busy
my_partner_doug pointed me to this followup piece that continues discussion about Elizabeth Warren's statement of the social contract. It also includes a quote from President Obama:
Part of what makes America great is, you have this extraordinary idea, you have this extraordinary talent, you start a business, you provide a service, and it works out and you do well—that is good, that's what America's all about. We want to promote that all across the country. But remember: your success didn't come on your own. There was a teacher out there somewhere who helped to provide you the knowledge you needed to learn. We're in this together, and the question is, how do we make sure that we're going to be creating the same kind of America that allows the next generation to succeed?Right now, following the rules doesn't typically lead to success. The American Dream has turned into a nightmare. If you're a young person, you can't get a job, can't afford a place to live, and going to college will probably put you in debt far deeper than you would be allowed to make the money to pay off. Society has taken the bottom rungs off the ladder. So the first thing that needs to be done to fix this mess is to put those rungs back on.
October 3 2011, 20:05:40 UTC 9 years ago
But how?
October 4 2011, 01:34:37 UTC 9 years ago
October 6 2011, 05:00:48 UTC 9 years ago
Yes...
October 6 2011, 06:14:30 UTC 9 years ago
To avoid unnecessary cost overruns: employers should not be able to demand a college degree unless the job requires expertise that is obtainable only at college. Since the good jobs are tending to vanish, and more people are stuck in trivial jobs, the increasing demand for higher education is increasingly pointless and wasteful. You don't need a degree to run a cash register, and the biggest employer these days is Wal-Mart.
I would also add: If you're able to work, you should have a right to a job. It's not like there's a shortage of things that need doing. An excellent starting point would be to staff up all the understaffed places such as schools and hospitals. If you're unable to work, you should have access to other means of survival such as Social Security. Preferably, try to find ways of contributing for as many people as possible. Unemployment is not only wasteful, it's damaging for unemployed people.
Re: Yes...
October 7 2011, 05:01:46 UTC 9 years ago
Teaching, nursing, other health care professions: these are all careers where a having the college education is helpful, if not essential. In order to "staff up all the understaffed places", we're going to need a vast number of qualified individuals, and that comes back to providing them with an education, and doing so in such a manner as to not cripple their financial stability with backbreaking student loan debt.
One of the main reasons Wal-Mart and others of similar mindset get away with the minimum wage/no benefit/less-than-full time employment racket is that they have an insanely large pool of individuals to draw from. Reduce the size of that pool by giving more folks an education that will provide them with an acceptable living wage, and employers offering unskilled jobs will have to raise their wages, offer benefits, and improve working conditions to a point that they can lure people away from the promise that college provides by letting them cash in *now* rather than in four years. That's the way the auto industry built itself up for the post-WWII generation, at a time when General Motors was the largest employer in the country, and paying more than 3 times minimum wage to new-hired unskilled labor.
Of course, this will only work if we can convince the government to provide reasonable funding for education and health care, which is another nightmare altogether...
A free education
October 6 2011, 11:33:53 UTC 9 years ago
The goal of public education was to produce a citizenry that could keep a democracy.
Is it to train plumbers? Or scientists who will work at drug companies? Or for Exxon Mobil?
Who bears the fruits of this education?
And what does it mean to give a free education, in practice?
I would *like* to agree, but I'm not sure I do and I don't have time to talk about this at this second so I'll come back to it later.
Re: A free education
October 6 2011, 19:31:05 UTC 9 years ago
Is it to train plumbers? Or scientists who will work at drug companies? Or for Exxon Mobil?<<
Overall, it's to teach all of those. Education prepares people for their role in society. Just bear in mind that college isn't the only option. But if that's what society is going to demand from everyone, then it has to make the opportunity available to everyone. It's not fair to set expectations that people can't meet.
>>Who bears the fruits of this education?<<
Everyone benefits.
>>And what does it mean to give a free education, in practice?<<
The same as it does with grade school and high school now. It would simply mean extending the coverage to the point of society's current expectations.
October 5 2011, 04:44:48 UTC 9 years ago
Hmm...
October 5 2011, 04:52:23 UTC 9 years ago
Re: Hmm...
October 5 2011, 05:04:30 UTC 9 years ago
Re: Hmm...
October 5 2011, 05:12:56 UTC 9 years ago