The educated are disgusting

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

I think more and more Americans may be agreeing with Peter Thiel - that college educations may actually be detrimental to society.

One of the few new regulations that I might support is legislation that bans employment discrimination based on educational attainment.  If someone has gone out and spent tens of thousands of dollars to get a piece of paper when they really would not use those skills in the jobs they are applying for, perhaps the man or woman who achieved only the necessary level of education is a bit smarter and more practical.

I toured an advanced manufacturing plant last week where they make metal alloys for use in semiconductors.  They have plenty of good jobs available... not for people with Masters degrees in Post-Modern Female Sociology, but for electricians and welders.

I'm not happy with the demonization of higher education that is going on out there, but I think these criticisms may provide an adequate balance to the snobbery of the highly privileged and/or highly indebted.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Fezzy I thought we were pals *cry*

Punishing the attainment of education and honing of a specialized craft?

Higher education at a 4-year University and "honing of a specialized craft" are two very different things.  Almost two years of the 4-year degree are spent on post-secondary general classes in everything ranging from Algebra to Bowling.

An auto mechanic who grew up helping their dad with the hot rod and chooses to get certifications to work on cars is honing a specialized craft.  A plumber or electrician or HVAC technician starting off with an apprenticeship then getting his license is honing a specialized craft.  Having to spend years accumulating expensive credits in Urban anthropology or Art history is not honing a specialized craft.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Victims? Yes.  Conspirators also.  The students are signing their names on these outrageous loans without guarantee that they will be able to pay them back.  We pity people who walk into a Payday loan vendor and sign themselves up for 400% annual interest, but we congratulate students who bury themselves in enough debt to make a loan shark flinch.  The system will not reform itself.  Reform will come when people from the outside demand change - and my solution for demanding change is to make the product of these institutions less valuable so the price will have to come down.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

This is such utter twaddle... and deeply offensive.

As someone who has two degrees, I wouldn't have my job now without them. You develop important skills such as increased capacity for comprehension, analytical thinking and not to mention the cultural and social benefits.

I don't think anyone intends to offend you.  Personally I am offended by writing $1200+ checks for every class I take at the University of Memphis.

Education is NOT just about the acquisition of job specific skills/tools... sure it a primary reason, but it's about developing the person... and it has been since Aristotle. I'm pleased that along side my history/poli sci undergrad and public policy masters, I also did courses in english and drama and economics ... again, about embracing your interests and developing the whole person.

I congratulate you on having all of those opportunities and making the most of them. I do not disagree that there is value in a liberal arts education; I just dispute the value that it should have to one's ability to get a decent job and participate fully in society.

Our current system of 4-year post-secondary education has not necessarily existed since the days of Aristotle, in fact its a rather modern creation.  Harry Truman had no college degree yet even as a Republican I'd say he was a damn good President.  Abraham Lincoln had no formal education at all...thank God for the sake of our sacred Union that we didn't have diploma snobs back then.

My question is - how much is a University education really worth?  Is it worth four years of one's life?  Is it worth $30,000?  $60,000?  $100,000?

It takes a degree in finance or accounting to get a job at a bank providing financial advice. Is a young man who has enslaved himself to decades of debt really worthy of providing such advice just because he paid tens of thousands of dollars for a piece of paper to hang on his wall?  Isn't the young man who went to work at a business after his high school graduation, gaining real experience, not truly more qualified to make fiscally responsible decisions?

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

You know, that "little paper" you keep talking about does actually prove a degree of education. I know a lot of Republicans dislike that concept, but someone that has not studied usually does not have the degree of knowledge in that particular subject.

It proves you can follow instructions, write un-necessarily lengthy papers, and either sign checks or loan documents.  It may or may not prove someone has a skill that is useful to themselves or society.

Again, I do not mean to completely dismiss the positive properties of higher education.  I have followed instructions, written un-necessarily lengthy papers, and written checks that I really couldn't afford.  I've sat in classrooms and paid thousands of dollars to practice skills that I had already developed on my own years before.  I've sat in political science and sociology classes where students could quote Marx or Hobbes or Locke but could not name their United States Senators.  I will say that at least I was always given the opportunity to present an opposing viewpoint to those of the professors -- whether it was defending the Bush administration to a liberal Democrat audience or writing a scathing paper defending the rights and humanity of LGBT Americans in response to an assignment from an African-American Democrat who compelled us to watch a video of her pastor's vile hate speech. (I just can't seem to get along with Democrats...)

I am all for education and believe it is a lifelong experience.  Yet it is time we wake up and demand reform.  There is no excuse for a college education costing four times more than it did in our parents' generation.  We must accept that the electrician is equal to the physician, the plumber is equal to the lawyer, and the lawn care expert is equal to the scientist.  And the soldier, who has learned more than any classroom could ever teach, may be the only one who can claim to be better than us all.