DUmmies Discuss Higher Education

[GOBUCKS]

liberalmike27 (1000+ posts)       Thu Jan-27-11 03:50 PM
Original message
No Job, Your Fault, Not Educated
This whole idea to me is just a way they've figured out to blame people who lack jobs for their unemployed status. While there may be a few jobs out there unfilled due to lack of people with degrees, this is just a way to blame people, and pander to the entrenched system of paying a few so much more than the rest of us.

So say we all have degrees, in a nice variety of fields, to the percentage we need, doctors,nurses, engineers, philosophers, teachers. Does that mean we're no longer going to have garbage men, fast food workers, or lawn-services? No. It'll just be a bunch of folks with degrees, who are working in menial jobs, and I'm sure we've already got a lot of those anyway.

So I'm inclined to agree with the new paradigm below. We need a government that is trying to keep a certain social contract of full-employment, American jobs at least to the extent of full-employment, a living-wage, and conditions that will help us all to thrive. Helping the world is secondary to the strict idea of simply defense.

Blah, blah, blah, silly socialist blah..

Anyway, that's my two cents.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x286415
I can't decide if liberalmikenumbers dropped out in tenth grade, or if he has a bachelor's degree in philosophy.

truedelphi  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-27-11 03:59 PM
Response to Original message
....Blah, whiny blah...
In fact, we are fast becoming a society wherein the only jobs available, other than lobbyists, politicians and government stooge, are jobs like garbage man, and delivery person. But when the nation is bankrupt, even those positions will go belly up, too.

DUmmy truedelphi will just continue to collect SSI, thank you very much.

Fuddnik (78 posts)      Thu Jan-27-11 04:19 PM
Response to Original message
5. I know Phd's who are delivering pizza's right now.
Others with advanced degrees looking for wait and bartending jobs.

Considering some of the silly liberal arts fields, that isn't surprising.

DUmmy roxnumbers has an undergraduate degree in poetry:

rox63  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-27-11 04:40 PM
Response to Original message
9. There are plenty of people with degrees who are out of work
And plenty of others who can't get a job in the fields they have degrees in.

The CalPig is not hiring.

Broderick (298 posts)       Thu Jan-27-11 04:41 PM
Response to Original message
10. education is too expensive

The rent is too damn high.

newtothegame (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-27-11 04:44 PM
Response to Original message
11. One of the challenges is that so many kids these days are getting degrees in history, philosophy...
 English lit, etc. We ARE educated, but we're getting educated on our hobbies/interests, for which today's world has very few jobs.

Are these all worthy subjects for study? Yes.
In a perfect world, would there be plenty of well-paying jobs for folks with these majors? Yes.
Do we live in that perfect world? Unfortunately, no.
.......
Too many kids are coming out of school with degrees that, in terms of paying your bills, putting gas in your car and putting food on your table, are worthless.
Unfortunately alot of people will deny this because they don't WANT this to be the case with these degrees. They'll talk about how important English lit is; how important it is that we learn from history; that philosophy can save the world. And I agree, but those nice thoughts don't feed these kids. Their Starbucks jobs do.

 
Lousy Freeper Troll. He disrupted poorly.

newtothegame (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-27-11 05:57 PM
Response to Reply #13
19. Hi friend. I graduated with a BA in history, started grad work in it, then wised up and entered...
an MBA program for the same reasons.From what I know of my classmates, a $100k Master degree in History gets you a $23k job running your local historical society.

IF you have a local historical society, and IF it has an opening, and IF no big contributor has an unemployed nephew.
 

eilen  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-27-11 05:39 PM
Response to Reply #11
16. I think that one of the reasons we don't have so many science majors is because of the lack of philosophical education. Learning how to think is highly underrated.

English majors are given short shrift as it is important to know how to read and understand written information and how to communicate.

Those are two very integral fields of study that I don't believe should be discounted.

newtothegame (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-27-11 06:02 PM
Response to Reply #16
20. It's cute that you think an English degree isn't worthless, but the job market says otherwise.

 

[AprilRazz]

And I work with a woman that has an associates degree and she pulled down six figures last year.


She has been a nurse for 20 years.

[NHSparky]

I also know guys who never attended a day of college outside Navy schools and who are pulling down the same six-figure salaries.

Granted, it can be nasty, dangerous work with long hours in all sorts of environments, but hey, who the hell wants to sit behind a desk and be subjected to DBPP (Death By Powerpoint) every ****ing day?

[DefiantSix]

...Granted, it can be nasty, dangerous work with long hours in all sorts of environments, but hey, who the hell wants to sit behind a desk and be subjected to DBPP (Death By Powerpoint) every ****ing day?

