Is Your Job Boring? This 1960s Auto Worker Says His Boring Job Was Killing Him
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ม.ค. 2022
- This 1960s Auto Worker hated his job. He felt like a robot. He felt that his job had little meaning and was unbelievably repetitive and boring. He said that he came home from work feeling like a zombie. And he didn't see automation coming - automation that would change his job forever. Change it for the better? Or change it for the worse?
Herbert Slater worked on automobile assembly line in 1964. He was an industrial worker who had not graduated high school. He bluntly described how he felt in this film clip. He felt a complete lack of connection to the work he was doing. He was trying to figure out a way to improve his life and his depression. He was not thinking about the coming of automation, AI, and the rapid changes that were coming as we moved from the industrial age to the information age.
Also presented in this clip is Edwin Land, the founder and CEO of Polaroid who was aware of these kinds of repetitive mind-numbing jobs and could see the coming of automation as having value for some and creating less available work for others. He and the management at Polaroid were trying to figure out what to do about this for their employees and for the company.
At the time, I was a young documentary filmmaker/cameraman and felt so good about my work. I couldn't see myself working on one of those production lines even though they had a secure salary and job. Those workers didn't think they could ever be fired (although a few hoped that they would be).
At the time, I also didn't see the coming of the information age and of information technology and of automation. So I recorded people like Herbert sympathetic to their situation but with no advice for how they could improve their lives and the lives of their families. I also did not know enough about depression to see just how depressed Herbert Slater felt.
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David Hoffman filmmaker
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This guy got fired for speaking out. Part of the same documentary -
th-cam.com/video/jHHDIccW450/w-d-xo.html
presumably this guy has a HS diploma and works a dull monotonous full time job that he hates. Yet he’s married, has a stay-at-home housewife and a kid. He also has an apartment or house. Today this is nearly impossible. We’ve lost a lot in the 40-5O years since this was made.
Correction, this is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to achieve now.
And some fat steaks on the grill.
People wouldn’t mind working monotonous jobs if they could provide a good life for themselves. Imagine being miserable at work and still not being able to make end meet and provide a good life for yourself.
I’ll never forgive the traitors in DC for what they’ve done to my beloved nation.
@@socialitenoel If the job doesn't offer a decent reward, and you hate it, then it's usually not worth. ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Imagine an entry level job paying enough to buy a house, a car, and support a wife and kid at home. This man didn’t know how lucky he was.
best comment and most honest one.
Guess you didn't get it the man was broken
Your comment is spot on. THIS IS what socialism was LIKE. Wealthy paid their fair share of taxes. We had more purchasing power back then. Those were 64 Chevies they were building at 1st. One of the best 60's cars built. Life seemed so simple back the
Don't forget that an accident, pregnancy, or illness wouldn't throw him deeply into debt, or health insurance which costs as much as rent/mortgage. Oh and he had a pension too!
And he could invest in the market and COUNT ON 12% return on his money. Even CD's back then were like 5% I think.
As an old school pizza maker for the last 25 years, I feel this guy's pain. Just doing the same thing for 12 hours straight non-stop in a busy joint is killing me.
Bless u for staying solid! Remember there’s another side of the spectrum where people are living chaotic unstable lifestyles feeling the same way. I prefer solid stable stress free life. Watch some toxic tik toks if u need some perspective lol
@@um_from_umbridge7285 Thanks man!
Bro I know fast food is a killer I will not miss these days when I'm older
Your best bet is education if your circumstances still allow for thay.
Heck even learning some programming on the side in your own free time will serve you very well.
@@xyzmediaandentertainment8313 Can learn programming, photography, web design, video editing, etc. I worked at a pizza joint for 2.5 years in my teens and couldn't take it after so long.
Amazing how one factory job supported his whole family. In 2022 it’s almost impossible.
@@mocassin92 Probably requires auto engineering training, at least community college cert level Id bet.
It’s entirely possible. Just as this guy said.. join the trades. Get your license become your own boss before you’d even be out of college. I’m so happy my dad raised me this way. Life is amazing when you’re able to control your own life.
I coud have did it working at a factory in ohio in 2010 through 2019.
But now in 2024 it could be done BUT housing cost is to high. Up 100% from 2015. Automobile are pretty insane also.
Everything else cost more but some cost can be absorbed bacause the pay has increased also. But not to keep up with real estate, real estate tax and rent.
Now, a guy could still do it in a factory in ohio making $25hr. Paying $1,400 a month for a $200,000 loan, 20% down at 8% intrest including an escrow account for taxes and intrest.
The house payment would be about 50% of his net pay. That would leave him with $1400 a month.
Add utility bills $220
Now add a car payment $500
Car insurance $80
The guy has $600 bux.
$150 a week.
Need some gas for that car. Hope the wife knows how to stretch a dollar at the grocery.
It can be done.
It's amazing, his job still exists, except now it pays less, has many educated people doing it, and his wife has to work to have the house and appliances. We're losing ground here.
not only that, most of the appliances are made in COmmie Chyna!
We lost unions. Republicans destroyed unions in order to reduce wages.
Nice try but this guy had an 800 sq foot house.
@@harrisonwintergreen1147 Most adults his age now live with their parents, so he still had more.
Lost ground! & Earning a livable wage.
Good to know that existential dread created by work isn't a new phenomenon.
Lol no doubt. I can imagine an ancient worker, Babylon, 2000 b.c.e. and a worker despising the monotony of his job making sun dried bricks for the Kings new city wall. Millions and millions of little clay rectangles, daydreaming of farming, or making chariots
Neither is quitting and starting your own business
As old as humanity
Now the ones dreading this type of work are 5yo CCP kids.
@@brandoncornwell52 I mean probably not despise it like we would, but probably as monotonous as cleaning dishes at a chipotle. We have tons of distractions in day to day life nowadays whereas they didn’t really at all. Just every few generations or so you’d get enslaved.
This breaks my damn heart. I'm in my break room at work and trying to hold back tears. I've been in this guy's shoes so many times in my life. I'm thankful I don't have kids. No human deserves to feel like they're trapped in a machine, and that they need to turn off their mind to live
I've worked at couple factory jobs , and man I'll tell you it was just depressing as this video
Yes, exactly
You're not alone.
People will complain about how terrible factory work is and they will complain when they take those jobs away.
I've done some factory jobs that were varied and engaging for the most part. But I once worked on a production line doing the same monotonous thing about every 10 seconds, I only lasted a week as it felt torturous. I have a lot of respect for those that can rough that out, and empathy for those who had little choice.
I'm a millennial, born in the late 80's college drop out, trade school grade working as a bottom level grunt at Amazon, I can both relate and envy Herbert, relate to his suffering and envy his life style. The things said in this video still resonate today. Damn.
You should get a better skillset.
I can tell he hates his job but he is able to afford a house and pay utilities and food as well for his family and have savings and a pension for retirement… all on one income.
Today, you can work just as hard but only afford a house in the hood or an apartment and maybe* provide for one other person. Times have really changed.
ever since women started working you can't live on one salary...
@@palbo7871
Double the working population, half the pay for the same work. Simple mathematics.
@@palbo7871 Women have nothing to do with that. It's capitalism. Everything has gone up, except wages.
exactly
@@katesparrow3126 capitalism disolved the traditional roles, women are now free of their husband and can finally be the slave to a coorporation.
But look where we've come today!
