Education is the Answer?
By Richard E. Noble
In my "gallivanting" about town, and even out of town, I have noticed in all of my favorite stores - the Dollar General, Bill's, Piggly Wiggly, the IGA, Wal-Mart, K Mart and numerous others, there is often a solicitation of some kind for "education". They don't want to educate old people like me - who are almost dead anyway and for whom a better education would be superfluous; somewhat like sloping caviar to the hogs, I guess. They want to educate young people so that they will be able to get a "good" job when they grow up.
I wonder if these businesses realize that if their education drive is truly successful, they will go out of business.
Certainly if you study hard, get that good education and go to college, hopefully you will not be working at Bill's, or the Dollar General, or Wal-Mart or K Mart. You will get a "good" job not a "regular" job.
If all our children get a good education who is going to do all the "regular jobs" that comprise 80% of the jobs available in the "real" American economic world ... illegal aliens? It is also interesting to note that this 80% of American jobs is provided by "small businessmen" and not large corporations. Many small businessmen can’t even afford workers compensation never mind health and retirement benefits – this is called “Supply and Demand”. Thirty percent of our present labor force is now contract labor, freelance independents, self-employed and working at home – read no insurance and no benefits.
And furthermore, if all of our children are able to get a good education, then, of course, a "good education" will no longer be of any value - because everybody will have one.
If everyone has a good education then everyone will qualify for all the good jobs. In which case, the pays for the good jobs will then drop and the good jobs will not be so good anymore. This is already happening. Competition from educated young people coming from India and Asia are making the world of the American college educated more and more challenging.
But, on the positive side, I suppose that if you have a good education you will then be smart enough to understand why you are now unemployed. I suppose that could be looked at as a step in the right direction.
As we all should know, we live in a capitalist/competitive society. In this type society what you really want is a good education for your child and a lesser education for your neighbor's child. In this way, your child becomes the manager of the Bill's or Wal-Mart and your neighbor's child gets to gather up the shopping carts in the parking lot.
George Will and others tell us that the solution to "poverty" is education. George thinks that we can educate people out of poverty (and teenagers out of pregnancy).
Sure you can educate YOUR child out of poverty. Yes, you can educate A PARTICULAR CHILD out of poverty, but after he/she graduates from poverty, the state or institution of poverty still remains. New lesser educated people move into those poverty positions. As long as there remain places where people do not earn a living wage there will be poverty. If you educate every human being in the entire world but continue to pay people wages on which they are unable to sustain themselves - you will simply have well educated people starving to death in ghettos and slums around this country and the world.
So, is education a good thing? Of course it is.
Should you want a good education for your child? Sure you should. Do you want everybody's child to get an education equal to that of your child?
Well, I suppose you don't really have to worry about that because everybody's children are all not capable of getting a good education. Some of our children will only be qualified to gather the shopping carts in the parking lot no matter how much education we attempt to drive into them. I met an American kid the other day who was so slow, I commented to my wife; “That boy is either severely mentally challenged or he is a very tall two year old.” And what happens to all these type children in America?
Truly, do you want to live in a country or a world where everything is fair or in one where you and yours have a special advantage? I think we all know the answer to that question.
And that special advantage can be inherited wealth or inherited genetic potential and I'm sorry but neither can be considered "fair."
