Posted on 02/29/2012 6:40:21 AM PST by SeekAndFind
I was curious to see what would happen to Rick Santorum after being subjected to the harsh glare of the media spotlight, now that he's the Republican flavor of the week. It speaks highly of him that one of the worst things you can say about him is about a comment he made about college attendance.
On MSNBC Monday night, Ed Shultz expressed shock that Santorum would say that President Obama is a snob for insisting that everyone goes to college. The progressive media framed his comment like this:
"President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob," Santorum said Saturday at the Americans for Prosperity Presidential Forum in Troy, Michigan.
At first glance, it seems odd that Santorum would think that Obama wanting people to be educated somehow makes him a snob. But here is his comment in context to some blue collar workers:
"There are good decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to test that aren't taught by some liberal college professor to try to indoctrinate them. Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college -- he wants to remake you in his image."
Santorum is saying that Obama is assuming that a worker doesn't have value if he doesn't possess a college degree.
I'd argue that people who go to college nowadays are often less useful to society than those who don't. The immigrant laborer who operates a Bobcat, drives a forklift, or digs trenches has more practical value to our nation than some college graduate who got his degree in communications or psychology or sociology or music or environmental science or education. The former's experience tethers him to reality; the latter is taught things that sever his ties to reality.
College is sort of an alternate universe--students go there without paying (up front, anyway), professors teach without having to worry about achieving results, and the money keeps flowing, thanks to generous government-backed loans.
When President Obama says that everyone needs to go to college, I start thinking about who is going to pay for that. Currently, it's the students, although they don't realize it yet. They can defer payments, but one day they wake up and realize they are $100,000 in debt and have no marketable skills.
Why does college cost so much more than it did a decade ago? Joe Biden said, "By the way, government subsidies have impacted upon rising tuition costs."
More people going to college means more people buried in debt, thanks to government subsidies. It might not be so bad if the students were learning something useful, but sadly, that's not the case.
Nowadays, mostly a scam. And a high cost one at that.
Rick was right. This guy says more things that are right and true and that everyone is thinking, but that are highly politically incorrect. His honesty and forthrightness and cutting through all the BS is very refreshing. We will get NONE OF THIS HONESTY and FRANKNESS with Willard as nominee. Zilch.
There are also a lot of ways to blow a lot in tuition and not learn anything that will get you a job. How many English majors do we really need in this economy?
I use the things I learned in my engineering and math courses at my present job, even though it isn't an engineering and math job. As soon as there is a technical issue at work, I am the first person they call for help.
It's the final step in indoctrinating the future Socialists of America.
b
College is over-rated mainly in that the first two years of a 4 year degree is “general education” and only the last two years are for the “major”. And that it is very hard to guess what major will be in job demand upon graduation.
My first B.S. major was a waste as the field that was crying out for that subject area when I started, was glutted by the time I graduated. My sister’s English B.A. of course was a waste as it did not generate job offers, other than the Peace Corps.
I should have become a plumber or a politician as they get the big bucks for dealing in sleaze.
I’m a Newt backer but I will vote for RS if he is the nominee. Some of the things he says here are right.
Thank you for your prosaic insight and input as always!!
Big College could be looked at as another “Ponzi” scheme...
somewhere along the line, the rules changed from:
go to college, get a useful degree, make the world and your personal situation better, pass on to your kids if you can .
Now it’s: go to college, get indoctrinated or party or endure the radical line, graduate and find a job in ANYTHING in or out of your major and end up funding an institution where radicals like Ayers and Dornen can become gormands and wine experts...
like everything else these days, the value and purpose has been skewed and diminished...thanks to libs and anarchists.
That was both untrue and unkind.
Newt defends Obama on ‘snob’ slam
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73371.html
By TIM MAK | 2/28/12 8:27 AM EST
Newt Gingrich on Tuesday defended President Barack Obamas call for young Americans to get education beyond high school, which had prompted Rick Santorum to label the president a snob.
Gingrich said he had no problem with the presidents sentiment, which he called entirely reasonable.
The total quote you just read straight to me seems entirely reasonable, said Gingrich on NBCs Today Show. Everybody in America has to get re-educated all the time because jobs are going to change, technology is going to change. If we are going to compete with the world market, we both have to have the best equipment and the best training.
You have to ask Santorum why he said that, he added. I do think every American ought to be trained, but it doesnt matter what your degrees are, it matters if youre employable.
The comments centered around a speech Obama gave in 2009 in which he said, I ask every American to commit to one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school, vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever that training will be, every American will need more than a high school diploma.
When posed a similar question later on Fox, Gingrich corrected the questioner, who had prefaced the question by saying the president had claimed all kids should have the opportunity to go to college.
First of all, the president didnt say precisely that. He also talked about other kinds of training, said Gingrich.
Im for constant learning
I think earning a living is important and everybody ought to figure out the skills they need to earn a living and theres a dignity in every kind of work, he said, in answering the question.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73371.html#ixzz1nmc50YHq
Thank you for standing up for the man you support, Speaker Gingrich, and yet at the same time, demonstrating manners and respect toward Senator Santorum, some of the things he observes, and all of his supporters. This is greatly apppreciated, is the market of a good and decent FReeper, and will not be forgotten my friend. Thank you again for your kindness and manners.
Thank you for standing up for the man you support, Speaker Gingrich, and yet at the same time, demonstrating manners and respect toward Senator Santorum, some of the things he observes, and all of his supporters. This is greatly apppreciated, is the mark of a good and decent FReeper, and will not be forgotten my friend. Thank you again for your kindness and manners.
Ex-Wife’s brother was engaged to the daughter of an Ivy League family. While traveling in their Jaguar in Boston the car broke down. He was able to solve the problem in minutes. The family had her break off the engagement because a mechanics knowledge was beneath them. He’s actually an Architect but I guess “real” gentlemen wait for the Tow Truck.
Consider who kicked off the chain reaction. Wasnt me who “drew first blood.”. ;-) But I settled it.
High school is over-rated
Grade School is over-rated
Pre-School is over-rated
The whole damn education system is over-rated
There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that people with college degrees in women’s studies, liberal arts, history, English, etc. end up working at Barnes and Noble or Target.
Nothing wrong with such jobs, but, they don’t require college degrees.
The media completely distorts what was said and what the subject here is, as usual. But we should have a national debate about college, and who should go to college, and what financial aid should be available. Too many degrees don’t translate into jobs or a career path.
It’s good to ask the question as to what you can do with certain degrees. For example, women’s studies may be fascinating as an academic field, but how many employers need people to study women after graduation? Philosophy may be fascinating, but how many employers recruit to find philosophers who majored in Philosophy?
What you said made you look bad, nothing more.
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