A-fucking-men. I make it a practice to work for tradesmen for free. Someday, and that day may never come, your godfather may call upon you for a favor.
Not defending her but the difference is the ppp was passed with the provisions that the loans would be forgivable. Not exactly apples to apples here
The generation that is coming of age now does not have the fortitude to go through the bullshit that follows those trade schools though. All of those trades have to go through apprenticeships that last a long ass time. No instant gratitude to be found there.
If the loans that had been given out were merit-based the problem would be 1/10th of what it is now. Want a loan and for the government to take a chance on you? Get good grades.
I don't think this is the case though. I know a couple of people who went the trades route in the middle of high school in the late 00's/early '10's and they're both doing just fine. One electrician and one carpenter. Paid their dues with apprenticeships that still paid ok and are just now branching out with their own businesses. One key is to make the trade school decision by junior year at the latest. People who commit to the path will land on their feet most of the time. People who see it as a booby prize after they've gone 4 years in high school for C grades will not most of the time.
I think compared to the past, there are less and less young people interested in trades though. Here in Myrtle beach, we have a massive amount of trade companies . Have to, to service all the vacation properties, and homes. And thinking about it, the majority of them are older. Very few businesses owned by younger people, even the employees are older.
Those ppp loans were abused from what I saw, atleast locally. Our local news releases a list of the businesses that got the top loans here a while back. 3 of the top 5 were large restoration companies. Last time I checked, floods, fire , mold etc, do not take quarantine for a virus. There’s no way those companies slowed one bit for Covid, if anything , with people being home and using their houses more, they were busier.
He didn’t say people won’t be successful if they choose that path though. He said people won’t choose that path because the success isn’t instantaneous which is ironic because it’s not like college is either, but it at least creates the illusion of success when they give you a shitty cubicle and business cards for $43K/year and a coordinator title. My friend is almost done with his electricians apprenticeship. He is going to be rolling in money.
It's a good point though. I have buddies pissed as hell because they either A. Sacrificed a shit ton to pay their loans off asap or B. Didn't go to college.. they are mad people got 10k. But PPP loans were handed out like candy and wasn't monitored at all to make sure it was actually going to the businesses. A lot of expensive toys were bought with that money. But we get told to get pissed that Joe the college student got a break on loans, or Joe the farmer for getting bailed out. It's all bullshit.
Love seeing the White House upholding it's promise to unite the country by calling out the hypocrites on the other side.
Also the amount of outright fraud in the process was outrageous, where a business took the forgivable loan and then let most of their people go anyway. However the prosecutors are tracking these businesses down and prosecuting them so I guess it is all good.
The startup cost for any business is high at this point unless you have an in like a guaranteed contract source. However if you're already in the business and know the ropes you can manage the swells in the economy much better. That's not to say that opportunity is not there but it is scary as hell to take several hundred thousand in loans not knowing how the economy is going to look 2 to 3 years down the road when you are going to have to be servicing those loans or watching the principal grow into a bankruptcy. It's just a guess but I am betting that most of the young contractors getting ahead at this point are the ones buying out their boss - who is often a blood relative and will be around to advise them if things go south.
