Education and knowledge, and exposure to all sorts of different ideas tend to make people more liberal on the whole, according to various studies. No wonder the conservatives hate on the education system so much. I do think that we should provide alternatives to typical four year school and not only glorify college degrees, but I do think that learning of any stripe should be something that is highly praised and prioritized. "Remake their children into their image" sounds incredibly sinister. It's like "no, don't send them to college, keep them cloistered so they become your little conservative clones who don't think for themselves."
He puts the rageface on for politics. My parents are the same way. I think it is bad for one's blood pressure. I try to keep calm but I cannot always pull it off, because they are really infuriating sometimes.
Yeah, Santorum has an MBA from Katz, that's a one year program.
If it makes you feel any better, here's the non-political accomplishments list -
Santorum: Practiced law for 4 years. Successfully lobbied that the WWE should be exempt from anabolic steroids regulations, as it's entertainment, not sport.
Obama: Four years as Director of Developing Communities Project. Consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation. Editor of the Harvard Law Review by the end of his freshman year. President of same Journal by the end of the following year. Graduated magna cum laude. Authored three bestselling books (Two political/autobiographical, one childeren's book). Practiced law for 9 years, consulted for a further two. Taught constitutional law at University of chicago for 12 years, four as a lecturer, eight as a senior lecturer. Board of Directors: DCP, Public Allies, Woods fund of Chicago, Joyce Foundation, Chicago annenberg challenge, Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Lugenia Burns Hope Center.
Education and knowledge, and exposure to all sorts of different ideas tend to make people more liberal on the whole, according to various studies. No wonder the conservatives hate on the education system so much. I do think that we should provide alternatives to typical four year school and not only glorify college degrees, but I do think that learning of any stripe should be something that is highly praised and prioritized. "Remake their children into their image" sounds incredibly sinister. It's like "no, don't send them to college, keep them cloistered so they become your little conservative clones who don't think for themselves."
True... As Rym and Scott have said, "it doesn't suck to be a plumber." Not everyone is cut out for a regular college degree, but there's no excuse not to learn some sort of skill or trade.
That Santorum clip just reminds me of the moment in Huck Finn where Huck's bad gets angry at him for going to school and learning, God forbid should we ever dream to be greater. I hope that someday he realizes that thinking like that is not what made America the success that it is/was.
True... As Rym and Scott have said, "it doesn't suck to be a plumber." Not everyone is cut out for a regular college degree, but there's no excuse not to learn some sort of skill or trade.
I heartily agree with this sentiment. It annoys me when politicians say that they want everyone to get an (4 year) college degree because of this. I just wish when people put up an opposing argument it wasn't what I read as "we need to go back to the days when a GED got you a comfortable family life style". Which is both stupid and impossible, america cannot possibly compete on unskilled labor. I don't know why some politicians want us to.
I have some very strong opinions about the necessity of a well-rounded liberal arts education for creating good citizens, but I think going on a rant about them would find me opposed by pretty much the entire forum. I'll just say this: those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it, and those who don't understand WaGS (Women's and Gender Studies) are doomed to perpetuate the patriarchy.
I thought the point was that a high school diploma from 50 years ago was equivalent to a 2 yr degree today? Least, that's what I hear in those sorts of statements.
True... As Rym and Scott have said, "it doesn't suck to be a plumber." Not everyone is cut out for a regular college degree, but there's no excuse not to learn some sort of skill or trade.
I heartily agree with this sentiment. It annoys me when politicians say that they want everyone to get an (4 year) college degree because of this. I just wish when people put up an opposing argument it wasn't what I read as "we need to go back to the days when a GED got you a comfortable family life style". Which is both stupid and impossible, america cannot possibly compete on unskilled labor. I don't know why some politicians want us to.
Agreed... I mean, no offense to those who go to college and get a degree in something that isn't directly applicable to a career, but unless those folks plan to go on to graduate school for law or medicine or business or whatever, stay in academia (which would include, for the sake of this argument, being a primary/secondary school teacher, a noble profession), or have enough other courses/skills on their palette that they've worked on, said degree probably would help them less in finding a job than a degree in auto repair they got from a 2 year trade school.