You can have a master degree in economics, having spent 20 years of your life in school and university, and write hundreds of applications until you get a job interview for an office job that lets you end up in the same boring everyday routine.
Just now it won't pay for a non-working wife, 2 kids and a house.
Progress.
And don’t forget two hundred grand in student loan debt like yours truly. I’m not complaining, I signed the papers and took the money but I will never have it paid off in my lifetime.
@@riceflatpicking4954 You might yet. In many cases there are pernicious little expensive habits that you don't realize how much they cost until you run the numbers. So look for such habits anywhere and everywhere. Maybe cut cable tv; that's a good one to cut, for example.
@@unconventionalideas5683 yes. I’ve ran all of those thoughts through my head many times and I will say that I make my payment each month I do my due diligence. But yes it’s amazing how much a person can save you know if you spend six dollars a day at Starbucks like someone that I dated for a while that’s $180 a month or $2160 a year. So many things that add up quickly.
That should tell you that you wasted 20 years at school and learnt nothing. School is to train you to follow instructions and be an obedient worker.
It's the stupids taking stupid degrees. I had an interview for a wonderful high paying job a week ago that I didn't apply for (self employed for a year) he can't find anything people are not taking the HARD degrees and not spending their free time learning new disciplines. I did not take the job
I realized when I get a new job, it feels good for the first few months. Then it turns me into a goddamn zombie. I feel like we shouldn’t be doing one thing our whole lives unless we really love it, like a sport or music. Which are 2 therapeutic things. Lifting boxes at Amazon isn’t so therapeutic. Working in a landfill, working construction in horrible weather conditions, sitting in an office all day, etc. isn’t something humans should be doing their whole lives. We should be able to rotate between things at least.
I work at a Toyota plant & when I started there, I determined to never settle there. I’ve been at the plant for 7 years now. I’m still fighting to escape but my desire has dwindled. People keep telling me to stay & retire here but idk if I can hold on much longer. Every day I feel like dying just because I don’t feel any purpose. Even when I meet people in public that talk about how much they love their truck or when I’m able to treat my girl at random because I have the money, I come back to that feeling of despair. I sometimes wonder at work if I’m just another machine on the line, just built slightly different. I’m sure that’s how the executives see us anyways. If you’ve read all this, heed my warning: never settle. When you settle, you die.
EDIT: I came back here to give good news to everyone. I finally landed a new job. I no longer have to deal with the swing shift or the monotony of a plant. I took a $2/hr pay cut but I can have a normal life now. My job requires me to use critical thinking skills instead of being a machine. Even with work being slow right now, I feel a great sense of pride on my job. So don’t settle. I went through dozens of interviews at several other jobs before I landed this one. Keep fighting for a better life. Struggle onward no matter what.
I feel you. I know exactly what it's like to be unseen, unheard, unappreciated, and stuck in an unfulfilling toxic workplace but please keep your head up because there really is hope for anyone to have the future they really want ❤️
Start your own business
at this point i would just like a 40 hr a week 5 days 8 hr job with weekends off, but every manufacturing job i get or look at ends up with never ending soul crushing overtime
I don’t know what job is fun I serves a purpose only when you own your own business and are not working for the middleman will you feel fulfilled but even then you’re overworked jobs are not meant for you to be sipping martinis are playing video games they are meant for you to provide for your family especially right now with people losing jobs left and right we should be grateful for what we have I am a business owner and know this vary well and came from corporate America I don’t think any jobs are fun or server progress but to provide financial stability for both you and your family
@@jemcanalesable what business do you own?
My grandfather had to quit high school, when his dad died, and get a job to support his mom and siblings. Never had a so-called "formal education" but applied himself to better himself. He got a job at an oil refinery and started out as a grunt. He took correspondence courses through the mail and earned his boiler operator's license (they used steam to power industrial machinery back in those days). He became a supervisor, supported a wife and two kids, bought a house, bought a vacation house, made a pension that took care of my grandmother in her old age... all on ONE SALARY. You could do that back in those days. Now? Good luck, Charlie.
What are you talking about?
You are describing a 75k-95k salary.
Lots of people make high five figure salaries.
You basically just have to either get a valuable education(like some engineering paths) or do what your grandad did and get a small education in an undesirable field.(like a dangerous dirty, uncomfortable job like boiler operator, or a modern equivalent would be iron worker)
@@kkknotcool iron workers make five figures?
@@geddon436 Everybody in America who works full time makes five figures.( 5 figures is between 10 thousand and 99 thousand dollars a year)
But Iron workers usually make in the upper five figures.(the vast majority of jobs start out in the lower 30s per hour after your trained and get into the upper 30s per hour when you get your bearings (so you start out at like 60k a year and grow into a bit under 80k a year and that's not counting any overtime which can push people into the bottom of six figures. ) )
@@kkknotcool Its unfortuante, to get middle and higher money one needs a college degree, for working at an office type job.
@@geddon436 It's just paying people to do hard stuff. Nobody wants to climb up 300 feet and weld all day and nobody wants to spend 4 or 5 years paying a university to learn stuff, but there is good money behind those paths.
You can't expect to just walk in and make as much as an engineer or iron worker without taking on an equally big sacrifice as they took.
I cant even imagine my company sitting down to talk about the well being of their employees
No, me neither, buddy
It was a more serious, more practical generation back then. Bosses were hard and they demanded results, but they also understood what _they_ had to do for their employees to help get those results.
Nowadays managers only care about their own bonuses. They don't give a fuck about either the employees, or the overall well-being of the company as a whole.
Yeah and let me tell you the Union workplaces are even worse in this regard. Its like you have a union file a grievance. Except in my case the union was the UFCW probably the worst in Ohio
@@EarlFaulk We have USW, company just walks all over them, ignores contracts, and at one point our local union was in bed with the company. We were a small factory until we got bought out by an international company. Things have gotten substantially worse.
@@skydude38 Yeah if a union is more than 40 years old chances are they are buddy buddy with corporate. I go out of my way to shop non union grocery stores....thankfully the UFCW hasnt gotten their claws into other places. If they fucked me over by hiding all the bad crap in the contract only the lawyers see then they get nothing from me
The one guy was called an unskilled worker as the micrometer was sticking out of his pocket. Oh well, being a college graduate doesn't necessarily mean that one has any skills either. Knew a guy that owned and operated his own very well known and respected automotive machine shop. The local high school asked him to come teach machining , auto shop and set up their brand new shop, all was well until they found out he had no high school diploma. All of the technical courses, he'd racked up which were numerous and prestigious in his field didn't matter once they found out he quit school at 16 and went to work. Being a mechanical and engineering Wizard Business Man already, he laughed it off. After all, he wasn't looking for a job, it was they who came to him. They did get a teacher, one with a piece of paper that said he knew machine theory, a high school and college diploma but had zero skill or hands on practical experiences. The 16 year old gear heads in the class had more skill than the degreed teacher. You know, the unskilled without degrees or HS diplomas. Sorry I wrote a book here about it, just that I was there then.
I worked security (contracted) for GM and people on and off the line would always ask me why I didn't work for the line for better pay. What they didn't see was what I saw, workers who worked 5-6 10+ hour days of constant work, often literal back breaking, monotonous work.
I remember speaking to a line worker who looked exhausted and he told me he worked 6 days a week and barely got to see his wife and children. That was all I needed to hear and see.
