sitting in an overstuffed chair, pontificating about one’s preferred view of reality, suggesting that we are all philosophers, strikes me as an odd way to claim that you know what you are doing, let alone know who you are. yet, every year, institutions spit out more pontificators, more myopic dreamers, and dump thousands of them on the western world to fester, rot, and decay. those who somehow rise above the intellectual wasteland, or who are the sons and daughters of privilege, succeed entering such an imperfect world. the system that once reigned before the turn of the century was less corrupted, or felt less corrupted, because some of us did make it through the maze, and did actually use our diplomas as a means of gaining access to a system that was closed without the printed paper document.
all that has changed. now, the result of a college education is sometimes like a game of Russian roulette. it does not help that so many older, but less wiser adults, as if pining for their college years, insist that “a college education” is necessary to gain any kind of economic freedom in this life. brainwashed by this lie…that one must be liberally educated, weighed down with a load of debt to achieve it… an increasing number of ill-prepared, lacking any idea of who they are, rush off to a university to work for that $150,000 (or more) document of printed paper.
not everyone can be an X-Ray Technician. or a professor. or a veterinarian. eager lemmings chasing their peers down a slippery slope and off the edge is not a recipe for success. leave it to a senseless and perverse generation to hide the truth about supply and demand from their students. keep them dumbed down. God forbid that one would graduate and come back and take one of THEIR jobs. it is unthinkable. let them major in Gender Studies and end up working at Family Dollar for $8.50 an hour. that’s the thinking. i would know, i heard it many times in the past.
but i am no longer a part of their world. my contact comes mainly from those i know who are entering the college world. and i find that world has so drastically evolved into a system that disables the learner, and leaves he or she so tied to debt that it does break some beyond the point of making it in this life.
and because of this, i will no longer recommend the old school route for the majority. sure, i know there will be some who still succeed, in spite of the cost involved, and the time and effort. but it is more important for the student, graduating high school, to have gut-level reality experiences that educate him or her. experiences where they work, where they take the initiative, where they develop compassion and character. real education.