DEI Liberates Blue-Collar America!
Two months back, I argued that DEI ironically turned out to be a major benefit for white men. Shortly after, I expanded on this after a subscriber reached out with sincere concerns.
Now, I’m revisiting the topic because Zero Hedge released a startling revelation, highlighting the urgent demand for 500,000 skilled workers just to sustain basic national operations.
For years, America has built a peculiar narrative around college degrees, DEI mechanisms, and credential obsession. Apprenticeships and hands-on training were dismissed in favor of theoretical classroom learning, with the expectation that new hires would arrive “desk-ready.”
Generations of parents have insisted the only respectable career path involves a vague “office job” behind a cubicle wall, conveniently ignoring the inevitable treadmill of diversity training that accompanies it.
Meanwhile, the indispensable workforce—electricians, welders, linemen, machinists, mechanics, heavy machinery operators, HVAC techs, and plant employees—have quietly been retiring without enough replacements in sight.
DEI frameworks failed to notice this because their outputs focus solely on generating more DEI personnel—consultants, coordinators, assistant vice provosts for feelings management—professionals who talk about work rather than execute it.
DEI initiatives were never crafted to produce individuals able to repair turbines, rebuild transformers, install HVAC systems, or prevent refinery disasters.
This mismatch has led to today’s predicament. The shortage of skilled tradespeople in the U.S. now numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Manufacturing alone faces a projected deficit exceeding two million workers by 2030 if current patterns continue. This structural failure stems from an elite consensus, often upper-middle-class, that dismissed blue-collar jobs as something to be hidden. The fallout from this mindset is now plain to see.
At the same time, trade wages have surged. Companies compete for electricians just like NFL franchises vie for top quarterbacks. Data centers—the colossal structures powering AI—struggle to find experts in cooling systems. Construction companies desperately seek pipefitters and welders. Trades have gone from America’s quiet foundation to its hottest job market.
Mike Rowe Was Right
This should sound familiar because Mike Rowe voiced these concerns a decade ago. He highlighted how kids were funneled into pointless degrees, saddling them with debt before 22, all while the economy starved for skilled labor. Long before think tanks analyzed these trends, he warned about the shortage of tradespeople. Despite this, he was dismissed as a crank by intellectuals who now fret publicly about “the shocking decline of vocational interest.”
Rowe wasn’t opposed to education; he was against foolishness. Driving millions into debt for soft skills, grievance studies, or corporate HR ladders represents stupidity at its worst.
Not Just Recession Proof!
There’s another fact that makes the professional elite uneasy: trades are impervious to DEI categorizations. A welder isn’t defined by identity labels. Steel either holds or fails. An electrician either wires correctly or causes fires. A machinist must meet exact tolerances or the part won’t fit. The trades rely on nature’s laws. Physics grades the work. Reality conducts the performance review.
No committee can alter gravity. No consultant can ignore electrical codes. No HR policy can change hydraulic pressure. When outcomes are objective, ideology becomes irrelevant. Competence wins. Accountability wins. Reality wins. Unlike credential factories, trades rest entirely on these truths.
A Brand New Day
That’s why today’s youth should reconsider their options. Were I 18 again, avoiding debt as I do today, I’d sprint toward the trades. The numbers are clear. Starting a skilled trade job in your late teens or early twenties means earning income early, accumulating savings, and sidestepping the soul-crushing burden of student loans. While college peers move back home uncertain of their path, this young worker has years of experience and real money saved.
Moreover, these jobs can’t be outsourced or eliminated by automation. AI may compose verses about electricity but can’t install a single outlet. Robots don’t climb ladders, crawl through attics, maintain industrial equipment, or weld bridges. The real world still depends on human hands, tools, skill, and sweat.
Most importantly, trade work delivers something college rarely does: pride. For example, a craftsman who helped restore Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was honored with the extraordinary privilege of marrying his fiancée there. Quel honneur!
Every completed project is a tangible achievement. A building stands because of your effort. Power systems function thanks to your work. Factories remain operational because you maintained them. Compare that sense of accomplishment to yet another day managing Slack channels.
It’s time for parents and grandparents to stop preaching that every child must earn a degree. That’s a myth. What every young person truly needs is a skill. College hands you debt; a trade delivers a livelihood.
Wrap Up
DEI sold us the illusion that America’s challenge was a “representation” problem. In reality, the core issue is much more straightforward: too few people possess essential skills. The shortage lies in competence—not representation. No amount of workshops or slogans will resolve this.
The silver lining is that attitudes are shifting. The country is finally valuing skilled labor. Earning a solid income early on far outweighs the endless chase of academic credentials.
So, once more, I urge you: encourage your children to attend trade schools and watch them thrive. Eventually, the cubicle farm will become obsolete anyway, replaced by sprawling data centers.
About the Author
