March 25, 2012
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I'm a snob, apparently.
Rick Santorum several weeks ago stated that President Obama was a "snob" because he wanted all students to go on to college.
Actually, President Obama clarified his remarks February 27th at a National Governor's Association meeting by saying:
the jobs of the future are increasingly going to those with more than a high school degree. And I have to make a point here. When I speak about higher education, we’re not just talking about a four-year degree. We’re talking about somebody going to a community college and getting trained for that manufacturing job that now is requiring somebody walking through the door, handling a million-dollar piece of equipment. And they can’t go in there unless they’ve got some basic training beyond what they received in high school. We all want Americans getting those jobs of the future. So we’re going to have to make sure that they’re getting the education that they need.
People with reasonable intelligence can understand that a four year college isn't for everyone. But everyone needs some kind of training beyond high school. Today's work world demands it.
Associate's degrees can be obtained in as little as 18 months and for some folks, that is just what they need to find a job that they can enjoy and be successful at and maybe even advance through.
Four year college degrees are still necessary for a whole lot of jobs. People need to have the opportunity to go for these degrees and be successful.
Why does this bug me?
Maybe because I'm the product of what education can do for you. I grew up in poverty, but my family (near and extended) supported my desire to go to college. Without a college degree, I could not have become a teacher. My children would have been born into poverty and I would not have been the productive member of society that I hope I have become.
I can tell you this: the various governments I support with my tax dollars certainly would have been a great deal poorer.
So as my children were growing up, going to college wasn't a possibility-it was an expectation. It drove their work in high school and they both made it successfully into college where they are both doing well. It is my hope that their degrees will lead to gainful employment and continue the march away from poverty that started with me.
So Mr. Santorum, I guess that means that I am a snob. Expecting great things from your kids which requires college must be the hallmark of a social climbing snob.
Pin that button on me. I'll wear it proudly.
Comments (5)
Similar backgrounds. Similar paths. Similar perspectives.
Love your blogs! You have an excellent mind.
Funny thing - doesn't Rick Santorum have a college degree himself? I must be a super-snob - I have a Masters!
I look at my students who are struggling in third grade and wonder what the future holds for them. There are no coal mines in our part of the state. Anyone who doesn't understand that a high school degree takes you nowhere needs a reality check, and to not be in the race for the White House, IMHO.
@BookMark61 - Thank you!
@DMMeyer - I, too, have my Masters...whew...a lot of work, weren't they? In an automated world, I also wonder about those who cannot read well enough to up their skills. Will there be a place for them?
I often tell young people that going to college was one of the worst things that I have ever done and that they should tread lightly. Our generation is on the crappy end of what used to be a good thing. Back in the day a degree could get you a job. Not so much anymore.
There are many reasons why college is a bad investment and why college is so expensive. What is most ironic about it all is that the more of something you have, the less value it retains. So if you have a surplus of college graduates, the less their degree is going to be worth. Couple this with the myriad of idiotic decisions made in Washington which cripple true free market capitalism (not to be confused with the fascist (scary word) system we have now) and you have a marketplace with too many graduates, many of whom are laden with debt, and no jobs.
Paramedicine is an example. You currently do not need a degree to be a paramedic. The course work currently required is akin to med school and is hard as hell. But the new federal program called "The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician's (NREMT) is going to start forcing all medics to earn at least an associates degree before practicing. And you know a four year degree is next. What used to cost you only $4,000 and one year is now going cost you at least $10,000 and two years. You're going to study shit that is not relevant and it's going to take you longer to do what you want to do. And you're still only going to make $15/hr when you graduate. Why they are trying to fix a tried and true system is beyond me. But it sure does sound nice.
An addendum I: I don't vote; it's a sham too.
An Addendum II: I want everybody to excel.
@MedicMark - Thanks for stopping by to comment.
You make some very good points. There are a lot of liberal arts majors out there serving coffee and busing tables. Not every major produces a job. An awful lot of young people have been sold a bill of goods that a college degree is a ticket. What they haven't been told is that it needs to be a degree that is needed and that there is a likely chance of a job existing for that degree.
The market will bear what the market will bear. However, the true free market of which you speak is alive and well. Don't think so? Look at how many foreign students are obtaining degrees in American universities. Apparently there is a market for an American degree and a ladder to translate that degree to success. Just because there is not a market for those degrees here in the U.S. doesn't mean that there is not a market for them somewhere. And that's the beauty (or beast) of a free market economy--not everyone lands in the lap of possibility.
Those with capital will sit on it making it unavailable unless and until such time as something comes along which virtually guarantees them a profit. Thus, a college degree is only as good as how someone can profit from it.
But when it comes to my degrees, they gave me much more than just a ticket out of poverty--they gave me an appreciation of music, art and exposure to a wide variety of ideas and possibilities. That part of my degrees to me is priceless. The intrinsic value of those little sheepskins is something that even if I were never employed again, would have left me with a better understanding of the world.
It is naive to think that the free market will not exact a price from those who wish to participate in it. Think of the amount that your certification will cost you. In the free market, so long as there are those who will work for that $15/hour, the free market will enjoy the profits of that labor.
I could never understand why people went into social work, which often requires a master's degree but which pays barely above minimum wage. Why do that?
It is my hope that everyone who seriously wants to be successful can be. Unfortunately, I'm jaded enough to know that there will be obstacles created by the haves to keep the have nots in their place.
I vote. With determination and with passion. People all over this earth die for the right to do so. I'm not about to throw away something that important.
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