Listen kids, you can learn something important from the #occupy movement!
And I don’t mean some political platitude about teh evil 1%.
I mean something practically important, something you can personally control right now, and something that will shape the rest of your life.
Please direct your attention to this typical grievance:
She is college educated, probably in debt, and unemployed.
A central complaint for occupyers is that they (1) have student loan debt and (2) don’t have jobs or don’t have good jobs. That makes sense.
Over the last 25 years, the total number of university students in the US has risen by over fifty percent. A lot more kids are going to college. However over that same time, the total number of students majoring in the most in-demand fields (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) has decreased. What are students majoring in instead?
Why are students majoring in soft-studies degrees that are not in demand and don’t pay? In part because government subsidizes all degrees. Government subsidizes (and sometimes guarantees) all student loans, regardless of what degree they’re in. You get grants regardless of what you major in etc. So lenders and universities have no incentive to really care what you major in. They get the $$. It doesn’t matter.
That distorts the natural information signaling of the higher-education market. Private lenders would otherwise offer much lower-interest loans more readily to biochem majors than queer theory majors. Many of these occupyers likely have degrees in fields with little-to-no career value, all of them government subsidized at least in part.
So what’s the lesson you should learn? It’s clear. College is expensive and the generic “college degree” doesn’t necessarily help much if at all. For most people:
- If you do go to college, do not major in a field that is not in demand unless you’re sure you want higher risk of a much harder life.
What majors are not in demand? Avoid:
- psychology
- psychology
- psychology
- we don’t need more psych majors
- sociology
- anthropology
- philosophy
- arts (visual, performing, studio, theater, whatever)
- communication
- journalism
- literature
- education
- social services
- history
- area “studies”
Obviously this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t learn about these subjects or even take classes in them—maybe do a minor. Just don’t major in them if you’re considering career prospects. And if the fields that are in demand absolutely do not appeal to you, consider putting off college or dropping out rather than racking up pointless debt and wasting your time.
I couldn’t agree less; this is exactly the kind of argument that the so aptly renamed teh evil 1% use in order to dismiss the protest as being unfounded and any problematic situation a person finds themselves in as being their own fault, lest they did something ‘useful’ with their life. To discredit the importance of arts and humanities, as well as education and anything non-sciency is both distasteful, based on false arguments and not helping your fellow workers in any way whatsoever.
Now, while every country is different, it is of utmost importance to understand that a society that believes that everything is a ‘soft subject’ and thus destined to lead a person to poverty lest it concerns itself with science, mathematics, technology and engineering is wrong.
And why?
Let me give you an example from Sweden, arguably a rather successful European country as far as economy goes, right? Recently the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise suggested exactly what this text is if not openly stating, then silently hinting at; ‘soft majors’ should receive less money from the state than ‘useful majors’. Now, this idea is based on a complete misunderstanding of the world, firstly because assuming that ‘soft majors’ contribute nothing to society is complete bollocks and secondly because jobs are not more readily available for mathematicians or engineers than for queer studies majors.
The UK’s 12th richest and simultaneously most influential woman graduated with a BA in French and Classics. Yes, I am talking about J.K. Rowling whose enterprise was worth a staggering 15 billion dollars back in 2007 - it is certainly worth a lot more today.
Steve Jobs, who dropped out of college said that ‘If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.’
The reason why teachers are unemployed has nothing to do with the false assumption that we educate too many teachers, but rather with the fact that we employ too few teachers across the world. An acceptable classroom situation would see one teacher per 10 students; the crass reality tells us that so isn’t the case. I could point you to schools where teachers work insane hours teaching up to 45-50 students in one classroom. If our society truly believed in its attempt to provide equal education for everyone, every teacher would be employed fairly quickly.
The National Science Foundation states that 4.9% of all scientists and engineers are unemployed, which in many ways is an exceptionally low unemployment rate, surely more teachers must be unemployed. Aye, but how many? The total number of unemployed teachers happen to be 6.3% in the States.
What about social service workers? The Bureau of Labor Statistics state that ‘Employment for social workers is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2018. Job prospects are expected to be favorable, particularly for social workers who specialize in the aging population or work in rural areas.’
And what about those pesky wankers who think they should be allowed to waste their lives studying archeology or anthropology? 3.7% of them are unemployed. In other words, it’s easier to get a job with a degree in anthropology than in engineering using the crap logic behind the text I am commenting on.
In other words, cut the crap and bin the scare tactics as they’re completely unfounded.
This is perfect, and I need it on my dash.
Probably the only thing I will reblog about the Occupy movement. While I think the movement is disorganized and lacks depth and meaning, it’s brought attention to our generation’s struggles. Whether or not you believe in the protest or sympathize with my generation, the fact is there are people out there blaming us for being in debt and unemployed. The system is crap, not my career choices. Because I chose two majors on the do not list (art and education), yes, I am seeing that when I graduate in 5 weeks, I will be unemployed. However, it’s true, the world needs more teachers, they just refuse to employ us. Employment in education is cyclical, jobs will be available again in a few (or several) years. I’m not worried about that. Why should I be made to take the guilt for being unemployed when I chose to follow my dream? Sure, I will probably complain about having to temporarily wait tables or substitute teach or work at a museum gift shop, but I will never, ever wish I had chosen a more “responsible” major. I believe my career choice is the most responsible option I could have chosen, because it’s something I love and believe in. The world doesn’t need more passionless computer science majors who are just in it to guarantee employment for themselves. It needs teachers that will fight to make a difference.
“Higher risk of a much harder life?” Because money is everything, kids.
I am the 1%. Of people who love their jobs and choose happiness and fulfillment in their career over a paycheck.
(via riverspeak)
