[Rhodes22-list] Academics - another view - wider

[Robert Skinner]

Herb Parsons wrote:
> 
> Robert,
> 
> You're missing a link in the chain. Yes, you're 100% right on it going
> "where the bucks are"; however, it's the (typically) liberal agenda of
> "education for all" that brings in those bucks that are combined with
> poor self-motivation or initiative.

I agree that the state college "open door" or 
as you put it "education for all" policies 
contribute to the problem.  And I suspect that
we agree that in attempting to include everyone, 
we have devalued the college degree.  

There is a also constant and shifting balance 
between the hard sciences and the "softer" or 
"liberal education" lines of study.  After the 
(necesary) move toward the hard sciences in 
support of the war effort in the '40s and '50s, 
there was a counter trend toward the 
"humanities".  Even Harvard had "General 
Education" and other distributive courses in 
the early '60s designed to prevent 
overspecialization in a specific area.

I think it is time for the pendulum to swing 
the other way.

> In "the old days", you basically had two types of people going to
> college - those that had wealthy parents, and those that worked they way
> through on their own. Obviously, there would be a percentage of those in
> the former group that weren't particularly motivated to do what needed
> to be done. It wasn't their money, so it didn't matter.
> 
> On the other hand, the poor slob that ate peanut butter sandwiches 6
> days a week, and "splurged" on Spam once a week, so he could work his
> way through school, understood the cost, and was more likely to do what
> needed to be done.
> 
> As we made the financial burden easier (or in some cases, non-existant),
> we added to the pool of those that were going on someone else's dime.
> 
> And this is a capitalistic society. The colleges are going to adjust for
> that shift, and make courses easier.
> 
> In other words, as PI (Politically INcorrect) as it may sound, there's
> something to be said for elitism.
>
> And, as we further dilute what it means to have a "college education",
> it will become of lesser and lesser value.

As a guy who drove a tow truck from midnight to 7:00 AM 
so I could go to college, I have some gripes with those 
who have it handed to them.  Free state colleges have not, 
in the grand scheme of things, put us ahead in the world 
economy.  But it is our fault as taxpayers -- we did not 
demand that colleges teach and students learn productive 
skills.

But it is not entirely the fault of those who got an 
education "on the cheap".  Many worked at MacDonalds to 
get thru college, and are still there because their degree 
isn't worth the paper it is printed on - from American 
Business's point of view.

Expectations of a good return on the effort required to 
get any sort of degree have been dashed as we ship jobs 
off shore, and eliminate the requirement for manual and 
intellectual skills by automating jobs.  

---------------

Lest you think I am a Luddite, I personally welcomed the 
fruits of automation, since I made my career in IT.  I was 
lucky to get into the field, and paid taxes on my income 
to support those I put out of work with my craft.  It 
seemed fair to me then, and still does.  If that makes me 
a "liberal", so be it.  

I regard it as sharing my good fortune.  I have paid far 
more into Social Security than I ever will see come out of 
it to me.  I am comfortable with that.

What really gets me going is when my government wastes what 
I have put into it on unproductive foolishness.

/Robert