Back then people were willing to work lousy jobs because at least they could afford to buy a home and raise a family. My grandmother worked a horrible job in healthcare that paid barely above minimum wage but was still able to afford a 3 bedroom home and raise two daughters on her own.
Now I work full time but am at risk of homelessness if I have to move or the rent goes up because I can't even afford a studio apartment anymore.
Definition of Inflation
Describe your living situation. How much do you make? How much is rent? How far are you from work?
@@zacharyshoemaker835 I make $800 a week. Rent is $500 a week for my studio apartment. Work is 30 minutes away. Where I live most studios apartments now in the $700 area.
Her 3 bedroom home is worth over 600k i bet
@@2prize if rent is 500 a week you pay $26,000 a year in rent. Your pay is 800 a week which is approx 42k a year multiply it by .75 which is usually what taxes come out to be so you have around 32k a year to spend and 26k is rent leaving you only 6k left over for the rest of the year not including utilities transportation and your phone. The problem is you care to much about WHERE you live and thats why you feel you cant achieve these basic goals.
When you hate a job. Paydown your debt, save as much as possible and seek out new opportunities. Factory work taught me I do not like repetitive jobs. Working outside in construction was extremely hard work, yet it was very rewarding and never got boring.
That seems sensible! Nothing will change unless you try to change things for yourself. Debt is the anchor that keeps people under the cosh!
I worked in construction and 2 guys tried to rape me!
My dad wanted me to be a carpenter but his idea of it was building single family houses. The reality of it today is finding yourself setting roof trusses on a 3 story apartment complex, the wind is howling and its minus 25F. Im retired now, and never swung a hammer for a living in my life.
Try paying down debt with a wife. Women hate savings. My experience with Women is that they like to push finances to the limit. Today we have credit cards, loans on 401k, 2nd mortgages, (sorry Refi).
I know their are frugal Women, but I have never found one.
@@bastogne315 True?
I've been at my job for 22 years, married with 5 kids and my wife is a stay at home mom. I hate my job with a passion but my house and my vehicles are payed for. No credit card or medical debt. It doesn't pay alot but I've been very smart with my money. So I guess I can't complain to much lol.
Exactly
Corporations rely heavily on your last statement
Get a different job.
My dad worked on the assembly line for the 1954 Ford Fairlane after the Korean war. He later left and became a union painter with a side business. He did well, RIP dad.
Funny how bad things have gotten. I'm watching this and all I can focus in on is: Wife, kid, house, grilling in the backyard. Try slaving away at a dead end job and having none of that on top of everything else.
It’s better than lying in a fox hole in a frosty snow filled forest being bombed by the Germans. Having limbs blown off
@@tonysoprano9370 ya, you tell that entitled little whining millennial. You actually have to work hard and strive to be the best at any job you do not just do the bare minimum expecting success too.
@@shornandkenny millennials do want to strive for the best in whatever job they do. What they do not want to do and will not do is grind away all day like this guy, and still not be able to afford anything. And to a degree I don’t blame them. Millennials want to see some worth in what they do and want to know that what they do will get them what they want. A comment above is true to a degree. These days you can grind away in a job, work your Arse off and still not be able to afford a house. Wages are not high enough. The amount of people these days who go out every day just to pay rent and food and have nothing left over is staggering. You can’t blame people for being a little down about it. In this day and age unless you have a business, wages are not going to get you the lifestyle you want.
@@jjtrucker5950 yeah it is better than being bombed. But it is still shit. The fact is we don’t have to go through things like world war anymore because times have moved on. And the fact that times have moved on should mean people get more from work. And these days they don’t. Wages are not high enough. And rents are too high. Nobody can afford to buy a house. This guy in the 60s could easily afford a house. In todays work place, people go through this all day, then they go home to a rented house, and struggle to pay the bills.
Go out and have the confidence to talk to a girl and get married, nothings going to come whining and doing nothing about it.
Office Space made me realize this when I was in high school. "We werent made to sit in cubicles all day looking at screens". I worked dead end jobs for good little bit after going to prison at 18. Jack in the box, oil change place, car washes, etc. I always felt unchallenged so I usually just drank all day at the job or got high. I'd easily leave a job because they were all the same. I finally got into roofing 6 years ago. Made no money at first but started to learn and loved the freedom I had and meeting people, driving and it seemed like there was something about this I really liked. Started my own roofing company outside Houston TX in 2021 and did half a million in sales my first year.
Get out of your job and find something you like!!!
Good story. Thank you.
David Hoffman Filmmaker
Inspiring story, thank you
@@DavidHoffmanFilmmaker Thanks David! You're creating something great man
dammm half a million ? wow!
Awesome stuff, brother.
And this was one of the better paying blue collar jobs around at the time. Strong union “skilled labor” and this man describes it like a prison sentence. It’s easy to criticize this man because we now know how good he had it compared to today. Today very few if any jobs requiring no education can support a family.
But dull monotonous work is soul stealing regardless of pay.
I think we humans are never satisfied. We always want better.
I haven't seen the whole video yet but I wonder if he was around when automation showed up and replaced him? Was he then _no, I am sorry, I won't take this job for granted?_
These guys were tough. I work at Honda in ohio. Everything they are doing looks unsafe compared to today. Still hurts your body/joints today and is still monotonous and boring. Paid great until last few years. Inflation right now is so bad that they can't get new people. Nobody wants to do physical labor anymore. I'd still rather do it than sit in front of a computer all day.
It's almost eerie to see upper management of an industry talking in earnest and with nuance about the wellbeing of their own employees; to make an honest attempt to better the lives and personal progression of those employees -- and to do so in a way that could potentially negatively effect their business model and revenue. Absolutely incredible.
Yeah, it isn't that way now. Funny how the trades are viewed with rosy glasses as they are now
The cameras were rolling. That is the difference.
I could be wrong, but I think all of those guys (even the last one) are middle management. I'm talking middle of the middle management. I've been in an auto plant for almost 20yrs and can spot a middle manager from a mile away. I actually feel kinda bad for those people because no matter how they think or feel about something they have to do it. I'm at least in a position where I can say "I don't think that's going to work, so figure it out and I'll do what I can." I can't tell anyone to F-off, but I can decide (a little) of how to spend my time.
Supervisors are not upper management.
You act as if all management is cruel and heartless, in reality they're just people doing a job like you and me
I remember my uncle coming home from a job like that, and how he’d sit in the bathtub smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. He was the sweetest soul, and was absolutely trapped. He lived to fish on the weekends. And he had a weekend. And all he wanted was for his kids not to have to do this kind of work. He worked so his kids could go to college, but then they ended up being fuckups, and by the time they were 18-19, all of these jobs had disappeared. I just adore your old documentary films, David.
That totally fuckin sucked for dad.
Should of beat them.
@@toddpacker7058 Lol.....you'd end up in prison this day and age
@@toddpacker7058 yeah teach em that when someone does something you don't like, violence is the answer. fuckin brilliant
Maybe do extra work on weekends instead of getting drunk and fishing
Before COVID I felt the same way sitting in my cubicle everyday. March 2020 they sent us home and we've been working from home since then. I've been able to create a whole new life!!
David, you are a national treasure. I have been watching your archival footage for a year or two now and you did such a great job encapsulating these times, lives, and issues. You are straight gangster. It's wild seeing people back then saying things we still say today. Says a lot about corporations.
