Just to expand on what you guys have identified, there is no single idea, scheme, cause, whatever...........it's the accumulation of decades of silly think. Young people today have been indoctrinated with the idea that those who are successful (whatever level.........it all becomes relative to a viewpoint) got there because of "luck" or some other silly notion. If they go into college they come out believing they've done all they need to do to get the "big check"..............they're fed that line from a very young age. No idea that whatever they were taught in school, primary or secondary, is just foundational to figuring out how to produce value for their fellow man to be compensated for. I read a report from the national manufacturing association yesterday that there are 600k jobs across this country right now that can't find qualified workers. These are skill jobs, some more complex than others, but not rocket science.

In line with Roger's commentary, I found that when it came time to groom a new body or paint guy for the team we had better odds with immigrants who came here wanting to earn opportunity, not have it given them as an entitlement. They were less likely to have the "know it all" attitude, and recognized they needed to learn to earn. Some young folks born to this country were taught that too, just not enough of them. It's like that phrase often attached in the illegal alien discussions; "They're doing the jobs Americans won't do!". That's dead wrong though my expression of it doesn't sound very diffeent, it is vastly different from a motivational point of view. I say, "They're doing jobs that Americans DON"T HAVE to do."...........mainly because it's to easy to get by day to day for all the handout programs that don't require any more effort than filling out a form, or maybe standing in line for a short while. Little things, well intentioned things, but a cascade of dumb ideas for 4 or 5 decades and we end up with what we've got....................a team that doesn't have enough people who know how, much less are willing, to compete. Sigh....................