Hey; I resemble that remark.  And I pull down almost the same 6-figure income suffering through all those asinine Powerpoint presentations. 

[Rebel]

newtothegame (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-27-11 04:44 PM

Response to Original message

11. One of the challenges is that so many kids these days are getting degrees in history, philosophy...
 English lit, etc. We ARE educated, but we're getting educated on our hobbies/interests, for which today's world has very few jobs.

...and there's the crux of the argument. I have a bachelor's in Information Technology. At this point in my life, I HATE I.T. Sick to death of it. However, it pays the bills. I love archaeology. Not enough to bet my livelihood on it though.

Don't expect someone to create a job that fits your degree. Get a degree in a field that's in demand. ....or stop bitching.

[Rebel]

BTW, education is NOT expensive. Some universities may be expensive, but you can obtain a Bachelor's at Augusta State University (D-1A National Champion's in Golf, #3 in the nation in D-II basketball..sorry, had to throw that in there.   ) for as little as 8-10 thousand dollars. The problem seems to be a lot of "liberal universities". Hell, Ole Miss isn't even that damn expensive.

[AprilRazz]

I also know guys who never attended a day of college outside Navy schools and who are pulling down the same six-figure salaries.

Granted, it can be nasty, dangerous work with long hours in all sorts of environments, but hey, who the hell wants to sit behind a desk and be subjected to DBPP (Death By Powerpoint) every ****ing day?

You see like the lady I spoke of that requires actual work. Something I think the primitives are allergic to.

[Karin]

Leftist Agitator  (1000+ posts)        Thu Jan-27-11 05:12 PM
Response to Reply #11
13. Speaking as someone with a Master's in History...
 I completely agree. In fact, I am currently enrolled in an MBA program, because there is no work to be had even with a graduate degree in the Humanities.

'Course, MBA's are a dime a dozen.  Anyway, an MBA prepares you for a corporate job.  How could you possibly align yourself with an evil corporation?  Doesn't matter, because anybody who chooses "Leftist Agitator" for a screenname is not going to survive the interview.  

Here's an obligatory DU mode post:

lonestarnot  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-27-11 06:48 PM
Response to Original message
23. before reading, I have never blamed the unemployed for their being unemployed, NOT EVER!
AIG/BUSHITLER/BANKSTERS CORPORATE OUTSOURCERS. That's the greedy ****ers I blame.

 What a goofball.

[Mike220]

Adapt or starve DUmmy. That's what evolution is all about.

That's what I did. It's added a few years to school and I went from classes I could sleep through and pass to classes that are going to require almost no social life for the next few years to pass. But if that's what it takes to be marketable and get a job after I graduate, so be it.

[GOBUCKS]

lonestarnot  (1000+ posts)      Thu Jan-27-11 06:48 PM
Response to Original message
23. before reading, I have never blamed the unemployed for their being unemployed, NOT EVER!
AIG/BUSHITLER/BANKSTERS CORPORATE OUTSOURCERS. That's the greedy ****ers I blame.

Who was responsible for all those dead bodies DUmmy lonestarnut reported dangling from Galveston trees after a half-assed hurricane? It was her 24-business-hour moment. Oh, yeah, it was AIG/BUSHITLER/BANKSTERS/CORPORATE OUTSOURCERS.

[AllosaursRus]

Ya know, I've never heard of any jobs like they speak of outside of the college campus. Maybe DUmbass, if ya got a job society could actually use, ya might find a one!

How many colleges do ya think are in the country anyway? Everything you list is meant for some teaching position! Indoctrinate, that's all you asshats know! No wonder ya can't find a job! Heaven help ya if ya had to follow orders, you don't know anything other than to give 'em!

We've had it with college campi bein' where you pukes hide out! Those jobs are filled and are diminishing because America is wisin' up! Get a REAL job! Get yer hands dirty for once in yer life!

[VivisMom]

I have a bachelor's in Information Technology. At this point in my life, I HATE I.T. Sick to death of it. However, it pays the bills. I love archaeology. Not enough to bet my livelihood on it though.

Don't expect someone to create a job that fits your degree. Get a degree in a field that's in demand. ....or stop bitching.

A good friend of mine has his M. Arch. He's having a hard time finding a job since 1) architecture has been a very hard-hit sector and 2) his particular area (historical restoration) has been hit especially hard. So what is he doing? Going back to school. He's hoping to go and get a degree/certificate in real estate development, which he doesn't like, but he knows it's a field that he already has some experience in and will have a better chance of finding a job.

During a conversation we had, I remember him telling me not to let my kid major in architecture or English or Philosophy, but insist she pick a field where her job prospects would be high-engineering of any kind, hard sciences like bio or chem. He regrets choosing something he liked over something that had job security.