Thank you for your comment. If your resources allow, I would sure appreciate your using the THANKS button under any of my videos including the one you have commented on. It is something new that TH-cam is beta testing and would mean a great deal for my continuing efforts.
David Hoffman filmmaker
I'm a postal worker. My job is monotonous like his, but I'm happy to have it because it pays my bills, buys food, and provides a good life for my family thanks to the union which stepped in back in 1970. I recognize that I'm a fortunate one, whereas most people in 2022 are not. It's the reverse of what was in 1964 where most people could provide for their families with one job.
You said the keyword: union.
Unions made that possible. Any forms of worker organization has been under attack by republicans, in order to reduce wages and put people down.
And the same people who would benefit from unions are voting against their own interest.
City or Rural?
RCA here and I enjoy the pay but the long hours make this job very taxing.
@@quincy-2000 My wife is rural Hendersonville, Tn.........it took her 8 yrs to become regular, she loves her job!!!!! She works her ass off!!!! She is always working her days off because they can't keep anyone.......nobody wants to work!!!!
Your not a postal worker.
@@Quintos. how do you you know?
My husband works for a major auto manufacturer and has for eleven years now.
He’s moved up but It hasn’t changed even now. Production floor guys hate their job, even with robots doing their share of the work. It’s hard on the body, repetitive and boring.
And yet, we still need cars.
@@dannyarcher6370 Who said we didn't?
For his sacrifice you should service him nightly
Sadly, that applies to about 90% of jobs. I think TV, movies and social media have made many people feel even worse by creating the illusion that there are tons of of people with sexy, fun and high paying jobs.
Is it denso by chance lol? I work in a factory and I fucking hate it
Can confirm nothing has changed in the automotive industry. I spent 13 years at a large UK manufacturing plant in NW England.
Every day was groundhog day on the production line, when you clocked on for shift you left your brain at the gate and only inserted it once you clocked off.
We did however used to rotate around the jobs, the more processes you could learn the better it was.
Managers and engineers were always looking at ways to give you more work on your process though or remove men to save money.
The worker at the beginning of the video is correct, if you get a man in a job like that with financial commitments, then he's there for life.
I was lucky and managed to get out.
The wages were excellent and it gave me a very good standard of living, but boy it took it's toll in other ways.
Same here. I just began working full time 10m ago. It's good money at my level, but physically exhausting and stressful
I grew up during this era. My step father worked for Chrysler for 30 years. He encouraged me to learn a trade. I learned, practiced and made a good living in the building trades. Built my own home from the ground up. Very rewarding and happy life.
I thought that was pretty impressive the way that guy effortlessly flipped that bumper perfectly into that car. If he was like a 16th of an inch off he would have banged and scratched and banged up that car and they would have had to stop the whole of assembly line.
In those days, the line didn't stop for anything.
@@ctbcubed Nope. Mistakes were made and you just kept moving.
That was pretty slick huh ?!?!
@@ctbcubed not toyota i heard they can stop a line just to hear an idea
In those days the discrepancy would be noted and the unit would be routed to rework
At least he was able to provide for an ENTIRE family WITHOUT education. Today's workers are even more disconnected from their labor and they make a fraction of what this guy did. Today, he'd still be miserable and his wife would have to work a retail job just to make ends-meet.
What wife? When would he ever have met a wife and how many women would want to be mothers at that age now? The reality is they would maybe be high school sweethearts and she'd be "unfulfilled" and divorce him and he then gets the plant AND alimony and an empty house to come home to. Or, more likely, he just goes through school, gets a dull job, works 10hrs a day and drinks in the evenings and lives a lonely miserable life on TH-cam comments sections ..
I mean Gm assembly workers are paid on average 50k a year so pretty sure you can raise a familly on that today. As a generation we just have to watch where our money is going and only spend it on what matters.
"Disconnected from their labor" communist spotted.
@@kennyg1358 Good. We need revolutionaries.
@@zacharyshoemaker835 50k a year when a house costs 500k+
I really wish the term “unskilled worker” would become history, every job requires skills.
If the job is done and done right it was done by a skilled worker
if it takes less than a month to learn the skill, then everyone can do it. so "unskilled". its not skilled like engineer or doctor or lawyer or carpenter or plumber which takes years to just to start.
@@tempthermod2114 since when is there a allotted amount of time or education required to be called skilled?
@@mattsanchez4893 its not alooted time, but it definetlly not short time like week or month
You dont get it. If you can take any random person from the street to do the job then it means you've hired an unskiller worker. That's what the term implies. The job doesnt require any prior skills than having arms and legs.
Interesting how they felt the way I feel about working in a warehouse, repetitive and tedious, dead end. You start to talk to yourself and reflect on your life,”is this what I want?” When I saw the black man working I could picture an employee in the present bitter and moody and that’s no fun. The manager meeting was funny it’s not staged it was real life wearing white shirts this avoids doing any dusty work they just manage and that was a way to notice. Im going based on what a manager once told me at a company and it made sense. There are many different trades you can also work in you just have to handle to use of tools and have some knowledge. Thank you for sharing this video.
Wait until they make you do the same work, but now instead of being able to at least buy one of those automobiles your making, and being able to afford to buy a house food and a vacation, now you can’t even afford to pay rent and eat hardly, let alone buy one of those cars.
Isn't that the truth. Companies are chasing short term profit so vigorously that they eventually going to run off a cliff.
That’s the shift
@@asm2750 Right they basically screwed their selves by cutting the middle class and now there’s hardly even enough people left to buy their product except for the wealthy basically and so it’s become you have two main classes of citizens in America the poor and struggling and the rich and the divide gets greater every day
@@thetechlibrarian well said. It's like the county I live in. Tons of empty "luxury apartments" and half empty cookie cutter garden home neighborhoods that want outrageous prices that hardly anyone can afford.
@@loganstroganoff1284 same here in the states 2 bedroom apartments not even luxury going for $1300 a month plus all utilities, with a note must make 3x rent. Lol like if I made 100k a year I am not renting. Funny how it’s the same all over the developed world. But yet when you tell people that’s the goal they laugh at you, and you can see the same thing happening with cars and personal transportation, because a car means freedom. They want you pushed into a mega city for easier surveillance, and your freedom of moment restricted.
A friend of mine that’s 82 years old now went to Detroit in the 60s and worked for Ford after 6 months he quit to come back to Tennessee to work in the cotton field. That’s how bad he hated it
Working in a factory is like the greatest job ever compared to working in the prison system. Talk about a job that sucks. My time working at the prison left me knowing one thing. What the bottom actually is like.
I work at Toyota and I relate to everything said in this video . Crazy
"By day I make the cars, by night I make the bars." Detroit City, Bobby Bare
Goddamnit but I’m dead happy someone else remembers Bobby Bare
Good times
@@eliotduhan4391 ;-) ;-)
Well, hot diggity dang it, Crazy Cooter! Someone done gone and fetched us up a real country song! ❤️
The anthem of every southerner who moved to Detroit in hopes of finding work.
After years of University education I must be honest I regret it. Sitting in front of an excel spread sheet all-day is the new definition of mind-numbing. All for mediocre pay, lack of physical activity, depression. My most happiest times were working in a car dealership service depot, where you were always running around and things were interesting. Everyday was something different. Management is horrible in those types of businesses but the socialization of techs and problem solving make up for it.
