Justine Bateman of "Family Ties" fame has decided at the age of 47 to go back to college.
For what, you may ask, knowing full well celebrities always take the easy way out.
Computer science.
My jaw dropped when I saw it, but, yes, there is a woman out there who gets it, understands how the labor market works and instead of going the whinny, "the world owes me a living" route, manned up, mathed up, and is now pursuing a legitimate field.
The reason I bring up Ms. Bateman, however, is not just to give her kudos, but rather point out to all the young ladies out there who are brainwashed by their parents, their teachers, their counselors, the media, and the state to go and waste their youth (not to mention money) majoring in the worthless liberal arts. The problem, I have however, is overcoming the emotional reaction I get from women (and men) when I try to convey the simplest of economic truths about humanities degrees. When I tell them it isn't worth the time or money, or that the degree is worthless, women especially, get emotional, some going so far as to spew vitriol and hatred, for me daring to suggest they look into the ROI of such an investment (and yes, I've even gotten death threats over my book "Worthless.")
Going forward my efforts and blogging will be dedicated in part towards figuring out this psychological problem/hurdle. In the meantime I hope highlighting the likes of Ms. Bateman will convince young women to make a genuine investment in their futures and not merely a transfer of wealth to their professors.
Could you publish those death threats?
ReplyDeleteSunlight makes rats run for cover, and anonymous threats by internet "toughs" are hilarious.
Death threats of the idea of considering one's future? There must be a knowledge, under a dangerously thin denial complex, that it's one gigantic scam that they've wasted endless time and money on, not to mention (most importantly) their ego-investment.
ReplyDeletethats good thinkin' right there. i'm a microsoft programmer and am learning to program the iphone now. i should've done this 5 years ago, but being a microsoft guy; i had no respect for apple until i saw everyone over 5 had one.
ReplyDelete(and i'm willing to give justine lessons, but only in exhange for sex.)
I really hate these occasional "old people going to college" stories, because I know their tuition fees are subsidized by my tax dollars (no I'm not quite ready to enjoy the decline). Supposedly we're making an "investment", but that logic surely breaks down for someone who will be over 50 by the time they graduate. If we must have a subsidy it should decrease with age and at some point should reduce to 0.
ReplyDeleteAlso Cappy, the comments section needs dates not just times, I almost necro'd a thread earlier. Thanks.
The Justine Bateman phenomenon:
ReplyDeleteWhen you watch Family Ties, Justine was really pretty and sexy when she was 16. A mere four years later, she looked 45. A lot of gals like that.
I, too, would like to see the hate and death threats you get from the feminasties. I would love to mock these idiots and hypocrites with the fact the are wrong and everything they claim women shouldn't be (violent, hateful, spiteful, threatened...you know, what they claim we men are of them.
ReplyDeleteI say save them and post them. They need to be deconstructed to show the world how insane their ranting, how hateful their thoughts, and how wrong they are.
Because of their biology, women need to be taught how their life cycle is different from that of men.
ReplyDeleteMen --> go to school, go to work, get married, have kids, die.
Women --> get married, have kids, go to school after the kids are grown up, go to work, die.
Site ToBehold, how old is too old?
ReplyDeleteI was 39, married, with two school age kids in 2005 when I went back to school.
My wife stayed home for five years while I worked fifty hours a week at a crappy banquet manager job to make rent on a two bedroom apartment and keep us in formula and diapers.
Once she went back to work and instantly made more money than me I traded a $32k job to get a two year diploma in electronic engineering.
Making things seemed better than helping bridezillas pick out their napkin and candle colours.
It cost me about $2000 a semester over five semesters plus foregone salary for two and a half years.
Spitballing $90k but add a $10k margin because the tuition for hotel and restaurant management was twice mine to account for some of the subsidy engineering gets over 'worthless' credentialist crap.
Irony: I quit a banquet manager job that they were going to school to 'learn' how to do and I was taking a superior course of study for half the price.
That first job after graduation was sort of treading water money wise, but the experience I gained eventually landed me a much better job.
It'll take three more years to break even on my opportunity cost.
After that, it's all gravy.
I have twenty more working years, even though I've always maintained my retirement plan was death.
A Computer Science degree at 47?
ReplyDeleteThat's going to be a "vanity" degree. In a word, Worthless.
Anything and everything to have the equivalent of a Masters degree in CS in available on the web for free. e.g. Google "lambda calculus."
It might be a little tougher to get an interview wothout all those "well rounded education" electives, but I suspect she's got that covered.
Unfortunately this is more like the role model girls will look up to:
ReplyDeletemillionaire sleeping on couch because sugar baby wife won't leave until she gets what she wants (presumably everything).
Can I get a 'stay the freak frosty'?