Income inequality in the US

[wiggin]

I was saying not everyone needs a fancy degree that "pays a lot of money". Those degrees may not be as valuable, in the end, as a steady well-paying job like an auto mechanic. And $65/hr is nothing to sneeze at. Also, not to sound too snobby that right out of college your wife bills way more ($150ish). The time will come when you'll pay for a great auto mechanic or a great plumber.

Obviously there is a place for the plumbers and mechanics of the world - my old roommate is an electrician and sometimes plumber who will (eventually) do quite well for himself - mostly, he's spending something like 7-8 years living like a pauper getting his credentials working for someone else in order to set up his own business and do decently for himself. Hmm, sounds kinda like school now, doesn't it? He's making his labor much more valuable by the expertise he gains by, essentially, apprenticing himself.

Either way, there are no free lunches. People pay more for expertise, skills, and knowledge. One way to get this is through a post-high school degree or two (or three). It's not the only way, but it's a pretty good one for many professions. And on average the wage premium is quite high compared to just a HS education. It's not being snobby to say that, it's just reality.

You've never taken a tire off the rim, have you? And you've obviously never tightened the lugnuts either since you swing by a shop to have it done.

Wrong on both counts. But I've come to expect that.

[Being]

Wrong on both counts. But I've come to expect that.

And according to you it's easier to remove a tire from its rim than to tighten lugnuts.

[GGT]

wiggin, it's the way you refer to apprentices (living like paupers) that sounds snobby. Master Electricians, Master Plumbers, Master Carpenters are worth their weight in gold. No person with a fancy degree (or two, or three) can conduct business without these professional tradesmen creating their environment first.

[wiggin]

And according to you it's easier to remove a tire from its rim than to tighten lugnuts.

The equipment needed for tightening lugnuts is more expensive than a tire spreader. I didn't say it was 'easier' - obviously just tightening the lugnuts with a wrench is easy in that it doesn't take time, but hand-tight isn't particularly tight. Regardless, this is stupid. Believe what you want, the basic point about car care vs. healthcare is fairly obvious.

wiggin, it's the way you refer to apprentices (living like paupers) that sounds snobby. Master Electricians, Master Plumbers, Master Carpenters are worth their weight in gold. No person with a fancy degree (or two, or three) can conduct business without these professional tradesmen creating their environment first.

Of course they're important. But the reality is that to become a 'master' electrician/plumber/carpenter, you need to spend a lot of time working for someone else. The pay is hardly good, and you have to memorize a ridiculously large book full of code. It's school, with a certification at the end of the tunnel. Once you have it, you can strike out on your own and charge that premium you're talking about.

I'm not being snobby - I'm living like a pauper for 10 years so that I can have a BS and a PhD at the end of it. It's reality - you spend some of your potentially productive years learning for either no or little pay in exchange for an education and better earnings potential in the future.

[Being]

The equipment needed for tightening lugnuts is more expensive than a tire spreader. I didn't say it was 'easier' - obviously just tightening the lugnuts with a wrench is easy in that it doesn't take time, but hand-tight isn't particularly tight.

I'm not even going to comment this time, I'm too busy laughing...

[wiggin]

You never need to spend more than a couple hundred dollars on a tire spreader (unless you have some really weird wheels), but a good torque wrench set can set you back quite a bit more. Obviously you can get a POS of either for like $30 but that's not really the point.

Anyways, this is so far afield it's not important. The real difference between the two is time, which is irrelevant to whether a DIYer can manage it. This is the last I'm going to say on this particular topic - it's a waste of time.

[Nessus]

- it's a waste of time.

As opposed to the rest of the forum?

[']['ear]

Yes, Being gets his own category.