I work in a service center for a large auto manufacture and I get caught in the same loop of thought. Some days it's absolute hell and I just want to walk out, and other times I catch myself thinking that pound-for-pound it's a great job. Decent money for needing no formal education, some days you have plenty of free time to stay sane but are still busy enough to make the days pass by. And the greatest part, is it's a total boys club, even with the women there. We have 50+ employees, men and women, technicians, parts guys, etc. who all think alike for the most part and you can say and do dumb things that would probably land you in some class room or HR office at other jobs, and just spend your days cracking up. Idk if it's what I want to do for the rest of my life though.
@@GoofysBandit I totally agree about it being a hang out. I would spend hours at the parts department just talking about random stuff. Lots of people at my dealer were employed for over 30 years, especially parts. Porters have the quickest turnover along with service writers tho
They won't even let you say hi to the customers if you fail a THC test. The THC test keeps so many good workers from getting jobs seeing as it is their only brickwall. They'll hire the drunks instead.
@@FUBBA I on and off smoke Marlboros as it comes with my accounting degree stress but I never did THC. A lot of people were users of it though. No one ever cared for the most part, some people were vocal about it too, even management. It's legal here in IL
Management at car dealerships are just boy's clubs who got each other those jobs
We sometimes forgot that for every one of those vintage cars we love so much is a guy like Herbert assembling it.
I used to work in a factory doing the same thing over and over. Luckily I was only 19 and I thought there is no way I’m doing this forever, so I went to uni to study engineering, got my diploma and now working on a bachelor, absolutely love it.
It's remarkable how healthy and alert they all were. No meth or fastfood, no cell phone. Those were the most thoughtful and articulate high school drop outs I've seen.
To be fair there probably were drug addicts working in factories too. But this doc isn't about one of those people. 😅
A high school graduate from 1962 had the equivalent education to someone with 4 years of college today, they actually taught kids back then, now they only dumb them down and indoctrinate them.
No obese diabetics either. I see 30yos that look like diabetic 75yos today. Guy looks like he could almost be an athlete :lol:
@@wymonwatson1309 No way in hell that is the case. Our exam supervisors (boomers) told us that the content in our exams during high school was what they learnt at university as a bachelors degree.
@@chrischoy9 Look it up.
As a former Toyota factory worker that experienced how boring and depressing that line of work is, I relate to this hard. Your higher ups don't care at all about you, or the fact that you work 11 hard hours every day. Decided to switch jobs and be a pitmaster. While I make less money, I'm so much happier with what I do now, and plan to go into culinary school.
Long story short: if you don't have a family that you desperately need to take care of, please explore your options. Factory work can tear anybody down
best of luck, Zerosyste BBQ has a nice ring to it lol
@@mistermood4164 lmao thanks man. At work rn
My Father came to the states Worked At A Tire Recycling Factory From 17 In 1973-2018 til 64 had plans but Had kids etc so just the mind of this baffles me.
It's the repetitive nature of the work that is soul destroying. It was working in a factory that made me change career and thankfully I found my calling early in life.
May I ask, are the people working in the factory aware of repetitive work? Do they get bored and change jobs?
Beautiful documentary it feels so real and I feel so much sympathy for the guy
My dad was a spot welder in the late 60s. Till he could find a machinest job He worked at fisher body building Eldorados. Some times you got all 22 spot welds in sometimes 18 and so on. He seen most guys quit with in an hour. Like this guy when you have a family you'll stick with a job a lot longer.
When you work on the assembly line and you get your job down, all you have is your own thoughts for hours on end, and there is nothing you can do about it. This video is accurate. 20 years on the line.
That's where the airpods come into play makes jobs like that 3x better
I was 19, and my dad got me a factory job (plastic injection molding!) at $8/hr. One week, the machine I was operating was facing a wall with a big analog clock on it. That's the worst, 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week, just watching the clock.
@@meatcanon685 Doesn't change the job. Only dissociates the worker, like a drug, so that presence is absent, in order to get through. Understandable though it is, it will create more dissatisfaction in the long run, as engagement in a task is the point of engaging in tasks. If avoidance is necessitated, the job is wrong for the individual. I suppose this is the illustrated problem- a lack of engagement and the fruitlessness of the day-to-day mindless "grind."
@@Eric-tj3tg not always, I work at a grocery store picking out items for pick up this is super easy and I don't need to be focusing so its a better use of my time to have airpods and listen to some old history or coding tutorials
@@meatcanon685 Whatever works my man.
The loss of blue collar jobs is the biggest blow to equality in this nation, hands down. Not everyone is a rocket scientist, and not everyone is a capable decision-maker. If the average IQ is 100, that implies an inconvenient truth; that half of the people in the available work force are under that. There has to be a place in this world for that other half to make a meaningful and fruitful life for themselves. Automation and outsourcing has left these workers without any meaningful future, even if the work itself was a drudgery. If people aren't busy making a future for themselves, then they will fall victims to vice and envy. Drugs, gangs and crime all have a common link; lost opportunity.
Agree on the IQ component and otherwise law abiding folks needing to earn a decent living but claiming that people become murdering gang bangers because they have no opportunity is BS. Gang bangers can make more money than those with PhDs; they literally can make millions a year in the illegal $100 billion+ a year drug trade. Do you really think even $30 an hour would change that mentality? Gang bangers can and do make the average American workers salary in a week. Don't be so naive.
@@byoshizaki1025 And normal people will resort to it just to live. I know of a few people who would love to have a decently paid blue-collar job over having to sustain a half decent living via crime. Greedy sociopaths choose crime for the sake of massive riches.
@@Ziess1 That's a false dilemma; nobody needs to engage in criminal activities in the U.S. to survive. It's a choice they make and an excuse they tell themselves. I'm not saying things don't need improvement.
@@byoshizaki1025 9% of people are below 80 iq. This is what? Around 20 million adults in the US? As time goes on the jobs these people can work will be automated away (transportation, cashier...). Not only that, but these jobs do not pay well enough to make a living. It would be no surprise if these people turn to crime as what else can they do?
@@AJ213Probably Japan, South Korea, Sweden , Singapore, Norway, and Finland don't have and never will have 10% of the population engaged in criminal acts as a way of earning a living. Many criminals are not low IQ, they just lack a proper moral compass. Also, there are social services for those truly unable to provide for themselves to an extent and those may have to be expanded to a degree.
I have a college education and I live 58 years after 1964. These factory workers have a better quality of life (job dissatisfaction aside) than I do. They can support a wife and child, have a pension and own a home on one salary from a menial job. Our technology is superior but don't be fooled, life is harder today.
We have the privilege of hindsight, though. We know their lives turned out well (in general terms). I read a survey made in 1966 about future predictions and around 70% of respondents were convinced that a nuclear war was inevitably going to happen, before the end of the century.
Also, materially, their lives were harder. That's the same era when they built gigantic concrete housing complexes. And they felt it was a big improvement!
Super. I needed this. Thank you David.
Wow Herbert is an example of my dad. My dad started working on the assembly line for Ford in 1966 when he was 30. He retired in 1996 and is living happily on his Ford pension. I never recall him being un happy or depressed about his job. He did at some point get off the assembly line and worked in material handling. He did like that a lot better.
it still sucks
Wow! He’s still with us? That’s awesome
Man finds purpose in doing his duty. Your father did what he had to do to provide. His duty was you and seeing as you're around he's a true success. Thank you for sharing your story
Well a good man would never let his family see it, even if he was miserable.
