Message-ID: <199704051721.MAA07661@shell.monmouth.com> Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 12:21:33 -0500 From: Wilbur Streett <mailto:wstreett@MONMOUTH.COM> Subject: Re: Power Politics To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
>I believe there is something similar going on in the US. I worked in
>a plant where routine maintainance was cut out because it cost too
>much money to have a guy oil the machines. And they broke as a
>result. This was a stupid management decision. The other part of the
>problem is the brain drain thing. I used to feel like the company's
>survival depended on having a local population of really bright kids
>who were too poor to go to college. That way they ended up in the
>factory and would be promoted to foremen and supervisors...good jobs
>for kids with no college, but still considered lousy jobs compared to
>what some college could get you.
I strenously object to the implied statement here that jobs are something that is doled out based on having a college degree. If you don't like the jobs that are available, you are quite free to start your own business and create your own job. In addition, the idea of college being a pre-requisite for any sort of meaningful employment smacks of slavery..
I don't have a college degree and I'm doing quite well. I'm very well educated, and education is an individual responsibility, not the responsibility of a college. I'd even go so far as to say that college introduces a lowering of educational expectations, and as a result, a lowering of individual educational acheivement.
You are responsible for what you learn, not the college. If you want to improve your life, you should learn as much as possible about the society that you live in, as well as the skills that you feel aptitude with, so as to create value.
There have been a series of posts here about "evil society". The power lies in the people, not the institutions of our societies. We just forget that from time to time.
Wilbur ----------------------------------------- Putting a Human Face On Technology ;-) -----------------------------------------