Are We Doomed Because We Don't Make Our Own Products?

Why don't we make our own products anymore? Or Why You Should DIY And Teach Your Children To Do So!

I have some Google alerts to tell me when a new merchandise is introduced, when someone puts my e-book on a pirate site, and so on.

This afternoon a noted Engineer was speaking at a college ( I won't post the url or quote him verbatim) basically he was saying that in the Western world countries we are graduating less and less Engineers, Programmers, and Technicians than any other time in our brief Technological history.

Here is a news flash - The US of A Military released a study on the 'All Volunteer Force' that says 75% of all American teenagers are ineligible for service! Why? Obesity, criminal record, dropping out of high school, and drugs are the main reasons listed.

Think about that one for awhile. The one that gets my attention is the dropping out of high school. Is the curriculum so boring that it can't keep the students attention?

Now this in not cool. What it means is we as a civilization are beginning to spiral down the technological hierarchy to the lower level of users verses creators and fixers.

We are becoming more reliant on other countries that educate the engineers, programmers, technicians, inventors, and entrepreneurs that we now loosing that edge. With the decline of the technical education system in western countries other countries are picking up the slack.

When was the last time you bought an electrical product made in the UK, Germany, France, or the US of A? Ten years? Twenty years? And a car? Not the high priced hand made type, but the normal everyday get you to work car? The edge is shifting away...

Most of our countries have factories closed for decades that used to make those products. Why? Because it can be made cheaper somewhere else?

Maybe, but I think there is a different reason. We priced ourselves out of the labor market and dumb down our children to the point where when they get a job they have to learn how to count!

Think about it, ever watch a youngster count your change when you bought some thing with cash? Painful isn't it? When was the last time you added up a column of numbers with out a calculator or a spread sheet, ya me too!

Ever read an email or one of those online 'Social Networking' sites like Facebook or MySpace? The spelling, grammar, and punctuation is horrible! What the heck do they teach in school today? (I know and that is another article for another time).

We have gone from nations of risk takers and doer's to don't say or do anything that will be risky or may offend someone because you thought of the idea first.

When was the last time you checked the oil in your car? Actually did the oil change or a tune up? How about fixing a broken appliance?

Don't say you haven't because it has a 'computer' in it, most don't! Most people today don't want to get their hands dirty, but your Dad did it, so did your Grand Dad.

How many tools to you really own? Ten? The last handyman that came to fix your dishwasher cost you more than a good set of hand tools. We don't fix it anymore, we throw it away and buy another piece of junk.

You get the idea, if we don't start getting our children interested in science and demand excellence from them we will all be users, consumers.

How are we going to keep the standard of living we have to day when we don't have any domestic products? With services? Tourism? Farming? It won't last. We in our respective countries need to ask ourselves if we want to be servants or do we want to be in control of our future and our children's future?

It amazes me that we have let our educational systems be undermined for the more than thirty years. What are we thinking?

Well if we are that lazy then I guess we deserve what we get.

I for one will be promoting technology, home grown, home made, and DIY!

Teach them, lead them, don't let it slip away! Bring back the products we used to have. You know the ones I mean, the quality products that last as long as they used to, the ones you can fix!

So who you gonna call?

Learn to Do It Yourself or the next lay off may be yours!

Note: When I wrote this in early 2009 there seemed to be a (as President J. Carter put it in 1976) 'malaise' over the education system in the USA. Now in mid 2012 although most college graduates can not find a job because of the rescission gripping this great country those that do well and have a education in the sciences are finding decent jobs. So maybe we will turn this around and once again produce our own products of high quality.

It is now 2016 and four years later, the job market is still abysmal, college graduates are taking jobs (if they can find one) that used to go to high school graduates, and the high school graduates are lucky if they can find a job flipping hamburgers... It is sad, very sad.

Need a reference to help you or a Grand Child get a computer in tip top shape? Speaking of products...

Update 03/25/16 - I wrote this back in 2009 in response to an article I read, now over seven years later it has gone from very bad to extremely bad...

Update 02/20/20 - Have we turned a corner? The erosion of our educational institutions is still on going but we are fighting back, however the people that want to dumb down our children are still there and unless we realize that they are the problem not our children it will continue... ONLY YOU can make a difference, get involved!