They deserve the award for promoters and marketers of the recent past. They’ve managed to convince millions of kids and their parents, whom obviously lack understanding of the law of supply & demand, that going to college is worth the kids’ time and their parents’ money. They sell a lifestyle; be an intellectual, and a bad one at it; feel superior over the dropouts who have produced wealth for society; gain a sense of even greater entitlement, especially for stuff that other people have earned; and earn a high paying job, with a degree that meets the requirements for the Starbucks across the street from campus. Colleges lace curriculum with snippets that reinforce their importance to the students. You can’t be a human nor understand what it is to be human without being taking a course on the humanities; you can’t understand how humans cooperate without taking an economics course that teaches that the state provides the infrastructure for civilization; you can’t find yourself without the help of someone who has never left college. Lastly, they’ve even managed to convince the average voter that a college-educated citizenry is a peaceful one and is necessary for prosperity; simply ignore Ted Kaczynski and Henry Ford.
And yet I’m eventually bothering to finish some mild college regardless because despite higher intellectual arguments elsewhere, people in the pink & white markets still think there is value to them silly pieces of paper.
I probably won’t bother going for a serious B.A. until after the college bubble collapses, though, whenever that’s suppose to be.
You’d be surprised how often you’d be turned down for not simply having at least an A.A. degree, then again, I live near D.C., so it might just be this area.
To sum up: Employment in the statist economy requires statist credentials, which is necessary if you intend on living in state-society, and are either unable to attempt or are incapable of the sacrifices needed to live as little off of state society as possible.
African American Women’s Studies!
That value is fading quietly. The pink and white markets are at each others throats internally, non-producers are being let go and producers are being promoted. The degree is only valuable for a foot in the door at lower management in most places right now. This anecdotal.
What are the “pink and white markets?”
The corporate office, and the Bureaucracy.
Why are they called the “pink and white markets”?
Neck ties cut blood circulation in such a pattern that people’s heads either go pink or white.
Extruded, unfunny, and not necessarily true. [N] Just refer to it as ‘white collar market.’
What is a pink market, then? I’ve heard about white collar before.. but never pink.
Ahm maybe this?
Underpaid?
I took issue with that, too. But remember that when dealing with sociology, it is mostly marxist dominated. What is underpaid, and what isn’t underpaid? There is no objective reason to declare such work as overpaid or underpaid. But to many people, if a collective of people call something X, then it is X. Democracy is objective reason for far too many people.
I was referring to Agorism’s use of the pink & white markets, actually. I’m surprised no one noticed that.
As for the possible dwindling value of degrees, I predict that this may be more of a sign of an eventual market correction (i.e. people eventually realizing how valuable degrees actually are, & making market actions accordingly) regarding degrees, and at some point, certain degrees or sought out better alternatives will eventually be favored over previous preferences.
While we’re on the topic, I’m still undecided (sans general education that is transferable to other colleges) on what to seriously tackle in college. Anyone have any clue and/or insight on what major might become more useful in the future (i.e. as the economy worsens)?
The idea that the education bubble will burst just like the housing market bothers me. Year after year, the government continues to increase its funding to colleges. The price of schooling is going up. But even if people default on their loans, the school isn’t in trouble. The government takes a hit. It can just print more and tax more to make up that shortfall. There might be a point where less and less people will be going to school, but I don’t think that will be the case until the education gets much worse, or until the government stops increases in funding.
There’s work for me in the field of computer science. I got a part time job at $30/hour back in my 3rd year of college. I’m doing my masters now. If I’m willing to move anywhere within the US and Canada, I can get some jobs at $70k. Even $80k with my masters degree completed. I think the study of business is the most inflated education bubble at the moment. Students are learning very little and getting very hired. But I could be completely wrong on that point.
haha, I saw that too.
Women are attracted to jobs with shorter/ more flexible hours, for obvious reason. It just happens that people who work less and less consistently make less money; teachers for example.
Why should someone who works less get paid more? We are never told.
So that they can afford stuff. Them being able to afford stuff has much more importance than the needs and wants of society which is reflect by the price levels set by the market.
Oops, I think I contradicted myself.
None of them. The division of labor is going to shrink and nobody will give a shit about degrees in ‘marketing’ or ‘sociology’ or ‘gender/ethnic studies.’ Get an A.S. in business and spend the next two years acquiring a trade, even several of them. Be prepared to follow the booms overseas to stay employed and build as broad and deep a patronage network as possible.
Yeah that’s like totally surprising. “Pink and white markets.” I mean, it just leaps out at you.
Indeed, I was a bit vague I suppose :\