He Sounds like a good man!
@@1stNumberOne thats an old school way of thinking and its wrong. Men aren’t supposed to just hold it in. We as brothers should be encouraging one another and taking time out to listen to one another. We should be providing service in any possible. But how do you know what to say when someone as how ya! Doing. Inside, you really need a confident ans someone to talk too. Except, as soon as you open up the other guy is judging you as a weak man. The whole thing is asinine and isn’t doing anyone any favors, The children need to see the realities of life. That way they can strive to gain employment that suites there soul.
Today in the Detroit area and in America people would love those jobs to come back. America was at its strongest back then when middle class workers made up the bulk of commerce. Now look today at places like Flint and Pontiac, Detroit and Toledo and Youngstown and Gary. Look how the loss of jobs ruined cities and took opportunities away from generations of future workers like myself. That guy complaining about his job on the line, he’d have a hard time making it today because he worked in the golden age. 40+ years later he had no idea how hard it was going to get.
Those jobs are never coming back. It was the unions that made those jobs so lucrative. And it was the age of the Big Three and the attitude, "we build them, you buy them."
He just knows there's more to life than the grindstone . It's the reason why we humans can only tap 5% of our own brain
Those factories are all in the US South, which until 1940 hadn't really begun industrialization. As the South developed, it stole what little might have been left for the Midwest. It has since began stealing jobs from China. Even Chinese Textile Firms have opened factories in the US, notably in Arkansas.
Exactly!
The demographics of the cities you mentioned also changed.
This helped to bring about the downfall of the automotive industry. I can't say more because TH-cam will censure me.
Oh wow! Thank you for posting this!
It is truly the most soul sucking and mind numbing work experience
Excellent video. I did assembly line work as well. I would daydream for my entire 10 hour shift. Sometimes I would think to myself " This job isn't going to change. 30 years from now, I'll be doing it the same way". There was zero thought needed for that job. I could perform the job whether I was in a good mood, bad mood, sick, tired, sober, or drunk. I tried not to think about the job I was doing as those thoughts would lead to nothing other than madness. I finally got out of that job and moved onto a job that requires thought and has a lot of freedom to it. To those that do work in factories, I salute you as I could not handle it.
When I was much younger I worked a punch press. I found that I could basically do the job without much thought. I would basically day dream the whole shift. In fact I got mad if the parts got hung up between stations and it interrupted my day dreaming.
I can't complain. It paid my way through college. The irony is that I worked the rest of my career as an engineer making the manufacturing process more efficient.
I would like to add that modern manufacturing is much different from what is portrayed in this video. The modern factory worker interacts with computers and need a good understanding of modern technology.
Sounds like working for the post office lol
The point about jobs like this are youre literally a unit in a machine owned by a businessman.. thats what happens when you let businessmen take over the economy and destroy independent labor
@@broadclothjack The only reason we have the standard of living we have now is because of the economies of scale provided by these "evil" businesses. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, "capitalism is the worst economic system except for all the others". If you can't get rich in the current US economy than you need an attitude adjustment.
@@jimfarmer7811 you know churchill caused hundreds of thousands of poor lads to die on gallipoli right?
I was one of the last of the well paid, HS educated workers outside of the auto and related industries. I told my son's, do NOT follow in my footsteps, the jobs are no longer there, get a trade or an education, and they did both, and are doing well. Me? I retired at $29 an hour. The guy replacing me is making $21 for the same job, and will probably never make what I did. I'm glad I got out when I did. It was hard, hot, dirty work and I don't miss it one bit!
"Never make what I made" is the truest thing ever
W/ inflation the difference is even starker
People always say oh just be a carpenter, but we make almost money for hard work these days, you cant do mich with the $40,000 you get a year in the part of the country i live in and on top of all this you get treated poorly in the workforce
How many years of working to retire at 29 an hour?
@@Relentlessperformance 35, but when I started there I was making $15 an hour, which was a good wage in the mid Eighties.
This dude just sounds like an honest man. I love it
I worked in manufacturing and I felt the same way. It completely changed my entire personality. I don’t really connect to anything anymore. I thought it was just me.
My dad was a hi lo driver in a factory for 35 years. He made enough money that mom didn't have to work we always had nice cars and nice things he loved it because of the low responsibility and the simplicity of the job. I always said I don't wanna be like my dad and sit on my ass all day so I became an auto mechanic. Now that I'm 50 I hate it because of all the BS on the car's today and being on flat rate it's hard to make money. Now I think to myself that I wouldn't mind having a hi lo job.
"I think of my wife and baby at home." Hits me right in the gut. Work-from-home has made me appreciate my family and my house so much. Whenever I'm away, I think of what my grandmother is cooking and why can't I be there to help her, or why I can't work on my grandfather's truck so he doesn't have to bust his back- yet I'm stuck in the workplace doing something I never wanted to do, all because I was told I have to. And this is the case not just for me, but for many others. The relationship between human and work is a deep, tumultuous line.
A timeless classic.
I been there when working at Ford and I definitely felt his pain word for word.
I worked at Toledo Jeep Assembly from 1978 to 2008 , I hated it at first but my last 10 years I kind of enjoyed it . The 7 day 10 hour weeks were crazy but the paychecks were out of this world , my wife didn't have to work and life was great . I retired at 49 and then started driving semi truck hauling auto parts into different auto plants from Warren , MI to Fort Wayne , In .
I found out a long time ago any job is what you make it out to be . I actually miss working at Jeep .
Hey, maybe you're a guy who helped build my '01 Cherokee Sport. You did an awesome job! Still runs like a champ!
@@ianmackenzie686... in 2001 I was working on the TJ line .
@@toledojeeper2932
Lol, well I'm certain you did an awesome job there!
Man, lucky you got out in 2008. Things would've gotten ugly.
@@hellenicboi14 ...Thats what I hear from friends still working on the line , that it's terrible in the auto plants now .
Probably the sad part is that everyone of them believe it's because of lack of education. But today most people is college educated and still working in the factories.
What a complete lack of understanding in the value of a formal education.
The entire point of a formal education is to get a piece of paper saying you can do a job. (diploma)
It is why people from MIT and Harvard get first jobs in the six figures while community college graduates in the culinary arts get jobs which pay 17 dollars an hour.
You go to school for the job you want to fill.
Back in the 1950s and 60s lots of BS degrees paid 2 or 3 times as much as this young man's already considerably better the menial income.
Nowadays the only way to make 2 or 3 times as much money as a union job is to get a degree(paper to get a job) in a few very difficult to completed educational paths.
He was right that lack of education was holding him back.
And modern people are right that excess of education has done nothing for them.
Both generations are right because the fundamental value of those educations have changed.
when i went into the mines just as my freinds was graduating from college all i heard from them was this "can you get me a job there'? this was back in 1977
It's not the lack of education. It's the lack of the creative spirit.
@@miltonsteele6676 Just got my BS in IT in my 40s, and I can tell you that most kids in college are there because they don't know what else to do. Most of them drop out. Just because you're in college doesn't mean js.
I think what is most telling, is that the frontline workers with only a HS education are still more articulate and intelligent than a lot of the HS graduates, or even some college graduates today.
Lol, If you base intelligence on what you temporarily remember for tests then…….
But back in those days such a job provides for your entire family a decent standard of living.
As a retired auto manufacturing employee, trust me, it was the worst job I ever had in my entire working years. There are way too many reasons I feel this way to mention them here. Trust me when I say that EVERYONE doing that work hates it with a passion.
