counter-college

[voluptuary_manque]

The data is out there but some people just don't get it. College is not the gateway to a good life.

http://www.american.com/archive/2008/september-october-magazine/are-too-many-people-going-to-college

Of course, for those of us who are born academics, leaving was akin to a messy divorce. I so wanted to be a professor . . .

 

[Recidiva]

I think it depends on what you do with it. It's not a guarantee.

And in some cases it's just camouflage.

 

[Liar]

Duh. There are no gateways to a good life. A good life is not something you get to, it's something you make. And a college education is one tool that if you have it, you can use for that. Or misuse. Or not use at all.

 

[amicus]

The piece is long, tedious, contradictory and ommissive of almost everything of importance.

On the other hand, it is a firm slap in the face to the educational community that continues to advocate college for everyone and in that, displays a measure of bold audacity to challenge the status quo.

There is no optimum place to begin, thus plunge in anywhere, and IQ, is as good as any...

The harsh reality of the intelligence quotient is that anyone below the average IQ, around 110, give or take five, is not capable of education beyond about 6th grade in elementary school.

You may think it barbaric and most likely not even believe, but my first job was selling ice cream from a bicycle cart on the streets of Indianapolis, Indiana at age 8.

I worked in both a grocery store as a box-boy and in a hardware store in the stock room when I was 11.

I was driving tractors, trucks and cars at age 12.

This article also fails to discriminate the gender differences, oh, my God, there goes amicus again, he is a misogynist for sure!

Not.

Nor does the article address the continuing and changing demands of the economy and the transition from industrial to service economy, although it does pay lip service to that, it does so in a demeaning manner.

The piece also reeks of the communal concept of, 'what should 'we' do about the situation...', ignoring the fact that education is an individual choice and aspiration and should be tailored to meet individual needs, not societal ones.

The practicality of altering the current mess is not acknowledged and the power of the Teachers Unions, the educational lobbies and the property tax advocates that support public education, is an abyss that will not be bridged save a violent revolution.

Lip service is paid to the 'brick and mortar' schools and libraries, that with the advent of the internet and the personal computer, have been obsolete for a good decade or more.

The entrenched bureaocracy of public education, the spider web of support from retired teachers and vested interests will not be budged or moved an inch off center without the use of force to retire the system to the pages of history, as the horse and buggy.

Another pillar of support is the high taxation of government at all levels that mandates the necessity of two working parents to support even one child. Government will never peacefully reduce the tax burden and the feminist movement may even balk at not being required to be employed outside the home.

With schools and day care centers and before and after school activities, parents have become a surplus commodity and are not likely to even understand the responsibility of actually raising and educating a child without the state looking over their shoulder and providing a safety net for all aspects of family life.

Yeah, I know, shotgun effect, but then, so was the article.

Amicus...

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

College:

It has the potential to add a sharp edge to your natural talent, but for most folks its more like doing time and getting your ticket punched. For some its a Gold Star just for showing up.