Half of college grads can't find full-time jobs (Go Obama!!! No, really go Obama.)

CBS ^ | 5/14/2012 | Jim Axelrod

[Carry_Okie]

submit that the composition of the population that the U.S. has now, compared to what it was in the 18th and early--and I accent "early"--19th century is so different that what you are doing absolutely cannot be done except by a few of the upper middle class.

Allow me to offer this: When I went to Harvey Mudd College to study engineering, I had the great fortune to study a semester of directed reading under Dr. William Allen. This was a conservative's conservative. He could read and translate Thucydides on the fly, and the same with Montesquieu. He is a scholar of the letters of George Washington, Oxford educated... coming from a poor black family in Florida.

I don't buy it. Not a bit of it. Yes, some abilities are innate, but that matters so little compared to culture and upbringing (including in utero) that to throw up your hands with this kind of cultural chauvinism, besides being defeatist, is counterproductive. Not being dedicated to solutions, it blinds you to opportunity with solutions like this or this.

Attempt either one and the system would be transformed in but a few years.

[darrellmaurina]

Thank you for your interest in my work, OldPossum... feel free to use it elsewhere if you find it helpful.

I do believe that conservatives need to return to our roots here. Anti-intellectualism is simply incompatible with the sort of in-depth study of the Founding Fathers and of constitutional principles of government that is required to maintain a free republic, let along transmit American cultural values to the next generation.

[darrellmaurina]

Sorry about the prior post... I hit the “enter” key by mistake while the message still had typos and wasn't done.

Thank you for your interest in my work, OldPossum. Feel free to use it elsewhere if you find it helpful.

I do believe that conservatives need to return to our roots here. Anti-intellectualism is simply incompatible with the sort of in-depth study of the Founding Fathers and of constitutional principles of government that are required to maintain a free republic, let alone transmit American cultural values to the next generation.

Does everybody need to go to college? Absolutely not.

However, our American heritage is not one of mob rule or pure populism; it is a heritage of trying to bring “the masses” up to the level that they can be good citizens, effectively participating in government and voting for their own leaders. That requires not only literacy but also an appreciation for American history and founding principles from the general public. At a higher level, it requires leaders who not only understand those principles but can fight off wrong views that compete for the allegiance of Americans, and that requires some pretty in-depth study.

It's a basic principle that before you take down a fence, you'd better try to find out what the fence was put up to keep out. Our Founding Fathers and the last two and a half centuries of American history are the story of erecting fences and defending them. We fail to learn that history at our peril.

[rurgan]

Notwithstanding that, I wish to point to the 1971 Supreme Court decision, Griggs v. Duke Power. The Court decided in the favor of Griggs and his associates, all black men who were not able to take written tests well enough to advance in the company. The Court also held that written tests to get and advance in a job (IQ, aptitude, and the like) were banned. As a consequence, companies sought out a proxy and found it in the time-honored sheepskin

Now I see why some companies might want someone with a degree. But how many companies have heard of this case?

[OldPossum]

I would not think that the smaller companies would know. The larger ones, with corporate legal staff, would. The smaller ones would find out in a hurry if black applicants fail their tests and go to the federal crying boards for racial discrimination. I cannot recall the proper name of these agencies offhand