If you spend your life studying something that allows you to be replaced for $10/hour then you are frankly retarded. Nobody owes you a comfortable living. You need to earn it and part of that is having the foresight to see what might be valuable to employers.
No. I'm worth more than that, it's just desperate folks in 3rd world countries with degrees will take 1/3rd of what I'm paid. Like I said, I shouldn't have to live on food stamps because your arrogant rich ass can tap into 3rd world labor and undercut the value that exists right here. Sure, most of them really aren't as good but what does quality matter with automatic updates and the ability to sell the product for the same price as companies hiring Americans?
Who is suggesting that you do? If you provide enough value for the wages you command then you should be able to live very nicely. But if your job can be done by someone willing to work for $10 per hour then you better reconsider just how valuable what you do actually is. Furthermore, just because someone does a "blue collar" job doesn't mean they are an idiot. Stop looking down your nose at people who don't work in an air conditioned office typing on a computer. You think you are too good to get your hands dirty? Are you really that arrogant?
No, I get my hands quite dirty running cable so people like you can pull your balance sheet from servers I run as you erode the US labor force and prop up 3rd world countries at the expense of our jobs, blood, sweat and tears after we BUILT this digital world FOR YOU and you toss us aside and let the Indians run it.
You're right, not all blue collar workers are idiots and I did my fair share of brutal outdoor labor when I was younger. That was a bit rash and insensitive of me.
If you want to keep high paying jobs in the US then there is a lot of hard work to do. Better get busy because the rest of the world isn't going to wait for your lazy ass.
I don't have a high-paying job, I make in the high 30's because I took a paycut and got a more flexible job at a smaller company so I didn't have to work for ignorant assholes like you and would be in less danger of being outsourced because someone wants to save a few bucks. I shouldn't have to go spend $100,000 to re-educate because assholes like you are free to set up shop anywhere you want and we can't afford to follow.
Nothing has killed US manufacturing. I work in manufacturing in the US and have for most of the last 20 years. I run a manufacturing company. The US manufactures over $3 Trillion in goods each year. The US manufacturing sector alone would be among the 10 largest economies in the world by GDP. Manufacturing in the US is alive and well and anyone who says otherwise has no idea what they are talking about. The number of jobs in US manufacturing has fallen just like it did in agriculture a hundred years ago but that is not by itself a bad thing. Would you prefer that 50%+ of the nation's workers be employed on farms like they were 150 years ago? What has changed is that the US predominately manufactures capital intensive rather than labor intensive goods.
Tell all those f**kers in Detroit it's not a bad thing.
Nothing has killed US "assembling". Manufacturing however is mostly done elsewhere. You are delusional and very disconnected from society because of your position. People like you will be eventually dragged through the streets if current trends continue and people get desperate.