A LOST CRAFT

You hear people say that we--the American auto industry--can't engineer a good standard transmission anymore because the domestic carmakers don't have people with the needed skills any longer. They have to farm the work out. It's bad enough that we're losing these skills--even exporting them. What's worse is that we're no longer developing them.

I'll tell you what's really wrong with this country: Every good machinist seems to be over the age of 65. If you happened to come into my shop, you'd see that I'm the youngest guy in there, and I'm in my 40s. There was a time in this country that if you were a skilled craftsman--if you were good with your hands--it was a sign of talent or, in some cases, even genius, and people gave you a lot of respect. Along the way, America has lost something important.

How come the Japanese and Germans can come to America, build factories here and fill them with American workers to build quality cars, but American companies can't use Americans to build really great American cars? I just don't understand it