March 4, 2009
Creepy Is as Creepy Does
I've been a little tough of the folks at Reason, especially since I devoted my life to Libertario Delenda Est! (maybe blog friend tg will supply a real translation for me -- "How Many Libertarians??")
But Jacob Sullum hits this out of the park. I cringed when I heard the President say this:
It is our responsibility as lawmakers and educators to make this system work. But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country—and this country needs and values the talents of every American.
The collectivism implicit in this rhetoric is pretty creepy. Evidently all of us have a duty to optimize our educations so we can maximize our earnings and give our country the full benefit of our talents.
Hat-tip: Instapundit
Philosophy Posted by John Kranz at March 4, 2009 8:26 PM
Well, remember that Sullum is a syndicated columnist and published in many other places. He's no mere Reason lackey.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at March 4, 2009 8:58 PMWouldn't it be easier to just ask public high schools to not suck as hard?
They should be producing citizens able to function in "today's modern" society.
But Heaven forbid he would ask more of the government school industrial complex. There are unions to court and money to raise!
Posted by: AlexC at March 5, 2009 1:38 AMJust as "50 is the new 40," college is the new high school. Those who used to get college degrees now have to get a Master's.
David McCulloch's biography of John Adams has a great bit when young John Quincy Adams is disappointed to not be accepted into Harvard. He is 15, speaks Latin, Greek, Russian, French and English, has a solid foundation in Geometry and deep knowledge of the classics. They respectfully ask him to study more and apply next year.
200 years later, with computers, Internet, libraries, and inexpensive transportation and lighting, how many kids come out of Harvard with the education that was insufficient to get our sixth president in?
Posted by: jk at March 5, 2009 10:40 AMKeep in mind that the Progressive agenda here is to erase the distinction between professionals and laborers in the workforce. "Equality" baby.
If they make college education all but compulsory then it will amount to nothing more than grades 13-16 of secondary school. And don't expect them to require anyone to pay for this "education" themselves. We'll do it collectively, through the state.
Posted by: johngalt at March 5, 2009 12:18 PMFinally! Something to distinguish the current regime from past efforts at creating a Glorious Workers' Paradise. There was a time that having an education earned you a trip to the killing fields; now in America, everyone owes it to society to get edumacated.
Snarking aside, a college education is becoming as worthless as a high school education - and don't forget, I'm in California, where the public schools are notorious failures. Over the years, I've interviewed numerous college grads for positions, including over a dozen from my alma mater (UC Berkeley). I've hired one Berkeley grad and rejected the rest from that school as unqualified. Having seen what the public colleges are cranking out, I long for the days of apprenticeships.
JG is right - this trend is doing nothing more than spreading 12 years of a bad education over 16 - or more, given the number of candidates I see that are taking the scenic route and acquiring their BA after a leisurely six or seven years.
Posted by: Keith at March 5, 2009 2:38 PM | What do you think? [5]