College- The biggest scam in america

Very informative video about the archaic and out of date scheme that is the education system

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by ElliotNoir


I've seen this video before.

I believe that what the maker is ultimately saying is that "we're taught that in order to be successful, one must go to college, when this entirely true."

While I agree with the filmmaker's ultimate conclusion, I think many will agree that if you want the best chance to be successful, you should go to college. That is one of the many reasons I am in college. Aside from expanding my intellectual capacity, college gives me the opportunity to achieve a level of success I most likely would not be able to achieve had I not gone to college. Nothing is a guarantee, however, I challenge one to try to become a doctor, a lawyer, a consultant at a political think-tank, a teacher, a professor, etc. without a college degree. Believe me, coming from a family where neither of my parents had a college degree, it is incredibly difficult.

reply to post by Judge_Holden


There is no way to determine the "best chance."

Too many variables.

No concrete way to say that Johnny at vocational school learning electrical is going to have a greater or lesser chance than Steve at university learning literature to find employment, start a business or earn more money over a lifetime.

If we focus on one narrow demographic maybe a "better chance" determination could be made but for real world applications there is no way to know.

If succesful you mean wealthy

Look at the richest and wealthiest ppl. lookk at actors entertainers rappers.

Most rich ppl did not get there bc they got a degree.

College soesnt teach you self sustainability, they train you to be a cog in the massive system. A system that caters to the wealthy elite.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


There actually is a way: link.

As you can see, those with degrees have far higher median weekly earnings, while also having higher employment rates. So I do not quite understand what you mean by "too many factors."

You can very well be successful without a college education, I am not arguing that. However, countless data suggests that one would have an easier time at it if they recieve at least some type of post-secondary education.

They have their own profit in mind, not your best interest-Therein lies the problem. It's a living contradiction.

I strongly believe in education and i actually believe we should have an education based society but this current one we have ....

What , how and why they teach is flawed at best.

K-6 is more just a place that parents can take their kid so they dont have to be baby sat

6-12 is just to keep kids of the street causing mischief.

college is to specialize robots.

the majority of the useless information they teach you can be compacted to a cpl years tops to a child

now with the internet school is almost obsolete.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

Success is relative.

You want to make more money and live your life according to that?
Goto college.
If you actually go there for a higher learning rather than just to "go", because your parents made you or you think it's "cool"...then go.
Most kids I see don't even know what todo with an education.
College is mostly spent on over indulgences.

Truth.

My opinion?
I'd rather learn real world applications of skills or trades that will get me farthe than any piece of paper.
That and the fact that I know more from working than college will ever teach someone.

Eh, then again, I can't stand the elusive chase for money that everyone subscribes to.

lok at mee I nver weant to colige and i turned out juste fine. hek i diddnt evean go to high skcool for th mater.

reply to post by Judge_Holden


There are too many factors.

Individual character traits for one. Nearly infinite.

Geographic region is another. The variables imposed by geographic region greatly influence the type of work available.

There are virtually no Masters degrees in these regions: ed map. Does that mean there's no work? Of course not. There's just no work for them.

I suppose what matters more is how one measures success.

If I ended up in a city bringing down six figures annually I would consider it a massive failure for myself and likely be extremely miserable.

If I were in the middle of nowhere with some chickens and a couple of goats living on just enough to cover property taxes I'd consider it a rousing success.

I want to see how their survey was conducted but I cant find the data collected. I imagine densely populated urban areas skew the data horribly as they always do. The very fact that such areas exist at all and are essentially their own ecosystems separate from the nation as a whole is testament to my original statement that there really is no way to know. Not without a crystal ball anyway.

reply to post by ElliotNoir

college is to specialize robots.

I will not allow you to make such a comment and think you can get away with it. Implying that I am being programmed into a "specialized robot" is absurd. I am the same person I was the day I graduated high school; a libertarian, an atheist, a lover of friends and family, a believer in peace, an admirer of poetry and art, an ardent reader, an aspiring writer, a follower of history, and an adherer to science, among others.

Do not insult my intelligence, nor my ability as an individual. I will not let you.

I love Heinlein, and I think it is a great quote. You using that quote out of context is offensive.

By going to college, I am not "specializing" in anything. In fact, I am doing the opposite.

This is terrible news for me...

I only have a year left (actually less than a year) to finish my degree and now I have to quit so I don't become some programmed individual...

All the wasted time and money...how am I going to explain this to my family???

Seriously...No offense but this is just a ridiculous assumtion and an assumtion as grandpa would say..."makes and ass out of u and me"...seems to fit just right here!

reply to post by ElliotNoir


You must not have children. My children learn quite a bit at school. It is good for the mind and socially as well.
I guess your parents did not let you go to school? Or you just labeled k-6 or 7-12 with bad examples because?

I could respect college a lot more if it werent filled with wasted time and money on forced scheduling limits, made up fees and mandatory courses that have nothing to do with ones field of study.

I could have been out in half the time at a quarter the cost if I were able to do what I needed to do for the field I was studying.

The mandatory courses also adversely affected several involvements in my life at the time. Probably the most notable one was a physical education requirement which ironically prevented me from competing in my sport of choice nationally for at least two years.

I have no problems with continued learning. Everyone should be so lucky to feel that drive to learn and learn all they can about whatever they want.

I have several volumes of problems with organized university education as it currently exists ranging from forced course loads to financially induced indentured servitude to the very degree itself posing as a representation of anything greater than a cleared check cashed and spent.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
reply to post by Judge_Holden

 

There is no way to determine the "best chance."

