Sunday, March 7, 2010

Reruns

They're cutting up in Berkeley again. One pic I saw had a guy in it who would've looked right at home in news coverage of the Sixties riots. Guy named Michael Shedlock who runs a blog called Global Economic Analysis has some cogent remarks on the protests against budget cuts for the Cal universities:
Pray tell what is someone going to do with a degree in English literature, social science, journalism, history, French, political science, or math?
Exactly how many jobs are available in those areas compared to the number of students getting such degrees?

Read all of Mish's comments here. He's got some to say on the student-loan racket. It is approaching fraudulent to take students' money for classes in many subjects and downright criminal to encourage big-buck loans to finance degrees in those subjects. People are convinced that they have to have college degrees or that everyone is capable of doing university-level work; they beggar themselves and waste four years in fruitless effort, coming out yoked with debt and little better informed than they went in.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Pray tell what is someone going to do with a degree in English literature, social science, journalism, history, French, political science, or math?"

The above are the foundations of a civilized society. Ignore them at your peril.

Pilot said...

Anon - I don't think he was implying that the subjects mentioned be ignored or disregarded, as he was likely implying that that while they are valid things we all should understand and be aware of, that the ranks of those who can make a living teaching and preaching and practicing them, are pretty well maxed out, and for one to think that other than maybe math, there is even an adequate living available in journalism or poly-sci in this online world where political science as we have known it is trampled upon by corporate politics, is just spraying their stream into the wind and depending on a spouse to pay for the formula and diapers and rent.