I know this sounds impossibly optimistic of me, but when I was hastily putting together the Worthless Degree seminar, I saw a TON of YouTube videos on younger folk who are VERY angry about their degrees and how they just got scammed out of thousands of dollars. And although young and completely ignorant enough to be taken in by the "Hope and Change and Unicorns" bit, what they are experiencing is that ultimate crushing collapse that "has to happen" before people wake up and realize the reality of the situation we're in.
Conservatives and capitalists are quite familiar with this "collapse-requirement" simply because when we've argued with liberals and leftists in the past, especially the younger ones, it's impossible to reason with them. Facts and data don't even phase them. And what you realize in a very short time is that NOTHING you say will convince them otherwise and only a crushing, collapse of their well-being and reality will get them to start to think they may be wrong.
I believe that collapse is here.
Not that the entire US economy is collapsing and we'll all be Mad Maxing it next week, but in terms of their lives and perspectives and ESPECIALLY their futures, the youth cannot view it as anything but a collapse. And the culprit?
The left's most powerful institution;
Education.
Understand education is how the left survives. Shamelessly by targeting young, ignorant and uneducated children and brainwashing them into believing in socialism. But now with the recession continuing on into Obama's 3rd year and no turn around or promises coming true or being delivered upon, the youth I believe will turn against the left faster than most of us could hope.
Why?
The one thing the youth had that we didn't have as youth;
The Internet.
It's not like you can't look up tax rates. It's not like you can't look up budgets. It's not like you can't look up any factual data out there and (if you are intellectually driven to do so) find out the truth.
And it is these two things that is going to turn arguably the left's most reliable voting bloc against them.
Just watch some of the videos below and you'll see what I'm talking about;
Agreed. However, it's "faze them", not "phase them", unless you mean being zapped with a science fiction weapon.
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel better, we already have deserted the left. Most of the fellow students I hang out with are staunch libertarians, and they know the current system is garbage. Not one of us have patience for the leftist and feminist professors, nor do we have patience for the big lie that is education.
ReplyDeleteSadly, most of us are getting our degrees in order to a) get our parents to shut up and/or b) get credentials for the skills we already have. I'm an econ major, and I am way ahead of my fellow majors. Some of my buddies are majoring in tech-related fields (network management, graphic design, systems, etc.) and can already do the things they're supposed to learn eventually.
It's just sick. Like you've said, the reason for even needing to do this stems from firms hiring 27-year-olds with no experience to handle HR.
I decided to stick with "phase." I do like the Star Trek reference.
ReplyDeleteI think the left is more resilient (stubborn?) than you think. They will blame the collapse on the greedy capitalists and say that there should be MORE stimulus spending.
ReplyDeleteThe taxpaying middle class (and students) will be screwed again, as usual.
I have a friend who for a time worked for a community college in it's start up phase. It was a place that catered to minorities and the "under privileged". She was dumb founded by the amount of money many of these "students" received from the federal government for tuition, books and living expenses and how many of them never even went to classes. In other words it was largely a combination scam for the college to tap into the big federal money pool and just another form of welfare. Some of these societal sponges were receiving much more money than I do in a year; and I have a real job!
ReplyDeleteRe: 'young' HR people (i.e. 26 and clueless)
ReplyDeleteI work in the mining sector; I was *STUNNED* to discover the person in charge of my interview for a technical job at a mine in (way up) northern Ontario... was a 26 year old "HR graduate" from downtown Toronto... with pretty nails and nice shoes (at a mine site)... yes, at the mine site I was visiting in person at the request of the engineering manager and the senior geologist...
I spent 24 hours at the site getting to know the operation and people; I got along GREAT with the engineers and, most importantly, my future boss, etc... well, she calls me six days later to say I am overqualified... and that 'they' (i.e. her) think I would leave if a better job showed up... (despite the fact she knows I am out of work and have kids to support at home)...
Indeed, clueless HR...
P.S. I do have a better job now, though... in downtown Toronto, ha!
I agree with Earl. These people already blame the mortgage collapse on Capitalism.The government mismanagement and Fannie Mae had nothing to do with it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, why can`t more people understand recessions are a normal part of Capitalism. They clean out the excesses of the current cycle. Perhaps liar loans and zero down mortgages were a problem, and this situation had to be corrected. Leftists always declare recessions to be an indication of why Capitalism is a bad system. Yes recessions hurt, but Capitalism always produces better results then socialism.
Despite all the examples of the Soviet Union, North Korea, and many others, the left wing crowd will never give up. They keep thinking the next time will be different, and socialism will finally work. Left wing people will always ignore the facts, and insist government management is the best way to go.
Gentlemen, come to mining and oil: plenty of jobs for real men, no degrees needed if you like playing with CAT equipment (and freezing your nuts off)... of course, mining is verbotten in the US these days, and it is us dirty canucks doing it...
ReplyDelete... whilst Californian environazis rain faeces on us for developing the oilsands... what, so you would rather get your oil from Saudi? have you ever seen a middle East or Russian oilfield? No?
Who do you think will extract oil/gold/uranium more cleanly and with less corruption (i.e. some money goes to the state for schools, hospitals AND the workers take good wages): Canada or Saudi?
Captain their is a whole movement dedicated to law schools and grad school tuition in general to being a scam. They call themselves scam blawgs and are trying to preach the good word about student loan and debt and worthless degrees. Read this article here.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?ref=business
We should not spare the blame from students. Many think that the piece of paper is all that is needed; they party for three or four years, barely scrape a C average, and wonder that employers (who CAN read transcripts) don't come beating on their doors. A student with an A or A+ average - probably even in a worthless subject such as sociology - will likely do OK on job hunts.
ReplyDeleteMy stepdaughter was as lazy as they come. She got two bachelor's degrees, one in geography, the second in anthropology, with C averages. No employment followed. She then did a bachelor's in nursing, worked hard, got solid marks, and has been gainfully employed ever since.
Hell, with a C average a prospective employer may even demand a literacy test; though it's unlikely he'll bother.
I dropped out of college the first year and started my own business.
ReplyDeleteIt has been over 20 years now and no one has ever asked me for my "diploma" let alone my "gpa".
College is B.S. for most degrees. I take exception for: Doctors, Architects, Attorneys, Engineers - the hard sciences.
Anonymous: "Also, why can`t more people understand recessions are a normal part of Capitalism."
ReplyDeleteYeah... it isn't. Recessions are a result of artificially low interest rates by the FED. Market couldn't produce systematic errors of this proportions.
Oh Captain - I hope that you're right. But I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority are illiterate about matters economic, scientific, and historical. And utterly naive about human nature to boot! They will experience the collapse; they just won't understand why it’s happening. They'll just end up moving down the same old tired socialist paths that they've gone down before: "Mr. X has lots of stuff. I'll vote for some charismatic god-king who will give me his stuff..."
I'm not optimistic.