Too many variables.

No concrete way to say that Johnny at vocational school learning electrical is going to have a greater or lesser chance than Steve at university learning literature to find employment, start a business or earn more money over a lifetime.

If we focus on one narrow demographic maybe a "better chance" determination could be made but for real world applications there is no way to know.

What? In my line of employment, there are very few jobs that require no college degree. Most require at least a bachelors and many require a masters. This trend has been growing in business for many years now. The job my wife has is not obtainable from her company now without a bachelors degree. When she got into the company that requirement did not exist. When more and more companies are requiring degrees for the jobs, it goes without saying that education is more important now than ever before.

I don't care if you go to a community college or Yale, but an education is fairly important in most fields today.

I have a daughter and plan to home school her. she can go to public school if she chooses- for social reasons bc i loved that about school.

I did great in high school and put my self in debt for some college when i realized the whole thing is ridiculous and stopped.

If i get bored i may go back or if my employer demands a piece of paper that says i'm smart;maybe.

Other than that, I will utilize this short lived life for other purposes.

reply to post by usernameconspiracy


The key phrase you used: "my line of employment."

Makes all the difference.

That and your notion of success of course.

A college degree is the new high school diploma of 25+ years ago. Everyone has a degree now. With an undergrad degree you are merely competeing and on the same levl to try and get a job/career as everyone else. To not have a degree places a huge risk on your ability to earn a decent living. People 30+ are going back to school to get a degree. Why? Because they cannot get a good job. Why would an employer choose someone with no degree over another who has a degree.

I am in California, if you want to make $9-12/hr then no degree will work just fine. Making $70k+/yr is going to require you have a degree and most likely a Masters degree. I invested in my education and have 2 masters degrees and I guarantee I am where I am because of them. I would not have been hired otherwise.

Sure some people have the entrepreneurship ability or raw talent to make lots of money with no education. Are you as bright and as lucky as them to risk this? I grew up in poverty and there is no way I wanted to continue living in such subpar conditions.

An education costs so little these days and the benefits are so great. They say the averega debt of a 4 yr degree is $25k. That is the price of an average new car. You can get loans for 15 years. It's a good investment. Sure, we are all under the power of this system... but scraping by at the bottom is not a fulfilling way to live life.

You also get to study whatever you want. We still have this freedom. Take advantage of it.

Too many people on government hand outs already.

Just my 2 cents,

GV

ps. If you know how to sling sales.. then no degree will get you by, but sales is not for everyone and a degree still helps you be selected for the good jobs.

reply to post by Judge_Holden


This is a good post. ThisGuyRightHere is someone i rarely disagree with.

I attended 1 year of college. Ended that year 7k in debt and realizing that i was screwed if i continued. So i quit.

Now, i am not saying i did the right thing. Typical of a male from my area that didn't finish college, i got trapped in a series of menial, craptastic jobs that today i would almost rather starve than do. Eventually my wife saved me from my drug induced stupor by marrying me. A few years later i put her through nursing school.

But i was given an opportunity. 1 promotion, when i was 26, that put me in charge of training AOL tech support agents. From there, i have run all aspects of a multi unit operation (remotely managing multiple sites). There isn't a job that I can't at least get an interview for by submitting my resume.

But what it took was for someone to give me a shot. To give me my chance. And then i aggressively went for the brass ring.

No, you don't have to have a college degree. I don't, and i am accustomed to having people with Master's in BA answer to me.

Having said all that, you are correct. A degree will give you opportunities that noneducated people will get. Early in my career i was passed over for a couple of jobs because i didn't have a degree. But you don't have to have one to be successful because ultimately it all comes down to how hard you are willing to work, how insightful you are in your industry, and not missing an opportunity when it shows itself.

Originally posted by Judge_Holden
I will not allow you to make such a comment and think you can get away with it. Implying that I am being programmed into a "specialized robot" is absurd.

Not as absurd as thinking you know *for sure* what college does when you haven't come out the other side yet.

Originally posted by Judge_Holden
I am the same person I was the day I graduated high school; a libertarian, an atheist, a lover of friends and family, a believer in peace, an admirer of poetry and art, an ardent reader, an aspiring writer, a follower of history, and an adherer to science, among others.

Then you shouldn't need college.

Honest.

I'm truly not being smarmy or sarcastic or anything else.

The barrier is reaching a point of understanding that will allow you to see *why* you don't need college.

Originally posted by Judge_Holden
Do not insult my intelligence, nor my ability as an individual. I will not let you.

Except you just did let them. Otherwise you wouldn't have had a reaction.

Originally posted by Judge_Holden
I love Heinlein, and I think it is a great quote. You using that quote out of context is offensive.

Being offended is far more offensive than almost anything else.

Originally posted by Judge_Holden
By going to college, I am not "specializing" in anything. In fact, I am doing the opposite.

You are specializing in going to college. For now. Once you are out of college then you get to specialize in something else.

This doesn't deny that some jobs say they require college. But that's a different discussion from the one regarding the actual usefulness of college.

Enjoy the college experience... that's the most valuable thing it has to offer. The experience. And it is a valuable thing... but the value is not the one marketed to high school students and parents.

Namaste!

reply to post by GoldenVoyager


To get a degree is to become an indebted for most unfortunately and alot of them dont get paid back in a
lifetime

I am pro education- again

just hate the current system