Re: Why Get an Education?
- From: "Jerry Okamura" <okamuraj005@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 04:15:02 -0000
"Melodious Thunk" <bill_gets_stuff@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1138517700-sch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> No, you singled out those occupations with the caveat "what message
> does
> that send our kids," implying that there's no value to an education. I
> was posting otherwise, and included my reasoning. Having an education
> is
> of value to our kids, in Hawaii or otherwise.
Well, yes, that was the point of my posting. If you can get paid a
whole
lot more without going to college vs. going to college, what incentive
is
there to go to college?
>
> If your goal is *really* to talk in terms of Hawaii, then why don't you
> contrast Matson dockworkers with RCUH research scientists? After a few
> years, the Matson workers (admittedly a risky occupation) can be making
> $90 to 100 K; RCUH regularly advertises for PhD's with several years'
> experience, for positions paying $26 to 32 K.
I only gave those as "examples". Do I have to show every occupation
where
that disconnect seems to exist to make my point? If I knew exactly how
much
a Matson worker makes (by the way exactly which Matson workers make that
kind of money, what do they do) or what a RCUH makes (who is that), I
would
have used that in my example as well. All you data seems to indicate
(since
I do not know what kind of Matson worker you are talking aboutor
exactly who
an RCUH is) is that you have just added more fuel to the fire....
>
> To me, *that* would be a valid path to explore in terms of the message
> "we" are sending to our youth. And I would present the same
> counter-argument, that an education has value far beyond its monetary
> return.
Well, of course an education has more value that a monetary return. But
ultimately it still boils down to how you survive....
>
>>> A few generations back, people didn't pursue college for purposes of
>>> making more money;
Well, I think I belong to the group of a "few generations back" and I
certainly went to college so I could make more money. As a matter of
fact,
having been kicked out of the University of Hawaii, then "trying" to
survive
for a short period of time without that college degree, it took me less
than
one year of that to figure out that I had better get my tail back to
college, becuase without that degree making enough money to survive was
not
going to be any fun at all....
>>
>> Well, many generations back people did not even go to college, and if
>> you go
>> back even further many people did not even go to school, so what is
>> your
>> point? A few generationa ago, most people lived off the land, very
>> few
>> people live off the land today....
As you said, a few generations back most people lived off the land, if
you
still lived off the land, an education is not as important to your
survival,
you succeeded on the food you raised.... If that was still the case
today,
and "most" of the people still lived and worked on the farm, then it
would
not be as important to get an education.... That is not the case today.
>
> Well, to quote you, "what's your point?" If you want to take it back
> that far, the occupations you cited didn't exist; nor did their nascent
> predecessors pay very well.
Yep, so what?
>
> I was trying to stress the value of an education... for lack of a
> better
> term, a "liberal arts" education... as a means of affording a chance at
> a well-rounded life, regardless of what one chooses to do after
> college.
> Few students today enter college with the idea of getting an education;
> hopefully my kids *will* enter college with that in mind.
And I would argue that part of a well rounded life is the ability to
survive
and live a relatively comfortable life....
>
>> that wasn't the point of an education at all. In many
>>> ways, the modern experience is that college takes the place of a
>>> trade
>>> school. My opinion is that college is a great place to get an
>>> education.
>>> If you choose to pick up a trade as well, that's fine; but put your
>>> education first. And this is what I emphasize with my kids.
>>
>> That it seems to me depends on what the purpose of an education is.
>> If the
>> purpose of an education is to have well rounded citizens, that is one
>> thing.
>> If the purpose of an education is to earn money, that is an entirely
>> different thing. But it would seem to me, the bottom line is how that
>> person manages when they become an adult. If they are well educated
>> and
>> barely able to survive, it is going to be little comfort to that
>> person,
>> that they are well educated... And no, college does not take the
>> place of a
>> trade school. You cannot be a scientist, or an engineer, or a doctor,
>> lawyer, and a whole lot of other professions going to a trade school.
>
> Sorry, the majority of people are not in those professions. In Hawaii,
> as elsewhere, many major employers require a college degree as an entry
> point. In case you didn't know it, a business degree is the most
> popular
> BA handed out nowadays, nationally. That's a 'trade school' approach to
> college, and in my opinion, that's a waste of an education.
Well, yes, the majority of people are not in those professions because a
majority of the people could not successfully complete the course work
to be
in those professions.... A large number of young people pick business
as a
major because the course work is a whole lot easier....
>
>>> Frankly, I expect to be a teacher, at some point in the future,
>>> before I
>>> retire. I'm certainly not planning to do it for the money!
>>
>> Of course you are going to do it for the money, because without
>> money, you
>> will not survive being a teacher for very long....
>
> That's a loony statement for you to make. I know many teachers; I don't
> know a single one who does it for the money. Every teacher I know does
> it *despite* the money. I plan to do it despite the lack of
> remuneration
> relative to the many other things I could do, and have done.
If they say they are teaching because it is not for the money, then why
did
they join a union to get the money that they demand getting?
>
> Didn't you say somewhere that you're retired? Are you going to have me
> believe that you retired "for the money"?
>
That does not make any sense. You cannot stop working if you do not
have
some money to survive on. Because when you quit working, you better
have a
source of money to buy the things you need to survive.....
.
- References:
- Why Get an Education?
- From: Jerry Okamura
- Why Get an Education?
- Prev by Date: Democrats have a candidate for govenor.
- Next by Date: Re: Govt Auditor criticizes Lingle spending of money for poor.
- Previous by thread: Re: Why Get an Education?
- Next by thread: Re: Why Get an Education?
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
|
