In America I came across a series of books on variety of subjects titled 'For Dummies'. Everything from preparing taxes (that is daunting) to cooking to using the newest Apple computer was bundled under the Dummies title and clearly was making a killing selling it. A recent news article also showed an MIT engineer professing that he needed help setting up his latest HD TV at home since the manual and the remote control were beyond his technical capabilities.
Now I am not sure whether to believe that the American spirit is so honest as to admit that most of them are essentially stupid as to require 'Self Help Dummy' books to manage their day to day lives or that things are so out of control that having the Dummy book is part and parcel of modern civilization?
'Youtube' is its online incarnation where a so called expert has posted his attempt at fixing that leaking plumbing or changing out that battery in his dad's Datsun convertible. I am not sure if Datsun made convertibles but you get the idea.
I conclude that American's are not as much stupid as the newer generations are getting lazy without that gung ho explore and you shall find spirit. They would rather someone post this easy to do guide or book or video so they can repeat and move on. Their earlier generations were more handy than an average Indian bloke visiting this country for example where I did not even know what a 2x4 was let alone what a Dremmel could do. Plumbing was taboo subject as was running a ROMEX wire through the house to a new junction box.
Every civilization specializes on what its circumstances dictate and I found that many an American person has had some exposure to managing basic fix it tasks at home through watching an earlier generation. Same goes for the newest video gaming devices that today's generations use where I find myself lacking.
Now which of these skills will prepare you for the long term is also subject of much debate with jobs market being a guide. We are running at high unemployment levels not because there are no jobs but because the handymen of America with their self help dummy books are not trained in the skills that the US economy so desperately needs. Bill Gates and his peers scream for the new generations to learn science and math and engineering so they too could grab those lucrative jobs but just like not wanting to toil in a potato farm comes easy these generations are unwilling to burn that midnight oil and get through these tough college programs and therefore into those high end jobs.
Too bad since the immigration channel will gladly fill those open positions since the rest of the world likes to crank out the supply needed to meet this demand. Politicians have a field day using all this to craft their newest wedge issue - perhaps they need the JOBS for DUMMIES guide to explain what is really wrong with their economy?
Now I am not sure whether to believe that the American spirit is so honest as to admit that most of them are essentially stupid as to require 'Self Help Dummy' books to manage their day to day lives or that things are so out of control that having the Dummy book is part and parcel of modern civilization?
'Youtube' is its online incarnation where a so called expert has posted his attempt at fixing that leaking plumbing or changing out that battery in his dad's Datsun convertible. I am not sure if Datsun made convertibles but you get the idea.
I conclude that American's are not as much stupid as the newer generations are getting lazy without that gung ho explore and you shall find spirit. They would rather someone post this easy to do guide or book or video so they can repeat and move on. Their earlier generations were more handy than an average Indian bloke visiting this country for example where I did not even know what a 2x4 was let alone what a Dremmel could do. Plumbing was taboo subject as was running a ROMEX wire through the house to a new junction box.
Every civilization specializes on what its circumstances dictate and I found that many an American person has had some exposure to managing basic fix it tasks at home through watching an earlier generation. Same goes for the newest video gaming devices that today's generations use where I find myself lacking.
Now which of these skills will prepare you for the long term is also subject of much debate with jobs market being a guide. We are running at high unemployment levels not because there are no jobs but because the handymen of America with their self help dummy books are not trained in the skills that the US economy so desperately needs. Bill Gates and his peers scream for the new generations to learn science and math and engineering so they too could grab those lucrative jobs but just like not wanting to toil in a potato farm comes easy these generations are unwilling to burn that midnight oil and get through these tough college programs and therefore into those high end jobs.
Too bad since the immigration channel will gladly fill those open positions since the rest of the world likes to crank out the supply needed to meet this demand. Politicians have a field day using all this to craft their newest wedge issue - perhaps they need the JOBS for DUMMIES guide to explain what is really wrong with their economy?
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