My friend James recently wrote on his blog about the commonly held idea that everyone should go to college and be successful. He mused on whether the costs of education are worth the amount of debt that many people incur. He spoke to the fact that there are a lot of college educated people out there making less money than their blue collar brethren. I don’t dispute any of that, but I feel like there is another dimension to this argument that warrants discussion.
It took me 20 years to complete my Bachelors degree and it is the most precious (and yes, most expensive) thing that I possess. I’m not saying that everyone should go to college, but I do believe that anyone that is capable of a higher education should be educated. The personal growth and nurturing of my mind is much more valuable to me than any material objects that I could have bought by now if I had become an electrician. I’m not saying that no one should become a blue collar worker; I’m just saying that the opportunity for a liberal arts education should be a part of citizenship no matter what career you end up in. There may be a few people that just can’t do it or refuse to do it. Fine. I’m not talking about making it mandatory.
I think many people in blue collar trades are very intelligent and could do as well as many college students if they were encouraged and didn’t have to take on the debt to get it. I’m definitely in agreement with James that you shouldn’t end up in thousands of dollars of debt to become educated.
Here’s the question in my mind: If America is really the greatest nation in the world then why isn’t our education system second to none? We’re ranked far below many Asian and European countries. Many of those countries also pay for the cost of the education of their people (along with other “luxuries” like receiving healthcare without a trip to bankruptcy court soon after.) Somehow, I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that the populations of countries that are better educated than America also subsidize most (if not all) of the cost of college. Hmmm.
All I’m saying is that education is the key to a great nation. The impact of education spills into every area of our lives, and most of the time we don’t even consider how our own education has formed us. I’d be happy if there were more mechanics like Skye’s that were educated just because they could be and wanted to be. I’d love to get into a deep environmental discussion with the guy fixing my HVAC. I’d love to live in a country where the majority of the population is intelligent and aware of the world around them.
Insane ignorance is what ushered in the extinction of the indigenous people on Easter Island as they cut down their very last tree. America is on the precipice of environmental, political, and financial disaster right now. Science was screaming about global warming and pollution many years ago, and we’re finally reacting. Why? First of all, rising fuel costs get people’s attention. Secondly, someone made a movie that simplified the problem down to a level that common folks could understand. Education happened. Some people are still in denial about it (Palin), but at least the majority of Americans now feel that this is a top issue.
My point is that, although not everyone will become a scholar or an intellectual, most beneficiaries of a college education will learn to think critically and have a much greater understanding of the world around them. They will be exposed to the ideas that make up a thoughtful citizenry.
Think about the masses of uneducated folks that want to vote for leaders that are ordinary guys. W was elected twice in part because he seemed like a person that you could sit down and have a beer with. Yee-haw! Now we have a religious fanatic running for VP, a heartbeat away from that 3 AM call, that has stated that she believes the apocalypse will happen in her lifetime, dinosaurs walked the earth 7,000 years ago with the first humans, and that the Iraq war and the pipeline she wants to build are “God’s will.” Super-neato.
To read about some of Palin’s scary religious views and practices read the following article. She makes Obama’s former minister seem pretty safe in comparison:
http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=566751&articleId=839062&func=5&channel=News+AOL+Managed
So, what if we subsidized the higher education system (or gave everyone Pell Grants and regulated the university system’s exorbitant costs) so everyone could go to college without gaining a boatload of debt with their degree? How would we pay for it? Why don’t we ask our smarter neighbors, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Finland, Australia, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Netherlands and the United Kingdom how they do it. I bet they have some great ideas.
Maybe we could start by getting the fanatical idiots that believe we’re in a holy war with Iraq and Afghanistan out of the positions of power in our country. Maybe we could cut military spending down to the level of other civilized countries and we could work together with them to defend the world instead of utilizing the incredibly evil “Bush Doctrine” of pre-emptive war.
I don’t think we’re ready; the fear factory keeps us hunkered down, telling us that it’s them elite dudes is what you need to be-a-scairt of. Anyone who says they wanna talk to our enemies is the enemy. Being smart’s just fer them fancy-pantses. Just go to your blue-collar job, consume as much crap as you can, get the biggest truck you can afford, drink another Bud, watch lots of good programs on TV (especially Fox so you can see all the pretty flags,) turn the Skynrd up, make lotsa babies, don’t ask questions, don’t think too hard about anything, join the military, and for God’s sake, STAY SCARED!
I do think that in light of the mess our country is in many people are waking up. I’m hopeful that the future of America will focus on building the greatest resource we have. Our people. I hope we will take care of the health of EVERY American, to educate EVERY American. I hope that we can shift our focus from short term profits to long lived prosperity.
Interesting you should post this today, as I just got home from meeting an adviser at OSU to learn what prerequisites I'll need to get into a graduate program there. One particular prereq. isn't transferable from anywhere else, and will cost about $700 to take. For ONE class! And I'm still paying off undergrad loans.
ReplyDeleteOn top of that, I wrote a late night political rant last night...
I agree with MOST of what you say, except for the line about other countries being so much more educated than we are. Sure the overall test scoring, when compared to other countries, shows lower here. But most often, these comparisons are unfair. We cannot fairly put our math scores against each other, when ours include all kids 'cause they are required to take math here - but only the kids who show early talent for math take math classes at all in many other places. And so the differences continue...
The education system here is broken and outdated, I believe. A quality education should be available to all, but especially since "no child left behind" our K-12 students are only taught to do what they're told, pass the test, and live in fear of not being able to go to college (or just dropping out). Only the wealthiest who can afford it, and the poorest who can get grant funding can leave unburdened from a college education, where they are *finally* taught to think critically.
What is our education system designed for? WHY do we feel the need to compete based on test scores against other countries? Why not appreciate the mechanically inclined for the interests they do have? It's possible they're perfectly happy with their level of education. (Although you could certainly have intellectual discussions with my mechanic. Though, he refuses to be a professional mechanic, and is headed back to school for engineering, his second degree.)
I agree with you that the competition on scores is somewhat irrelevant; there's more to it though. I'm talking about access to a college education. We should be at the top, but we're not.
ReplyDeleteThese countries have a higher percentage of bachelors degrees awarded to their college age population than we do: Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Finland, Iceland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan.
We're not bad; about one third of college age Americans get a bachelors degree, but I think we should be at the top.
Good point that you make about being in the middle class trap - not poor enough to get grants and too poor to have parents that will foot the bill. The system is ridiculous in the way that it penalizes hard working people like me that work while they go to school.
I wish that our education system was designed to produce educated citizens rather than worker/consumers. For now, the main emphasis seems to be making money. Nothing wrong with making a living, but my belief is that finding a career would be a natural result of being educated.
It seems that the way the system is set up now the critical thinking skills are the side effect rather than the main goal.
Meh, education is for losers, just like evolution. So is health care (if Jesus wants you to die, you probably deserve it!).
ReplyDelete