A few years ago, Joe Therrien, a graduate of the NYC Teaching Fellows program, was working as a full-time drama teacher at a public elementary school in New York City. Frustrated by huge class sizes, sparse resources and a disorganized bureaucracy, he set off to the University of Connecticut to get an MFA in his passion—puppetry. Three years and $35,000 in student loans later, he emerged with degree in hand, and because puppeteers aren’t exactly in high demand, he went looking for work at his old school.
....
Like a lot of the young protesters who have flocked to Occupy Wall Street, Joe had thought that hard work and education would bring, if not class mobility, at least a measure of security...
Unbelievable. So, it seems the root of the problem here is that people have this idea that if they "work hard" and "get an education," then they'll just automatically get a high paying job. Why would somebody think that? A person who has a high paying job is someone who can deliver a valuable service to his employer. In a sense, that person CREATES SOMETHING OF VALUE.
People in this country really have a strange notion of what a "job" is. Just listen to the politicians talk about "creating jobs," or idiots yammering about "shipping jobs overseas."
When I used to contract for HP I worked in a data center with a guy who had his masters in history. (I forget the exact period or specialty.) He was approximately 30-35 years old.
Anyway, I remember asking him, "What does that qualify you to do?"
He said, "Teach history."
I asked, "So you want to be a teacher?"
He responded, "No...looking back, perhaps my degree was a mistake."
I swear that is word for word a true story.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
Unbelievable. So, it seems the root of the problem here is that people have this idea that if they "work hard" and "get an education," then they'll just automatically get a high paying job. Why would somebody think that?
Because that is the message crammed down their throats every day in school and on TV and everywhere for the first 18 years of their lives. Go to college, and you'll get a job! All you have to do is go to college! Doesn't matter what you study, you just need to go to college!
No one ever talks about how important it is to study something with market demand. That's Republican-type talk there.
These kids have been lied to for their entire lives and they're mad. Unfortunately they've decided to be mad at the laws of supply and demand, rather than those that lied to them. So they throw their little tantrum hoping it will change the way the universe works.
Edited By TPRJones on 1320413435
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I'm sad that their server is all 503 right now... this is at least the 4th person I've seen who said basically the same thing... Art, Art History, English majors... Are you really surprised you can't get a job?
I mean, I'm a liberal arts major (Latin American Studies and Economics), but guess what - I could program a computer when I was a teenager.
The more I think about it, the more I think that these dumb people aren't protesting against the so-called 1%.... they are protesting because they feel they are entitled to be the 1%, but aren't. Someone told them they could do and be whatever they wanted to be, but the problem was that this is the real world that they live in.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
GORDON wrote:The more I think about it, the more I think that these dumb people aren't protesting against the so-called 1%.... they are protesting because they feel they are entitled to be the 1%, but aren't. Someone told them they could do and be whatever they wanted to be, but the problem was that this is the real world that they live in.
That's been my theory for a while.
"What do you mean we have to work hard and not follow our pipe dreams?"
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
Heh, go to your local Occupy rally, talk to the people protesting, find out what they majored in and how far in debt they are, then... do whatever with that new knowledge.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
My position on college is that it's an absolute MUST for certain career fields, but for 80-90% of them it's a complete waste of time and money.
This is not counting the drinking, sexual experimentation, friendships, memories, etc., which one doesn't have to go to college to find.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell