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.
No kidding. My grandfather was a plumber and made 30K during the Depression. They had a house, car, my mother went to summer camp and the 3 kids went to college; 2 graduated one became a career Marine.
Oh, yeah, and this was in the 30s-50s, back when blacks like my grandfather didn't have the choices (including student loans) they have today. They didn't boo-hoo about life and just did what they had to do and moved on.
This kid is an idiot who obviously doens't know a thing about the real world - and apparently the kid's parents haven't helped either. Lord in heaven, I hate crying liberals.
I went to Wake Forest some years ago and majored in economics and philosophy, and had a great time for 4 years. The year I graduated the economy was in the dumper and there were no stepping stone jobs available in the international banking field. So, I cast about for something to do (for pay!) and ran into a friend of mine who was a programmer. He said his company was hiring programmer trainees and that with the degrees I had I was likely a pretty logical person and would make a good prospect. I took an aptitude test, scoring the highest of anyone ever taking it for that company, and started as a programmer. Many years and a number of jobs later, I have done very well in the IT industry.
The moral: doesn't matter what degree you have or how you got it, hard work, some aptitude, and perseverence to get ahead trumps all.
If they are "smart" enough for college, they should be smart enough to pick a major that is marketable (I know, I know; in real life, this doesn't often happen). As for the money, I think the ideal situation is to go to community college the first 2 years to get all of the bullsh!! courses out of the way, and then go to a 4 year school to finish.
IMHO, the crimes are the rates that schools charge for a degree, and the racketeering between the college/profs/book companies that force students to pay exhorbinant rates for textbooks, as well as preventing them from re-selling them and/or buying them used. I'm sure there are some RICO violations here.
My parents loaned me the down-payment for the car. Paid it back in 6 months.
Alumni networks--an intangible benefit of a 4-year university--are a great way to find jobs to pay off those student loans.
LOL.
Almost the entire left wing does the same thing whenever anyone, anywhere, at anytime proposes a budget cut.
The funny thing about mining these days is that the mining jobs are hard to get and the pay is pretty good. My wife's grandfather lives in one of the old coal town, same house he was raised in. Both of the neighbors still work for the company, one is an electrician and the other is an equipment operator, both make more than I do , neither went to college and both live in one of the lowest cost of living areas in the country.
Two sets of twins??
Some days are like that.
Let's assign responsibility properly. No one is being saddled with $100,000 in student loans without their full consent, hence there is no crime. Stupidity, yes.
College students should fully examine the marketability of their degree before begining their studies. If it's really cost-effective to take out that loan for that degree,the college placement office, will have statistics to back it up.
Otherwise, a trade school is probably a better deal; cheaper, shorter, less stupid time wasting classes; and generally a job placement service at the end.
That has a great deal to do with your location. Plumbers in Texas don't do nearly so well.>>>>>>>>
Here in Eastern South Carolina the owner of the plumbing company does ok but it is common to see ads for building maintenance jobs asking for someone who can do plumbing repair, carpentry, electrical and is certified in heating and air conditioning and they seldom offer more than twelve an hour for this superman, often less.
My grandfather was a plumber and made 30K during the Depression.>>>>>>>>>
That would have been a VERY expensive plumber 30 thousand at that time would have been equal to AT LEAST half a million today!
I just was not familiar with the expression UMC. I took a wild guess at what it meant.
I am sure that if there were a market for that sort of degree, someone would be offering it. Maybe you should give it a go.
"Northwestern has a journalism school."
Yes, but is it credible?
Northwestern certainly is, but those journalism schools are kinda sketchy.
Same here, and there is a lot of competition for those jobs. Maybe things are different in NYC where Clemenza lives, but around here, those jobs pay about the same as in your area.
ping
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