Future of manufacturing in America

I think the whole idea is awesome. I've often thought about the very interesting journeys you and Paul had enroute to the development of your respective friction devices, sooo much learning.

And the grassroots idea of disseminated manufacturing is fascinating to me. For example if there were a huge natural disaster that wiped out a lot of traditional large manufacturing facilities, I bet we would all be surprised at how fast we could bounce back by use of the small but widespread fabricating/manufacturing capability that exists in our country and around much of the globe.
 
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I think Paul would be a much better example of this model as he had the balls to carry the concept through manufacturing, whereas I couldn't hang and worked to unload my ideas on others. I do wish sometimes I would have stuck with the made in Detroit. But then I also don't mind not worrying about it so much. I really admire how Paul can handle it all and crush Tree work all day too.
 
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This is one are where I feel Obama has not been given enough credit.. He has put a lot of resources into making the maker space concept flourish. More can be done especially getting this into schools. We dont need china, We don't need Mexico. We can make it at home.
 
kevin bingham said:
We dont need china, We don't need Mexico. We can make it at home.
Click to expand...


Agreed!

I personal saying i have is, 'frequently, when you really need something, you often find you already have it, hiding right there under your nose'. Our young folks and our fabricating and technical capability are a good example re home-sourcing our needs.
 
I guess its a step in sorta the right direction. Well, not really.

But it is interesting how Germany used this idea for the war effort. Lots of little shops around Germany making essential parts. It was hard to bomb the little guys.

It is interesting to me that on one hand you can set up "grants" and spaces for "making" (what the hell was wrong with shop class?) and then tax the ever living hell out of these "makers" when they actually try to "make" something.
 
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hmm, I've never found my taxes to be unreasonable. I guess I still don't make enough money. I do get bummed out though when I pay my taxes and hear about the latest airplane that the pentagon purchased.

I don't think we have a choice though about direction we are stepping. the technology is here and we can use it and our kids need to learn how to use it.
 
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I do agree with you about shop class, best class I took in high school for sure.
 
I dont pay a lot of income tax either, never been in a tax "bind".

What I do pay is a shit load of payroll tax, work comp tax, Obama Care tax is the most prohibitive.

To employ one person, I pay enough tax to easily employ another person. Full time.

Offering grants and a "feel good" day or week of making is not the same thing as promoting a business friendly environment.

I agree that it has to start with education though. When I am elected President, I am going to require that the last two years of high school be spent entirely on trades, life skills, and managing credit.
 
Junior high wood shop was very well equipped with a very fine brand of machinery. Machines and hand tools all well maintained, everything clean and well organized. The teacher, Mr. Verhoeven, ran a tight ship, and always there for the kids. Too bad the paper pushers couldn't understand the real value in that. An inspirational man, I kept in touch with Mr. Verhoeven after he retired.
 
First thing to do is change the idea that trades are for the dumb kids. Once that is done enact tort reform laws, and expose higher education as mostly a scam.

Then shit can the Union bosses, foster competition, and end pay for play.

Easy peasy!
 
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My middle school shop teacher was awesome as well. he was missing a thumb from a table saw mishap. I love tech shop and maker spaces. Every town in america should have one or two. every school should be equipped with these tools. it is incredibly liberating knowing there is nothing I can't make.

what is your obama care tax? I just have health insurance which seems to work okay. I would rather pay higher taxes and just have health care when I need it though instead of all this round the elbow to get to your thumb bullshit.
 
Shop seemed more the real world than those stuffy classrooms. Some shop teachers let their hair down too, more like normal people than just following some book. Shop class periods seemed too short and other classes seemed too long.
 
I could dig seeing cows roaming around at those white house press conferences held on the lawn there. Some mooing in the back ground. I think it would help to calm the country.
 
Whats the point of all that damn grass? No more grounds keepers in my administration. They will be sent to re education camps to learn to become herders.


Kevin, I wonder if mostly what I have is trouble with the fact that we are incorporated. The new laws make it pretty tough to hire and keep help.
 
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I haven't had a problem with the logistics of hiring people as much as I've had a problem finding anyone who had a good shop teacher. It's hard to find anyone with even a driver's license or a bank account around here. Much less a knowledge of credit management. They get a better education in Mexico. People say that Mexicans are coming here stealing peeks jobs or whatever. The problem is that our kids are not educated in how to be functional humans and how to work and create so of course immigrants get the job.
 
Over here, it's very rare to find a boy that can fix a flat tire on a bicycle, even the one that he has to ride everyday to junior high. Patch kits are available and you can get water and they still sell buckets, that's not the problem.
 
I would vote for jim, but I think he's to young according to law. Next election I'll vote for him. From his ramblings on this site, he's far above our choices this election.
 
Ha! Thanks Rich. I think it would be fun for a week or two.



Trouble with that deal Kevin is that the Dept. Of Education/Indoctrination has it fixed so that after 12! years of Govt. education you are just barely qualified to flip burgers.


Charter schools baby!

My shop teacher was a D bag. He used to want to fight all the time, especially when I would give him shit for banging a student.
 
My junior high had a home close by for boys transitioning back into society after doing some time or whatever. In shop class was a good way to get to know some of them. Two good purposes in that, one being that it could help them in deciding not to kill you, and they had some great and sometimes very funny stories about what they might have done to get themselves in trouble. One little guy with glasses was about the funniest person I've ever met in my life, totally irreverent to almost any authority whoever. Remembering him still makes me laugh, his story about stealing a cabin cruiser at the harbor. Hope he eventually made out.
 
Shop class never meant that much to me, kind of surprising given what I do now. Late bloomer I guess. There were always a couple guys in there who were really good, a friend of mine made an epic grandfather clock in wood shop, he went on to be a finish carpenter in nantucket.

Shop mostly seemed like a place to fool around. One incident that was unbearably funny when it went down was in metal shop, everybody was using ball peen hammers, peening away on their projects, and the wise guy in class (who was also a tough guy btw and went on to jail eventually after HS) got everybody to transition their random hammering to be in unison, it was insanely loud and funny. The teacher, who was a bit out of it, would hear the racket and look up to see wtf and everyone would break rhythm and go back to random hammering, until of course Teach would look down again and the class rhythm would come back strong. omg funny stuff.

Another time ("at band camp"...:|:) we were all taking a written test while the Teach was using a bench grinder on some project. Every time the piece of stock would touch the grinder and so make a racket, another wise guy would imitate the grinding sound really loud but Teach couldnt tell who it was cuz when he would stop grinding to look up at the class, the kid stopped his noise too. So finally after a few such repeated go arounds, Teach realized to put the stock to the grinder while looking up at the class, at which time he saw the kid, who was very proud of himself at the moment, do the sound louder than ever. Teach practically ran over and grabbed the kid by the ear and threw him out.
 
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