Work environment as a auto worker suck. An it don't what it used to
Amazing how articulate that high school drop out line supervisor was. Times sure have changed.
I worked in a Injection Molding factory for about a year cause I really needed too, it was horrible.
As someone who did this in the 80's I can tell you his statement is not true about not knowing the people around you, the jobs may be totally redundant but you become so proficient you can do it without thinking and the workers talk endlessly. You get to know the people around you very well, that's all you have to do is talk. I did it because it paid well, today, if I was young, I wouldn't consider it.
Sir, just because it didn't happen where you worked doesn't mean his statement is "not true" as you assume. The 80's was a different time, this video is about a time way older than that. You were still baby batter in your daddy's balls back then.
I can relate so much to most of these guys. Struck in dead end job no matter how strenuous or boring it is just to ensure the welfare of our families.
Whats the point of working for your family if they grow up to do the same. Its better to pursue more fulfilling activities even if its for less pay to serve the well being of ones self. If not we will continually be raptured into a realm of perpetual monotonous existence generation after generation.
@@Mortimer_Duke unskilled? Why don’t you try doing it for a day? I thought so.
@@lafawnduhjackson1601 “Unskilled” doesn’t necessarily imply easy or valueless. This video refers to these workers as “unskilled”.
@@haleyblackburn4336 because these men didn't have the willpower to pull out. The end result? Babies. So now they have no choice but to take accountability for their actions and do whatever they can to care for their family. I noticed that a lot of these guys aren't very smart. They're almost robotic in a way, no soul, almost no emotion. It's sad. If they were smart, they would have pushed off the idea of meeting women and having kids to focus on their own happiness and growth as a human being. Unfortunately, we are human and to get ourselves in all sorts of predicaments that are self-inflicted.
@@piperpilot26 It's not all about that, a lot of the guys and gals I work with are older folk, their kids are already grown and have their own families. But the way things are set up they have to keep on working to be able to retire, some don't make it sadly.
One of the best things that ever happened to me was a tour of the local Ford plant when I was in highschool. Even as a 17 year old kid I was absolutely horrified at the thought of working on the line. I stayed in school and ended up in a job that kept my interest for 30 years and allowed me to retire at 49.
What job was that??
@@MicahPotts they mysteriously never say...
@@maxmccullough8548 probably some sort of government job.. teacher.. police/fire.. military maybe.. do your 20 years, maybe 25.. retire still young.
@@maxmccullough8548 If it were respected, he would have said. Banker or whore.
What job, David Giles?
Thank you for another informative video, David
Definitely feel for Herbert. Can see the pain in his eyes and you can hear it in his voice. As others have mentioned you could definitely afford much more with a lot less back in the day. I hope we can somehow get back to that some day.
Also, that Dodge commercial at the end was something else. From another era as well. While it was playing all I could think of was Will Ferrell in character as Robert Goulet belting out that song.
Worked 30 yrs at an automotive plant and got a small retirement, just before they sold the plant. I made almost 21 dollars an hr.in 2007 when i retired. They sold the plant to an area in the world were workers would make 50 cents an hr. I could go on for a while why companies go under and not even speak of money.Thank you David for your work and time....
Worker’s do not make that now in tier 2 plants. Plus no retirement,$600 monthly for health care,while running 4 machines. I’d gladly exchange for a mind numbing job of yesterday!
@@davidheinzmann4403 First of all David , Thank you for your comment. If it wasn't for me knowing construction , i would probably never been able to hold a job or would have been in jail in today's world. People my age had it made when it came to finding a good paying job.Many jobs you did work hard but you weren't dumped on even close like today. Today your worked long and for many times horrible pay and then are expected to set up a retirement .With what?" Many places don't care if you quit , they hire someone cheaper. I have kids and they have never been lazy and i would say most the younger generation aren't lazy too. Hope something goes your way fast......
@@gregmoore7709 management acknowledged that they cannot find skilled workers. Our union has stated that the company wants to increase the starting wage $3/hr with no increases for the higher ups.
Our last proposal offered $1/hr more for an additional machine to operate. Never thought of retiring. I'm 58 and beat . My mom worked until she turned 75. She's now 97.I put my wife and two kids through college. I don't have time to read the newspaper. I'm the last of seven kids. What I find troubling is that there's only 7 grandchildren. Two are adopted. I would gladly go back to the 50 s to 70 s.
Thanks for letting me ramble
As a postal worker working nights sorting mail this definitely hit home. I have had the exact same thoughts regarding my job and the realization that I want more out of life.
This is the postal job 2022
invest in yourself and you'll do better
Be thankful you have a job
I spent 8 years working in a factory. To this day it was one of my favorite jobs. We did rotate on the assembly line every hour, and were also included in making some small decisions for ourselves. I made 48k a year and that was in the late 90's. Last year I made 49k a year. Plus back then my insurance and other costs were tiny compared to today. We had pot luck lunches all the time and were all like a big family. Unlike these people we knew too much about one another. We did work a ton of overtime though. We did get a lot of time off work though. Two weeks in July, about 10 days at Christmas, all the other holidays, and 4 weeks on top of that. You could do other assignment jobs that would last a year if you wanted but that often would leave you without a choice when you returned to assembly. Yes it was mostly brain dead work, but we took pride in hitting production numbers because it meant we could have the weekend off. Besides the extensive overtime the other bad part was what the repetitive motion would do to your body. I still have issues and I have been gone nearly 20 years. My factory had tuition reimbursement and I used that to earn another college degree, yet even with that degree have never made near as much as I made doing factory work. I will say this though for people that think it is unskilled that is not the case. It does take a significant amount of skill to move parts as fast and notice defects, fix minor machine glitches as we did. Everytime new people would come in it would take nearly 6 months just to get them up to cruising speed for everyone else. I think these people were just expecting to much out of their job. Most of us do what we do because we need to not because we love it. One last note that job had a massive pay reduction around 2008 and does not pay anymore today than I earned there in the late 90's. All the extra the company makes is profit for them and General motors.
I have worked many jobs for many businesses over the years, and I can say that becoming my own boss through the blessings of God and my wife has been completely life changing. The beginning bit where the worker says that his in-laws have better quality of life because they work for themselves is true…more try today than ever. All these problems described in the video have gotten worse, and the only way to fix it is to leave. At least as far as I can see. Make enough money to live for a couple months without a job, proceed to quit your job, and then put all your focus and time into a niche in your community that is needed and build a business off of it. You may not be above water for a couple months, but those early times of full commitment are crucial. This is the way to true freedom and fulfillment in our modern time. Frankly, any time.
I'd love to have one of those Impala's fresh off the line.
Just imagine 😳 for like a few grand too back in the day.
I always think of Cheech Marin cleaning his car to "Low rider" . Lol
Believe me you wouldnt 😅 build quality was horiffic , and the reason is clear watching this video
My mom had a brand-new '64 Impala -- so we kids thought of it as a "Mom car." Do I ever wish I had that beast now!
The whole “this generation just doesn’t want to work!” Is no different than the last, there’s just more people so it seems that it’s more common today to hate their jobs, who wouldn’t!? It’s not natural to go to a boring place and do the same thing all day long until you get your worth at the end of the week just to get drunk.
Just yesterday I heard some guy pull out a Reagan era comment. Some welfare queen just wants to pop out another kid so they get a bigger check.
