I agree with your first 2 paragraphs, and largely the other 2 but I just want to point some things out to the gallery who may be reading.
Not everyone should go to college. If you do go to college and get a degree in a field that is not in demand, or has a changing demand nobody is to blame but the degree seeker. Research your field. If the cost of a degree is more than the money you will make, it might be time to look for something new.
There are several worthless degrees, like business. Many successful business people had successful ventures prior to going to school. They then went back to school to hone their money making skills.
Many degrees and jobs requiring an education require people with a considerable amount of drive. Simply applying for a job because you have a degree that matches will likely not do it for you. As an example I will use broadcast communications. The competition is high, even with a degree, you might never work in the field if you are not aggresive enough.
There is also a such thing as "the entry level position" if I owned a successful business, no way would I let somebody fresh out of school with no experience run a division or a department. They might have to start in the same position as somebody without a degree and work their way up. When it comes time for promotions though, somebody with a degree has a history of long term success and maybe a major failure. I would promote that person than somebody who is good but never failed at anything. You just don't know if they will come unglued when they do. Plus both will have the knowledge and skills learned on the job, the one without the degree may not have the knowledge or skills applicable but not learned OTJ.
For sure. This coming from the guy who wanted to be a municiple firefighter that didn't do EMS. (I was young once too) But that job largely does not exist anymore. So just like the guy whos goal was to get a union job at GM, the vocational jobs change over time, so vocational people need to remain flexible and be willing to change the service they provide when the old one is no longer valuable.
The other caviat is how many jobs there really are. You don't have to be an economist to figure out that if there are 1000 plumbers and work for 100 that some are going to be out of luck. If the local electric company is has positions for 5 linemen and 2000 apply (sounds almost like a FD) somebody will be hungry.
When the supply outstrips the demand in an area, like here, once great wages decline. That can make a middle class living nothing more than a dream.
Once the service and vocational positions are filled, what does everyone else do? The current unemployment numbers show that employers will take a chance on somebody with a degree, no matter how meaningless it is, before they take somebody without one.
The only solutions my personal economist (aka wife) tells me would work in today's society in the US is to eliminate minimum wage and expect a lower standard of living in order to create microeconomies or to basically have an aristocractic economy, where those who have an education make a lot and those who do not make next to nothing as they take service jobs for those that have. (she is an expert at this stuff and it sounds logical to me) But when you do either "skilled" labor really takes a major hit.
I'll leave it to the readers to judge which we are moving to.
Not everyone should go to college. If you do go to college and get a degree in a field that is not in demand, or has a changing demand nobody is to blame but the degree seeker. Research your field. If the cost of a degree is more than the money you will make, it might be time to look for something new.
There are several worthless degrees, like business. Many successful business people had successful ventures prior to going to school. They then went back to school to hone their money making skills.
Many degrees and jobs requiring an education require people with a considerable amount of drive. Simply applying for a job because you have a degree that matches will likely not do it for you. As an example I will use broadcast communications. The competition is high, even with a degree, you might never work in the field if you are not aggresive enough.
There is also a such thing as "the entry level position" if I owned a successful business, no way would I let somebody fresh out of school with no experience run a division or a department. They might have to start in the same position as somebody without a degree and work their way up. When it comes time for promotions though, somebody with a degree has a history of long term success and maybe a major failure. I would promote that person than somebody who is good but never failed at anything. You just don't know if they will come unglued when they do. Plus both will have the knowledge and skills learned on the job, the one without the degree may not have the knowledge or skills applicable but not learned OTJ.
For sure. This coming from the guy who wanted to be a municiple firefighter that didn't do EMS. (I was young once too) But that job largely does not exist anymore. So just like the guy whos goal was to get a union job at GM, the vocational jobs change over time, so vocational people need to remain flexible and be willing to change the service they provide when the old one is no longer valuable.
The other caviat is how many jobs there really are. You don't have to be an economist to figure out that if there are 1000 plumbers and work for 100 that some are going to be out of luck. If the local electric company is has positions for 5 linemen and 2000 apply (sounds almost like a FD) somebody will be hungry.
When the supply outstrips the demand in an area, like here, once great wages decline. That can make a middle class living nothing more than a dream.
Once the service and vocational positions are filled, what does everyone else do? The current unemployment numbers show that employers will take a chance on somebody with a degree, no matter how meaningless it is, before they take somebody without one.
The only solutions my personal economist (aka wife) tells me would work in today's society in the US is to eliminate minimum wage and expect a lower standard of living in order to create microeconomies or to basically have an aristocractic economy, where those who have an education make a lot and those who do not make next to nothing as they take service jobs for those that have. (she is an expert at this stuff and it sounds logical to me) But when you do either "skilled" labor really takes a major hit.
I'll leave it to the readers to judge which we are moving to.
