Posted By Daniel W. Drezner
Monday, February 27, 2012 - 6:16 PM
Share
Rick Santorum made some headlines over the weekend about calling President Obama a "snob" because POTUS ostensibly wants all Americans to get a four-year college degree. Here's the clip:
Now, most commentators are focusing on the "snob" comment or the broader thrust of Santorum's jeremiad against higher education or whether this will play in Michigan. I want to focus on the idiocy contained in the first part of Santorum's comment. This is important, because ostensibly one of Santorum's policy strengths is that he knows and likes manufacturing.
In the opening parts of the clip, Santorum says as follows:
I know what it means to have those manufacturing jobs at that entry level to get you in there, and it gives you the opportunity to accumulate more skills over time and rise, so you can provide a better standard of living for your family. And those opportunities are for working men and women -- not all folks are gifted in the same way. Some people have incredible gifts with their hands.
What's disturbing about this bit is that Santorum's ideas about manufacturing employment are so outdated. For an example, take a good, long look at Adam Davisdon's excellent essay in The Atlantic about how American manufacturing looks today. He zeroes in on two workers -- Maddie and Luke. Maddie is exactly the kind of worker Santorum wants to talk about -- a low-level worker with aspirations to move up. But read this part:
The last time I visited the factory, Maddie was training a new worker. Teaching her to operate the machine took just under two minutes. Maddie then spent about 25 minutes showing her the various instructions Standard engineers have prepared to make certain that the machine operator doesn’t need to use her own judgment. “Always check your sheets,” Maddie says.
By the end of the day, the trainee will be as proficient at the laser welder as Maddie. This is why all assembly workers have roughly the same pay grade—known as Level 1—and are seen by management as largely interchangeable and fairly easy to replace. A Level 1 worker makes about $13 an hour, which is a little more than the average wage in this part of the country. The next category, Level 2, is defined by Standard as a worker who knows the machines well enough to set up the equipment and adjust it when things go wrong. The skilled machinists like Luke are Level 2s, and make about 50 percent more than Maddie does.
For Maddie to achieve her dreams—to own her own home, to take her family on vacation to the coast, to have enough saved up so her children can go to college—she’d need to become one of the advanced Level 2s. A decade ago, a smart, hard-working Level 1 might have persuaded management to provide on-the-job training in Level-2 skills. But these days, the gap between a Level 1 and a 2 is so wide that it doesn’t make financial sense for Standard to spend years training someone who might not be able to pick up the skills or might take that training to a competing factory.
It feels cruel to point out all the Level-2 concepts Maddie doesn’t know, although Maddie is quite open about these shortcomings. She doesn’t know the computer-programming language that runs the machines she operates; in fact, she was surprised to learn they are run by a specialized computer language. She doesn’t know trigonometry or calculus, and she’s never studied the properties of cutting tools or metals. She doesn’t know how to maintain a tolerance of 0.25 microns, or what tolerance means in this context, or what a micron is (emphasis added).
It should be noted that Luke didn't get a four-year college degree either -- he went to community college. But that's actually consistent with what Obama has been saying on this issue. I'm not sure it's consistent with Santorum's worldview. Indeed, his notion that career advancement in manufacturing is possible simply through the sweat and skill of a person's brow is badly, badly antiquated. Which is something he would know if he, um... studied the issue a bit more.
UPDATE: I see Santorum's run of not-understanding-a-lot-of-economics continues.
EXPLORE:ECONOMICS, FLASH POINTS, ELECTION 2012, RICK SANTORUM, 2012 CAMPAIGN, ACADEMIA, MANUFACTURING, STUPIDITY SO STRONG IT BURNS 
Shocking, a politician that romanticizes blue collar opportunities; this is unique and new, please tell us more...........
Oh no, Obama was saying pretty much the same thing about manufacturing jobs in his speeches a couple of weeks ago:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/15/obamas_speech_on_american_manufacturing_113158.html
But those darn GOPers are so out of touch, stupid and crazy, how else can I feel good about voting for 9% unemployment...?
Maybe because the unemployment rate has been dropping and our own economic situation has stabilized to a degree?
Although Drezner is (seemingly) far less of a libertarian-leaning fiscal conservative than when he worked at The Atlantic, the good professor is--by his own admission--a RINO, due in large part to his generally centrist ideology and sharp wit. His pragmatic analyses simply do not jell with the current GOP rank-and-file members' policy positions, especially vis-a-vis the economy. That having been said, the professor has largely remained above the fray via admonishing moronic Democratic and Republican policy with equal vigor and wit. At a time of such hyper-partisanship, I think such discriminate targeting warrants applause, not an admonition and thinly veiled ad hominem attack.
we are all workers when computers can replace every job function
"This is why all assembly workers have roughly the same pay grade—known as Level 1—and are seen by management as largely interchangeable and fairly easy to replace"
this same reality is coming to a doctor's, lawyer's, college professor's, architect's job in the near future.
no knowledge based "profession" will be immune to the unstoppable wave of algorithms replacing humans.
