Posted on 05/19/2013 6:23:46 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
At an event on Friday the Mayor of New York City put his foot in his mouth…again. Michael Bloomberg attempted to give mediocre high school students some advice: skip college and become plumbers. He said students who were not above average should learn how to be plumbers instead of reaching for a career that would involve going to a prestigious college and obtaining a degree.
The people who are going to have the biggest problem are college graduates who aren’t rocket scientists, if you will, not at the top of their class. Compare a plumber to going to Harvard College — being a plumber, actually for the average person, probably would be a better deal. You don’t spend ... four years spending $40,000, $50,000 in tuition without earning income.
Not only does Bloomberg think that skipping college is a good plan, but he also went on to give some advice about finding jobs that won’t be outsourced. “It’s hard to farm that out ... and it’s hard to automate that,” he said. He went on to say that a number of studies indicate that people who learn plumbing skills have less debt and make more money than those who get college degrees.
An advisor who helps students with college financial planning who was also at the event was not completely supportive of Bloomberg’s comments. He said, “College is a good investment,” and continued, “The only schools that cost $40,000 or $50,000 like the mayor said are elite schools”.
So maybe it is time for Michael Bloomberg to lower his elitist standards. College degrees are a good investment and should be sought after. Not everyone has the ability to afford these elite schools, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other options for them to be able to attend college.
If you respect neither your philosophers nor your plumbers, your theories and your pipes shall both be unable to hold water.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
I actually agree with Bloomberg for once.
College is not for everyone, for most it’s frankly a waste of time and money, especially for those who take useless majors like “womens studies” or the “African American Experience”. Most people would be FAR better off in the long run going to a trade school and learning something useful they can actually master and get a good job doing.
Given what I have spent in contracting and other costs (carpentry, plumbing, tree removal and auto-repairs), I wish I had pursued one of those trades. Good plumbers & carpenters with some entrepreneurial drive can do better financially than doctors without the massive malpractice insurance.
In addition, it is impossible to outsource trades such as plumbing, carpentry, and auto repairs.
LOLOLOL!
Excellent point!
um...
Surely you not comparing the math involved in plumbing with the math involved in Engineering or Physics ?
It’s a simple fact that some people are smarter than others and that more physical jobs in general require far less education than others.
Here’s a better idea, moron (aka Bloomberg): Graduate from college. Then become a plumber.
“I’d bet that most American college students would flunk out of a German or Swiss vocational school.”
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I would bet that most of them would flunk out of a 1950s era South Carolina public high school!
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
During the horrible "urban renewal" craze during the seventies, some beautiful old buildings here in Bangor, Maine were destroyed and replaced by Soviet-style architecture, bland and uninspiring concrete abominations (the Federal Building being a prime example) that seem to suck your soul out just by glancing at them.
Then there are the areas that avoided the purge. A hundred and fifty years or so after they were built, people are still stopping to admire the gorgeous brickwork in old commercial and municipal buildings that were lovingly constructed by skilled brickmasons with an eye for excellence and beauty.
A hundred and fifty years from now, people will still be appreciating their beauty; but I doubt that volumes of position papers on diversity and wealth redistribution will be much sought after and admired.
RE: Graduate from college. Then become a plumber.
Learn to be a Plumber in order to pay off your college tuition loans?
Why not go directly to Plumbing school instead?
Only a fraction of the kids in college belong there. College has become just one more entitlement.
I realize that just being able to pay for college doesn’t always make a good student but that’s a problem that will always exist. However strict grade requirements will help.
For those bright enough but unable to pay, private and corporate funded scholarships should be encouraged.
One of the best speeches on what America needs in education and in the workplace by Mike Rowe a few years back. He knocks it out of the park.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2650612/posts
Surely you're not implying being a Master plumber involves no higher math at all?
Can you calculate how deep to dig a ditch in order to achive the requisite degree of fall you need to drop a 4 inch sewer line over a 56 foot span in order to reach the cities tap AND remain in compliance with any applicable plumbing codes?
I know I can't.
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It’s a simple fact that some people are smarter than others and that more physical jobs in general require far less education than others.
I never said that some people weren't smarter than others, nor did I say more physical jobs didn't require 'less education'.
I was simply taking umbrage over the fact Bloomy's statement that dumber people should become plumbers was highly insulting to professional tradesmen in general and plumbers in particular.
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BTW - how much would someone have to pay you to lie down in 6" of raw sewage for 9 straight hours in order to repair a ruptured sewer line under a dialysis clinic?
Not that anything like that was ever mentioned, but since we were apparently remarking on unsaid statements, I just thought I would ask.
I’m with Bloomberg on this.
Half of the kids that start college drop out, even higher for minorities, as they are usually pushed into tougher colleges than they’re qualified for (i.e., to help the diversity count).
At least half of the people that do graduate have degrees that are worth next to nothing as far as being a skill that can be used in the future. But they have shown they can read and do rudimentary math (I think), even with a useless degree.
But go into a licensed trade, learn the business well, start your own firm - there definitely is a future there.
Sigh, I hate it when I occasionally find I’m in agreement with tools like Bloomberg. But then I always cheer myself with the thought that even a blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while. Bloomberg. I mean Bloomberg, not me.
And if you are fat, dumb and stupid and a communist who cannot find a job in the real world... like doom*urd here... you just go into politics.
LLS
I think Dallas has one of the nicest skylines because not very much was built in the 70’s in downtown. Most of it is mid 80’s and by then the horrible brutalism style was gone. Much of the northeast appears to have been nearly ruined by it.
With the resources available on the net, the traditional academic model for a classic education is beyond obsolete
All a college education does now is provide specialized vocational training, as you said, and credentialing.
I am a plumber and ahoy there Bloomy! I do not know about NY but in AR it take 4years OJT with 4years VO Tech to become a Plumber.
Puzzle is 56*8 / 12 = 38
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