Yeah, right. Lots has changed in 40 years except for these prejudices.
@@jonbaker3728 it still happened back then, there’s more people today so that number will be greater and seem more common
@@jonbaker3728 many women do have kids just to get child support though. That isnt a bad thing to say.
@@joshuablair252 Many women huh? You personally know of a single mother that intentionally got pregnant?
@@jonbaker3728 lol my close relative did, she expected the father to stay. Nope he left to China. It's not common of course it happens.
If there's one thing from the fifties I wish was still here, it's this.
Work that could support a family and bosses that care. I'm glad my boss cares.
There are a lot of people in here commenting on how "good" these people had it back then. I can't help but wonder how many of them have personally experienced working on an assembly line. I have dabbled in all types of hard work, from farming, to land scraping and construction, and I can say that factory work is one of the most soul crushing activities that you can take part in. It doesn't matter whether your boxing apple pies from off of a conveyor belt, or torquing a bolt on a heavy machine every 5 seconds , the whole affair is unnatural and quite literally turns you into a machine. The non stop repetitiveness Is torture for the mind, if you have any at all.
Don't find it too bad myself. Lacks the stress that some jobs I've had have and can be relaxing and allows time to think a bit. See the contribution you're making and change job when you need you to I would say.
I don't think it is too bad either. Just download some podcasts and fill those boxes. If you get tired of that you could also think.
people are working the same soul crushing jobs, but for way... way... way... less
The lack of self esteem by a guy who is doing something that is physically difficult and exacting is sad.
Many who degrade specialized labor do it to keep the cost down.
The people who build and built cars do it for the money and because they can and are willing to.Most would not last a day on an assembly line.
If you can and do this kind of work and enjoy the money you’ve won the game of life.
Lots of people are miserable in-spite of their job and they bring this miserableness with them.
Such an interesting look back thanks David.
This looks like a video to encourage people not to be angry at the fact that some jobs will be disappearing soon, “you didn’t like this job anyways, look how miserable you are, now a robot can do it”
Exactly haha. Poor little guys were bored 😭😭😭😭😭😭
This man’s job now requires a degree and a background in welding and DEFINITELY doesn’t pay enough to afford a home, a stay at home wife, new baby and a decent vehicle.
I dropped out of college because I saw where it would get me. Tuition is higher than ever, jobs pay less than ever, and a degree would have gotten me nothing but student loan debt.
People in the 1960s had affordable tuition and were guaranteed a job if they got a good degree. Not anymore.
Welders make good money. 60 - 80k a year starting out.
David Hoffman. I watch your videos becuase they scratch that itch. The itch to wonder how people lived before my time. Thank you, I consider you and your channel A gift.
When I started in manufacturing I was an assembler, press braker, welder. Despised all of them. Hated it. I was bored out of my mind. Then I made it into the Engineering department doing programming, quality control, tool buying, machine troubleshooting, prototyping, process writing; so much better because everyday there was a new problem to solve or lengthy projects to push forward. Any kind of repetition or repeating problem is painful.
The Army was my first official Job, i worked in a Chicken Proccesing plant (factory) for 5 years after i got out of the Military, and that was the 5 most miserable years of my existence on this planet... i feel this guy for real , I too got trapped in the factory and hsd no other options at the time nor means to change , Thankfully , i now have a Job that i dont hate , and i may make a bit less money, but id take that any day over hating my life from the moment i wake up until the very end of the day. Quality of life over money, all day every day!
I feel you there. Every job I’ve had outside of the Army has sucked worse than the last one. I’d rather go back to Afghanistan than work most of the jobs available out there. Luckily I’ve found a way to make a living doing things I like. I won’t get rich but I’m happy enough.
How'd you find a way out? I've been stuck on the 3rd shift factory grind for as long as I can remember and there's no end in sight. Out here in the midwest it's either mcdonalds, farmwork, or factory work. I live 50 miles from the nearest college and work 6 days a week, 10 hours days. Applied to the plumbers pipefitters and HVAC union several times but never hear anything back, from what i've seen and heard it's next to impossible to get good work out here without having someone to put in a word for ya. And I have nobody
I left my secure job in finance for the same reason. Repetitive, mind numbingly boring, admin tasks. I left for film, photography and a creative career. I was about the same age and my peers were jealous as they had a family so they couldn’t leave. I made the decision to be without kids so had the freedom to escape.
Imagine how his head would spin if he walked through the doors of that same factory in 2022 and realize how much further those conditions have fallen.
That factory is still open?
Imagine if he knew that these jobs would all move to Japan
@@javiervega1065 imagine that and that he'd pay for it. The time machine really needs it's bar for entry lowered.
He’d have to go to Mexico or China where he’d find out how lucky he was.
The "Golden Handcuffs" as it used to be referred to. It looks as if Mr. Slater is providing well for his family. The stress of an unfulfilling job is minor compared to not being able to do that.
Living is more than simply being alive.
This isn’t an example of golden handcuffs. This is an example of servitude. Golden handcuffs requires a substantial reward for sticking around. Like earning a deferred comp that you only receive after 10 years, and if you leave you forfeit your deferred comp. Thats golden handcuffs.
Exactly.
Typical Jordan Peterson stan trying to tell people how lucky they are to be neoliberal subjects.
@@RhodokTribesman that's completely objective. Alan watts would disagree.
Many young people today would kill to have this guy's life. House, family, free time, retire at 55, cheap healthcare, security for his wife and kid
Yea I'd love this guy's job.....
Born into an education system that teaches you to be a good obedient worker,
just to live and die as a factory robot.
Working in a Detroit fast food joint in the 80s, I used to envy all of the auto workers during bonus payout time every year. All of the local appliance, car, and boat dealerships would run special ads in the newspapers to target them. I always felt forgotten and left out. :(
Honestly, I don’t know how someone could do the same tedious and monotonous job for thirty or forty years. I would become absolutely unhinged! The argument is always people do it to live, but if you’re absolutely miserable, why would you want to live? This can be especially difficult if you’re someone with artistic or creative aspirations. It’s not that you’re lazy; it’s just that you would rather spend your time toiling away on aspects of life that give you fulfillment. I understand the necessity of monotonous work, but people shouldn’t have to devote the entirety of their lives to it. This is one of the cultural aspects of the fifties that I detest. It’s the idea that a man’s worth is limited to the paycheck he brings home to his family. Of course, even then, exceptions and situations varied, but that was the dominant cultural narrative. Even today, however, such expectations haven’t completely disappeared, but they’re just more unspoken.
I said something Similar this to my beautiful, creative childhood friend today♡
That what she has done thus far isn't the Same type of Currency that our Hometown considers a Measure of Success ♡
You just described so damn well what I'm going through right now. Only been working for 4 years but I'm 20yo and it's taking it's mental toll.
Yes America so much better now all these tedious jobs are offshore
heading on the way to be a hobo rather than suffer for the man ✌
@@tokyobrwn
Look around you. It never stopped being necessary.
The guy had the best work there just sitting in a chair watching rolls coming out from the machine. Easy, almost zero responsibility. Nowadays he could listen to audiobooks all day long and it is payed.
First job out of tech school, I worked manufacturing electronic subsystems for the telecom industry. I lasted all of 6 weeks before I thought I was going to lose my mind.
People bemoan the loss of manufacturing jobs overseas, but careful what you wish for.