You bet they do. And some well paid folks who know how to operate a ditch digger too! 
Posted on 11/09/2005 10:43:17 AM PST by texassizednightcrawler
Higher education is slowly becoming a catalyst for a class system in America and Congress is fueling the problem.
Congress is proposing to cut financial aid funding to students. Any student whose family is classified under the level of "lower-middle" class is going to have a difficult time finding finances to receive a higher education. I once heard someone say, "The world needs ditch diggers too." Well, that is fine and dandy, but digging ditches barely keeps pay above the poverty level.
The class system is slowly emerging, driven by America's higher education system. Rich kids will get to go to college, while the poor ones will not be able to afford it. The same privileged few running our country will continue to rule. The poor will continue to struggle to live, thanks to less government assistance.
I know, less government assistance raises red flags and allegations of "just live on welfare your whole life," but what does the government expect people to do? They wonder why people pump out five kids to receive more benefits. Granted, there are some citizens who plot and scheme so they do not have to work, but not everyone thinks and operates that way. Some just do not have the resources and the ones they do have are limited.
Which brings me to the point of my column: Is a higher education worth it under America's capitalist system? Think about it. Students are financing their lives away for a degree. Getting a degree does not guarantee a student a job when they graduate. Do you know how many people I know who are waiting tables to pay off their loans because they cannot find a job in their fields? It is not a trend just occurring in West Virginia, but across the country, in cities large and small.
The further I go in my college career, I realize I should have attended a two-year trade school. I could have been making money by now, rather than adding to my debt acquired while in school. Think about it. In a capitalist society, going to trade school is your best bet. No taking classes not related to your major and racking up loans. No getting caught in the "well-rounded" education trap emphasized at four-year institutions. What better way to fade into oblivion and join the "capitalist machine?" At least then, citizens can make some money sooner to survive.
As students, our backs are against the wall. If you do not go to college, you do not make enough money to provide for yourself. Go to trade school, you might luck into a job that pays more than $25,000 a year, but chances are, you will end up working a service job until you die, because there is no such thing as retirement in the service industry. They just do not have credible two-year journalism schools in the "system's" eyes.
I once had a respected, tenured professor tell us in class, "A well rounded education means you can recite poetry at the dinner table." Learn from this proverb. Tell your Congressmen that cutting financial aid is not the answer if they want to save money. Revamp and evaluate the school system itself. If you want qualified workers to fuel capitalism, then make it worth it for a student to go to a two-year institution, not a penalty. Cut out the unnecessary courses provided in four-year colleges and help students save money, while getting the training we need to be productive pawns of American society.
Outside of science degrees and a handful of orthodox Catholic colleges (I'm sure there are a handful of other solid Christian colleges too), those who escape college today can consider themselves fortunate.
What will you give in return for your soul?
My 'classical studies' were Chemistry and Chemical Engineering - degrees in both. They stood me well for forty-plus years in industry. I also learned how to appreciate art and poetry, but I did not waste precious university time on those subjects. And I did not amass an incoherent pile of student debt - I worked while going to school.
The problem with this author is that he has already been corrupted by his leftist profs. His profs are leaches on the capitalist system. It sounds like he plans to become a leach too.
The professors of departments whose graduates are only qualified to flip burgers.
I'd wrather wring my hands and shout "the sky is falling." 8-)
So does that justify taking an elective in everything?
Cut out all government financial aid for post high school education, and watch colleges change their curricula overnight. Without government financial aid, the promary sources of education funding for students whose parents can't pay the full tab will be:
1) The colleges themselves, which will have choose and educate students in a way that ensures loans will be repaid. It won't take the colleges long to figure out that sullen kids sporting multiple tattoos and piercings and planning to major in Queer Studies are bad credit risks.
2) Employers, which will pay only for exactly what they need.
It might have been a good idea in the days when college was less expensive. It's a burden now.
Get rid of the electives and you can probably shrink a lot of four year progams to 2 or 3, saving everyone lots of time and debt. If someone chooses to take an unrelated class, let them do so, but it shouldn't be required.
That is nonsense. Anyone graduating from a school that costs that much will not be flipping burgers even if the degree is in pyschology.
And who exactly is "saddling" them with 100 grand in loans but themselves?
Northwestern has a journalism school.
The downside is spending lots of time up to your elbows in shiite. Not to mention the stench.
And that's the best lesson to learn... and ASAP. How to find resources, for any need, is a talent that every adult needs to cultivate... whether you are building a company from scratch, supporting a family without a college degree, developing national strategic reserves, or rebuilding a Studebaker in Nigeria.
I will always be grateful that my parents refused to buy me my first car (although at the time, it really stunk!). I couldn't get a job without a car, and couldn't get a car without a job... a rough paradox for a 16 year old. Getting past it was my first true step into adulthood, IMO.
(I got a paper route within jogging distance and worked for a year to earn $1600 to buy a 12 year old Chevy Laguna S-3.)
I know a few people like that, went full force into a career, work their tail off and reap the benifits!
You do have to work your butt off though! We went through 2 realtors when we moved, the first lady drove me nuts so I switched!
My sister went to Vo-tech for cosmotology. She does manicures and pedicures at a dayspa. She made more than I did as a first year teacher, and had no student loans!
If you are professional or business person, plumbers have a special rate for you.
Both my husband and I hold degrees from PSU. There are a lot of PSU grads, and we network for jobs. Husband got his job because of a PSU grad that worked for that company, and he has since helped a few others get in the door. I can say all the people he has helped had the grades and work ethic his company needed, he turned down a few because he didn't want to hurt his reputation by recommending someone that he knew wasn't exaclty qualified.
Once a Nittany Lion, always a Nittany Lion!!
You bet they do. And some well paid folks who know how to operate a ditch digger too!
Yes ... so you can tell highly-educated idiots to piss off in an eloquent and obscure manner. It's great fun.
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