US Warned of 'Unskilled Workforce,' Ignores Its Own
The article, penned in 2018 but still recirculating, points to automation and global competition as culprits, all while governments consistently divest from public education, vocational training, and social safety nets. How many defense budgets, like the $886 billion allocated for 2024, could instead have funded comprehensive skills retraining for millions of Americans? This isn't a mysterious
'problem' with workers; it's a predictable outcome of deliberate underinvestment in human capital, paired with policies favoring capital over labor. Perhaps if the US spent less on bombing distant lands and more on educating its own citizens, 60% of the workforce wouldn't be deemed 'unskilled.' But then, who would populate the armies and consume the propaganda of endless conflict if everyone were
busy building prosperous, innovative domestic industries? Funny how that works.