A basic GED isn't enough to get a good lifestyle anymore -- it's only good as a stepping stone to either going to a 4 year college, 2 year college, trade school, or perhaps some sort of apprenticeship in order to learn a useful skill/knowledge base. As you said, unskilled labor really doesn't cut it anymore in this day and age.
I have some very strong opinions about the necessity of a well-rounded liberal arts education for creating good citizens, but I think going on a rant about them would find me opposed by pretty much the entire forum. I'll just say this: those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it, and those who don't understand WaGS (Women's and Gender Studies) are doomed to perpetuate the patriarchy.
I'd argue that one should fulfill this requirement in the course of getting a GED/high school diploma. If a GED/high school diploma doesn't fulfill this requirement (and in most areas of the country it probably doesn't), then the requirements to get one should be changed.
I'd argue that one should fulfill this requirement in the course of getting a GED/high school diploma. If a GED/high school diploma doesn't fulfill this requirement (and in most areas of the country it probably doesn't), then the requirements to get one should be changed.
They should, but as far as I'm aware there are maybe half a handful of private schools (and no public schools) that come close to those standards. Part of the problem is that high schools tend to teach history in a narrative format, which is more or less total bullshit, and the academic nature of, say, Women's Studies makes it hard to teach in a high school format. I have doubts about whether the modern high school system is even capable of making the necessary changes, though.
said degree probably would help them less in finding a job than a degree in auto repair they got from a 2 year trade school.
This is nonsense, for two reasons: 1) For most people, their career paths end up having practically nothing to do with their undergraduate education. Even when they are aligned, most of the skills your major teaches you wind up never being used. The primary useful skills you learn in college are learning independently, time management, living independently, and bullshitting, and you can learn those skills in any major you want. 2) I'm going to second-hand quote what a job recruiter told one of my friends when he worried about not having the right major: "For the most part, we don't care what classes you took, what major you were, or even how high your grades were. The important thing about having a college degree is that it shows that you can stick to something for four years."
So NO, your major and classes do not have to be career-related.
The primary useful skills you learn in college are learning independently, time management, living independently, and bullshitting, and you can learn those skills in any major you want.
Apparently I missed bullshitting. And I came in with the rest of them...
said degree probably would help them less in finding a job than a degree in auto repair they got from a 2 year trade school.
This is nonsense, for two reasons: 1) For most people, their career paths end up having practically nothing to do with their undergraduate education. Even when they are aligned, most of the skills your major teaches you wind up never being used. The primary useful skills you learn in college are learning independently, time management, living independently, and bullshitting, and you can learn those skills in any major you want. 2) I'm going to second-hand quote what a job recruiter told one of my friends when he worried about not having the right major: "For the most part, we don't care what classes you took, what major you were, or even how high your grades were. The important thing about having a college degree is that it shows that you can stick to something for four years."
So NO, your major and classes do not have to be career-related.
Hmm, well, I'm basing my opinion on the experiences of friends who majored in stuff like Russian lit. vs. myself and other friends who majored in engineering, computer science, and so on. The engineers and CS majors found good jobs much more easily than the Russian lit. majors, who often ended up working relatively menial customer service and secretarial jobs that you didn't need a college degree for.
Someone in the comments on FreeThoughtBlogs had an excellent point about a Rick Santorum quote. First the origina:
Woodstock is the great American orgy. This is who the Democratic Party has become. They have become the party of Woodstock. The prey upon our most basic primal lusts, and that’s sex. And the whole abortion culture, it’s not about life. It’s about sexual freedom. That’s what it’s about. Homosexuality. It’s about sexual freedom. All of the things are about sexual freedom, and they hate to be called on them. They try to somehow or other tie this to the Founding Father’s vision of liberty, which is bizarre. It’s ridiculous… It comes down to sex. That’s what it’s all about. It comes down to freedom, and it comes down to sex. If you have anything to with any of the sexual issues, and if you are on the wrong side of being able to do all of the sexual freedoms you want, you are a bad guy. And you’re dangerous because you are going to limit my freedom in an area that’s the most central to me. And that’s the way it’s looked at.
