College Conspiracy

Mon May 16, 2011 7:30 am » by **Hesop**

ahh, my initial post was more towards the degree conspiracy taken on as "Policy" by most employers.

I appreciate your input here mangosteen. I have a son in college currently, and I really have pity for him.
Once a well rounded smart kid, with money in the bank, he is now consistantly overdrawn, using his resources for stupid shit.
Common sense eludes him, as well as his friends. His vehicle, that was GIVEN to him for high school graduation, is now a junk piece of shit. He would rather spend his money on a new hard drive for his laptop, (so he can keep his FaceBook page updated) before doing badly needed repairs on the vehicle, he KNOWS he needs to be able to keep his job.
It is only a matter of time, before his vehicle is found on the road dead, and he is once again crying for someone to feel sorry for him.

I had a good friend here ask me if I was proud of my son. I truthfully and sadly answered no.
Why? Because in my opinion, he hasn't made advances, he went backwards.
The majority of High School kids are proud of their vehicles and take care of them, Realizing the importance of that vehicle and the freedom it gives them.
Most High School students, know how to balance a checkbook (simple math), and are not in danger of having their account closed by the bank for repeated overdrafts.

These are common sense necessities of life.

Mon May 16, 2011 3:40 pm » by **99socks**

thebluecanary wrote:Honestly Dom, I think that going to community college to learn a trade is the way to go. I grew up being told that having a four year college degree would guarantee me a job, as if it was a magic ticket to grown-up land. However, seeing as how I have two bachelors degrees AND a masters I suppose I'm proof otherwise...my fault for focusing on "soft" sciences where the jobs have pretty much dried up, I guess.

If I'd gone to a two-year school to be a machinist, I'd be much better off.

God, tell me about it. After 6 years of school (changed majors) and a full ride to grad school (which never panned out), I am 18K in the hole and unable to even get my foot in the door anywhere for anything that pays more than $10/hr.

As it turns out, my best bet for making any kind of money was in a $650 program I finished last year. I should have done that 14 years ago... It probably would have cost only $400.

Mon May 16, 2011 7:43 pm » by **Thebluecanary**

epicfailure wrote:
thebluecanary wrote:Honestly Dom, I think that going to community college to learn a trade is the way to go. I grew up being told that having a four year college degree would guarantee me a job, as if it was a magic ticket to grown-up land. However, seeing as how I have two bachelors degrees AND a masters I suppose I'm proof otherwise...my fault for focusing on "soft" sciences where the jobs have pretty much dried up, I guess.

If I'd gone to a two-year school to be a machinist, I'd be much better off.

Indeed, that is what I am doing now in a way, but let me ask you...

would being a machinist make you happy?

Honestly, I don't suppose it would be my favorite thing in the world to get up and do every day, but neither is waiting tables, cleaning houses, or the ever rewarding world of retail management.

I think that as a whole people are going to have to re-define their ideas of success and of "work" if we have any hope of surviving the continuing downturn of the economy. Instead of just going off to college and then going off to job, the trick I think is to figure out something that you like, that you're good at, that makes you happy, and THEN get smart and figure out a way to make money off it, preferably by working for yourself. I hope that's what you're doing, anyway.

Nothing wrong, either, with school for the sake of learning...I deeply LOVE sociology, archaeology and anthropology and I enjoyed my years spent studying them very much.

Mon May 16, 2011 8:45 pm » by **Zmonkey**

America is supposed to be a "classless" society. But in reality issues such as this define classes. Especially when it happens at a professional level. Its another "divide and conquer" tactic that could not have happened without major collusion, and planning. These "degree" people get put on a pedestal, and get everything they want, while the rest of us "heathen" get to scrap it out for what is leftover. I'm sure the banksters laugh themselves stupid with our emotional gullibility, and the subsequent bizillions in college loans.