this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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Economics
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Pay more.
Manufacturing jobs are damn boring. Having worked at a manufacturer (as the IT guy). Workers on the floor spend 8 hours a day doing the same task all day. It's boring af.
So have been working the same job for decades, but moving up? Not happening. You could be a manager and get a few dollars more an hour.
You can get a factory job easy. Stay clean and show up. You just won't be rolling in money.
I think there is something of a concerted effort to lionize these boring jobs that used to support a family.
It is amazing how many country / blue grass songs are about coal mining.
The thing the wealthy don’t seem to understand is that what made these jobs worth identifying with was that they could support a family. People were proud to provide a good life for their loved ones.
They are hoping they can get people to identify with the jobs, be proud of them, without having to hold up their end of the bargain.
The entire world right now seems to be the wealthiest people going “can’t I have a little bit more though?”
I think some of lionization may have roots in the need to recognize and legitimize those professions as a prerequisite for unionization, and to recognize post hoc the men and women who struggled to unionize and get respect in the form of reasonable working conditions and pay.
Coal mining has almost never been enough to support a family, though it was regular work. Regular work is a thing of the past in Appalachia.