I admit I got a bit of a chuckle out of Davidson explaining basic manufacturing concepts and business challenges to the readers of the Atlantic as though he was deciphering the Rosetta stone...
In fairness though, he more or less redeemed the article by finishing with the common sense observation that fixing the issues that middle and low wage earners face in this country will require dealing with a variety of our societal failings - like education and the war on drugs - rather than demonizing upper management for decisions they make to keep their business alive.
(And for the record, Davidson's insistence on tugging the heartstrings by painting a picture of a hopeless future for a bright, hard working woman because she does not have a crystal clear career path at TWENTY TWOI is idiotic.)
Why blogging in the first place?
So I thought I finally find a quality source of objective information and then I have to read such primitive name calling. It disgusts me to what low levels the political discourse in the US has fallen.
- Yes, many politicians from both parties make statements somewhat similar to Mr. Santorum, including his biggest opponent President Obama.
- Yes, Mr. Santorum's argument is understandable and not without any logic.
- Yes, in the big picture Mr. Santorum is probably wrong.
- Yes, the journalistic analysis is very well done and communicates an excellent point that should give politicians thought to (re-)consider their arguments..
- Yes, it is primitive and disgusting to call Mr. Santorum (and through association of having made similar points, President Obama) an idiot.
So, Mr. Drezner is reducing a great point to primitive cheerleading for those that never will need his arguments to get convinced of a different opinion anyway. And such a blog is supposed to add any value to a respectable magazine?!
1. "Primitive" (which you use three times) I'm fairly certain does not mean whatever you think it does. And "disgusting" is as bad a thing to say about someone as that they are an idiot, although I suppose you could say you were talking about his point, and not Drezner himself.
2. If you'd listened to the Santorum quote - which I don't get the impression you did - you'd have noticed that he said "what a snob" about the President with about as much contempt as you can put into your tone of voice. Drezner's headline was pretty clearly a reference to this.
3. Rick Santorum no more deserves benefit of the doubt than Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann. When a politician repeatedly makes a big deal of how their policy decisions are shaped by their interpretation of the Bible, they should quite frankly be assumed wrong until proven right on other issues they bring up in the future.
His genius on everything else?
If Rick can't figure this out, can the prospective mfg worker?
A very clearly stated argument Prof Drezner. I'm convinced, at least of this as a snapshot in time.
A note about Community Colleges. Not everything they teach is career-valuable. Like Tufts and others in the education business, they are willing to teach any sort of pablum that people are willing to pay for. Specific links between what local manufacturers or other employers need and courses offered has got to be invaluable to the prospective high value blue collar worker.
when a mechanic (such as myself) works on a car I might welcome some other good mechanics to talk to about the repair I'm doing, to use for support of what I not 100% sure about but believe is correct. If I take a child (my 5 year old grandson) and put him under my wifes car hood and tell him to replace the plugs, he 1st doesnt have a clue where they are, 2nd wouldn't know a wrench from a hair dryer, and 3rd would probably cost me my bed for a while!.
"Is rio orange war always forfait b and you inevitable ?"
MaximB
More or less redeemed the article by finishing with the common sense observation that fixing the issues that middle and low wage earners face in this country will require botox dealing with a variety of our societal failings - like education and the war on drugs - rather than demonizing upper management for decisions they make to keep their business alive.
His pragmatic analyses simply do not jell with the current gop rank-and-file members' policy positions, especially vis-a-vis the economy. That having been said, the professor has largely remained above the fray via admonishing moronic Democratic and Republican policy with equal vigor and wit. At a time of such hyper-partisanship, I think such discriminate targeting warrants applause.He more or less redeemed the article by finishing with the common sense observation that fixing the issues that middle and low wage earners face in this country will require dealing with a variety of our societal failings - like education and the war on drugs - rather than demonizing upper management for decisions they make to keep their business alive.
Daniel W. Drezner is professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Read More
May/June 2013
-
Profile
-
FP Power Map
-
Think Again
Follow us on Twitter | Visit us on Facebook | Follow us on RSS | Subscribe to Foreign Policy
About FP | Meet the Staff | Foreign Editions | Reprint Permissions | Advertising | Writers’ Guidelines | Press Room | Work at FP
Services:Subscription Services | Academic Program | FP Archive | Reprint Permissions | FP Reports and Merchandise | Special Reports | Buy Back Issues
Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Contact Us
11 DUPONT CIRCLE NW, SUITE 600 | WASHINGTON, DC 20036 | Phone: 202-728-7300 | Fax: 202-728-7342
FOREIGN POLICY is published by the FP Group, a division of The Washington Post Company
All contents ©2013 The Foreign Policy Group, LLC. All rights reserved.
(13)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE