how tasks become jobs that americans won't do; 

In the eighties, I had a friend who worked for me on and off.  He was a competent handyman and could do an oil change without screwing it up, something that was always useful in an auto shop, which I ran.  Eventually, however, he got a better paying job as a drywaller.

Anyone who has ever done a home project with even a small drywall repair knows how difficult it is not to have even a small repair stick out like a sore thumb.  Stevie was good and patient.  He has that ability to measure with his eye.  And so he was a very good drywaller, making a respectable wage with some benefits.

But about a decade later, he came back to my shop, needing work.  He explained that his business had been taken over by mostly Hispanic workers, who worked as sub-contractors and were paid not by the hour, but by the number of sheets of drywall they hung.  No benefits, of course.  Their work may not have been great, but it was acceptable.

In all likelihood, many if not most of these new drywallers were illegal aliens.  And in a one-decade cycle, drywalling became one of those jobs Americans just won’t do...........more...........