So what happens when you take the sex out of that statement:
This is who the Democratic Party has become. They have become the party of Woodstock. And the whole abortion culture, it’s not about life. It’s about freedom. That’s what it’s about. Homosexuality. It’s about freedom. All of the things are about freedom, and they hate to be called on them. They try to somehow or other tie this to the Founding Father’s vision of liberty, which is bizarre. It’s ridiculous… That’s what it’s all about. It comes down to freedom. If you have anything to with any of the issues, and if you are on the wrong side of being able to do all of the freedoms you want, you are a bad guy. And you’re dangerous because you are going to limit my freedom in an area that’s the most central to me. And that’s the way it’s looked at.
I tell you, it's so asinine. It's like they think women who get abortions are going: "Gosh, I love going and getting invasive surgery, don't you? Especially ones that include extremely difficult life decisions! My goodness what fun it is to go under anesthesia, and feel sore and sick, and risk scarring my uterus, just because I have nothing better to do!"
...I hope I never have to even consider getting an abortion.
With the whole contraception debate, they are right about one thing. I take pills because I like to have sex when I want, without worrying about anything else. I don't think there should be consequences for sex, and science makes it so. If we are careful, we can avoid STDs and babies and all the "natural" stuff that comes along with this human behavior. The conservatives and religious people just hate and are afraid of sex, so they think women should be "punished" for doing it. They also think (like hundreds of years of oppressors before them) that if they have control over women's reproductive function, they can control women. It's harder to fight back when you are full of babies.
Comments
"Remake their children into their image" sounds incredibly sinister. It's like "no, don't send them to college, keep them cloistered so they become your little conservative clones who don't think for themselves."
Also, Barack's degrees are significantly more prestigous: you have to be pretty goddamned smart to even get into Harvard Law.
If it makes you feel any better, here's the non-political accomplishments list -
Santorum:
Practiced law for 4 years.
Successfully lobbied that the WWE should be exempt from anabolic steroids regulations, as it's entertainment, not sport.
Obama:
Four years as Director of Developing Communities Project.
Consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation.
Editor of the Harvard Law Review by the end of his freshman year.
President of same Journal by the end of the following year.
Graduated magna cum laude.
Authored three bestselling books (Two political/autobiographical, one childeren's book).
Practiced law for 9 years, consulted for a further two.
Taught constitutional law at University of chicago for 12 years, four as a lecturer, eight as a senior lecturer.
Board of Directors: DCP, Public Allies, Woods fund of Chicago, Joyce Foundation, Chicago annenberg challenge, Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Lugenia Burns Hope Center.
Stupid people.
A basic GED isn't enough to get a good lifestyle anymore -- it's only good as a stepping stone to either going to a 4 year college, 2 year college, trade school, or perhaps some sort of apprenticeship in order to learn a useful skill/knowledge base. As you said, unskilled labor really doesn't cut it anymore in this day and age. I'd argue that one should fulfill this requirement in the course of getting a GED/high school diploma. If a GED/high school diploma doesn't fulfill this requirement (and in most areas of the country it probably doesn't), then the requirements to get one should be changed. Sad but true.
1) For most people, their career paths end up having practically nothing to do with their undergraduate education. Even when they are aligned, most of the skills your major teaches you wind up never being used. The primary useful skills you learn in college are learning independently, time management, living independently, and bullshitting, and you can learn those skills in any major you want.
2) I'm going to second-hand quote what a job recruiter told one of my friends when he worried about not having the right major: "For the most part, we don't care what classes you took, what major you were, or even how high your grades were. The important thing about having a college degree is that it shows that you can stick to something for four years."
So NO, your major and classes do not have to be career-related.
"Gosh, I love going and getting invasive surgery, don't you? Especially ones that include extremely difficult life decisions! My goodness what fun it is to go under anesthesia, and feel sore and sick, and risk scarring my uterus, just because I have nothing better to do!"
...I hope I never have to even consider getting an abortion.
With the whole contraception debate, they are right about one thing. I take pills because I like to have sex when I want, without worrying about anything else. I don't think there should be consequences for sex, and science makes it so. If we are careful, we can avoid STDs and babies and all the "natural" stuff that comes along with this human behavior. The conservatives and religious people just hate and are afraid of sex, so they think women should be "punished" for doing it. They also think (like hundreds of years of oppressors before them) that if they have control over women's reproductive function, they can control women. It's harder to fight back when you are full of babies.
Also:
As sad as it is, that's probably the actual rationale behind that.