGreal, published November 18, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By moylek (registered) - website | Posted June 16, 2010 at 08:21:48
This jumped out at me, too, Michelle. When I was in high school, I knew a lot of kids for whom education was neither a priority nor, really, a possibility: some kids are not prepared for a long education and skilled work, some kids are too damaged for it, and kids are just plain dumb. My teacher friends tell me that - surprise, surprise - this has not changed in 25 years.
Some people are well suited to work which does not require education and challenge: I don't just mean that they can't do anything else, I mean that it's what they want. They just want to be told what to do, where to do it, and receive a fair wage for their day's labour, and then go home and pursue "recreation and culture". Some dumb people - even damaged people - live happy lives and give of their time and talents to their neighbourhoods and cities.
I'm all for our economy shifting towards more brain work and less grunt work - the trend has served us pretty well over the past few hundred years - but I get nervous whenever I hear talk which makes white-collar brain work sound like the "normal" thing do to, as if a manual labourer is merely a failed office worker. Granted, that might be true for many individual manual labourers, but not for all and I don't think that it should be true for our society as a whole.
Someone needs to build the roads, to raise the roofs, the collect the trash, to cut the trees, to dig the holes, and to clean the toilets. And the people who do these jobs need to be part of our society, not sad leavings or desperate brought-ins.
I'm not saying that we have ever put as much value on being a dustman as a doctor nor that we should, but rather that we can't aim our education and economic systems at producing a doctors' world in which the dustmen are merely embarrassing failures.
Comment edited by moylek on 2010-06-16 07:37:49
-- Kenneth Moyle Hamilton, Ontario
Permalink | Context