An Obvious Need for Awareness

And now I have to come back to the rapidly changing global scene. Too often our focus as professionals has been limited. But now, change is rapid and the first thing we have to do is open our horizons, see how our special expertise must achieve new foci and be expanded at the same time.

Changing My Viewpoint

Most psychologists planned to do their evaluation in a clinical setting and it was thought it was about psychological conflicts and what we called “mental Illness”. Gone are the days. For one thing we have to dramatically reframe what we call mental illness. But that is another story. Let me stay with the jobs issue.

I referred people for vocational rehabilitation and the counselor referred people to me for evaluation. Once I had a focus on the client I proceeded to an interview and testing. My focus was not so much on a clinical picture, meaning not on psychopathology. I had to see how they functioned which can be truly complex and I needed to build a picture of what their ability patterns were.

Without going into extensive detail, what I did in the intelligence testing gave us direction for employment. When I was in training I at first thought that simply the level of intelligence was at issue. Not so.

What Is Intelligence?

Beats me. It is naive to assume a simple picture about intelligence can be constructed from a test. But, for now, let me just focus on the “intelligence test”.

At the time the most commonly used tests were the Wechsler tests. Each had two primary parts. The Verbal part was assumed to relate to intellectual skills as they were applied in an office setting. The Performance section was assumed to relate to what we often call working class jobs. It is a lot more complicated than that but I’ll leave it at that for now. 

Over time I learned something important. It was often assumed that if the Verbal I.Q. was lower than the Performance IQ that the person had a learning disability. I came to see something very different. If the view was turned around and the Performance IQ was higher, then we may have a view of a talent. And what I saw was that the people with high Performance scores had talents very useful in tech jobs. And that could mean office tech jobs not just what we normally call working class jobs.

A Matter for Research

As the world changes so must our focus. For coal for example we need to do more than say those jobs are going away. Suddenly we have a large group of people who need other employment. We have  essential questions to ask such as “what is the ability pattern and talents of people who work in the coal industry?” We don’t know that but I suspect there is a highly diverse set of abilities available. Many came to work in coal because their fathers worked in coal. That does not tell you the whole story of their abilities.

We need to mesh a picture of the jobs which will be needed with the talents which are available in the families of the people who will have to leave dying industries.

That means we need extensive research into the abilities of the people who must leave employment such as in the coal industry. Simultaneously we need a good picture of new jobs which are being born in the world at large. And those two pictures much be merged. At present I hear nothing about this kind of research and it is essential for our future.

New and Broader Viewpoints

When I look at Applachia I see a dying industry in a gloriously beautiful area. Many people would probably be delighted to work in those lovely valleys. And they would be suitable to tech jobs which now can be linked electronically and don’t necessarily need to involve giant corporate facilities although the facilities could be smaller and linked. Without going into greater hypothetical detail, I think you can see my point. Across the country there must be endless possibilities if we will simply attend, seek vision and do the essential research.

Back to the Inner City

After i had the evaluation data I would then sit with the counselor and we would mesh what I found with the job market and training and education possibilities. This was a small focused means to an end and brought rewards to the people of the inner city., In microcosm it hinted at a process that could serve our country and a variety of settings.

Putting An end to Corruption, Stunted Vision and Commitment

The problem our country is facing is not limited to the job and skills issues noted above.

The future is out there and it need not be dismal. Our ability and commitment to our jobs future has been stalled for political and social reasons. The future of America is being strangled by an entrenched corrupt oligarchy. If we break their hold and expand our vision such as outlined above we can change the picture dramatically. So much now depends n the next election. Little progress is being made in Congress and the courts. It is now up to we the people.

891 words

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Don’t Miss My Developing Gaia’s Majesty Trilogy

I refer to it as a work of magical realism. It is a series with a strong mythological element and a real world setting in this time when women are being empowered at last. It is a time of wonder and awakening for all of humankind.

Gaia’s Majesty-Mission Called: Women in Power – Book 1

Avery had dedicated her life to work for the future of third world women. Her life was enhanced when she met the man who became the love of her life. They could not know that they shared a destiny and that a mission set long ago by our Earth Goddess was to be revealed before 

them. 

Available Now in Kindle and Paperback on Amazon

Gaia’s Majesty-Mission Called

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Gaia’s Majesty-Challenge: The Chosen Rise – Book 2

These people, called Tethyans, live in cities in the sea but can morph into fully human form and come to land to form families. They join with the warrior women called the Andromeda to fight against the forces working to impair the future of humankind. Avery has found her birth name of Chantia and she and Beck find there is soon to be a child of seeming great import just as the world falls into terrible strife with millions already dead. 

Available Now in Kindle and Paperback on Amazon

Gaia’s Majesty-Challenge