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An equivalent of a college education is necessary for any sort of interesting job. The question is whether you what to be broke and working crappy jobs in 5~10 years... Its okay though, someone needs to cook the fries, waste the dishes, work the cashier, etc.
Or be a mechanic, or be a welder, or be a plumber, or any other number of skilled labor jobs which are in demand and are recession resistant and pay well and require only trade school...
Nothing is as funny as a Yuppie looking his nose down on the "commoners"...until his car breaks down and he needs one of those "commoners" to fix it, and, nine times out of ten, the commoner makes more then he does!
I strongly believe the sooner you come to your senses and realize that mocking people can't be your whole life, the happier you'll be. Also, someone's gotta tell you this, buddy: if you can't pass algebra, you're probably just not that bright. Better to admit that and find something else to do instead of living in some alternate reality where you're a misunderstood genius that sees the error of everyone else's ways.
Math is one subject and one subject only. Trust me...I annotate the Gnostic Gosples in my free time and wrote a twenty page essay on Das Kapital in High School that my history used for another class she was teaching. I never claimed nor elluded to being a genius, only that I know what I know.
Also, I am not saying anything about "everyone else's ways", only pointing out that passing college does not necessarily mean someone is a genius on everything. Reading comprehension is something that should be taught in schools once more...
There are smart people that have the ability to absorb and understand the subject matter. But that does not mean they know all about all things. But it more than often means they can learn many subjects easier than the average person. Many of us find a particular subject just built for the way are brains are wired. Those are the people we find in the top, in any given subject. They just found the fit to be perfect in there area of expertise. But to call some one an idiot when some subject comes up and they are unable to speak as if they know everything about it, only means they may not have studied about that or even cared to know about it.
I call someone an idiot when they claim to know everything because they have a degree and call me "ignorant" because I do not have a degree and yet know more about the topic in question then they do because I have studied it outside of a college setting.
Not quite. There are plenty of rap stars who have enough money to be considered Bourgeoisies and yet, they do not get the respect or acceptance the "Yuppies" get. Money is not all that makes someone a part of "high society."
To quote myself "No, money is a relatively small piece of the picture...".
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
Materialism sucks.
Having money does not make you materialistic. In fact there is a bit of irony here, the people with money usually have it because...ahem, they are not out spending it all the time on material goods. It is the lower social classes to not only spend every extra dime to their name on crap, but also max out credit cards to purchase "things".
To prove your point though, get rid of all your things. Get rid of your clothes and ware a potato sack every day.
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
Not at all. Someone can always, as some people I have known, walk away from "high society" and go live in the ghetto.
You think changing where you live changes how you were raised and who you are? Not even close.
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
It is hard for someone to "left themselves up" into "high society", but that is what maistream American culture seems to be pushing people to do.
No, middle-class culture tries to mimic the upper-class. In reality they do a very bad job of it. They do not really believe they are upper-class, they usually are not even conscious that their tastes are highly dependent on mimicry.
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
It's not enough to have a little shop or be a happy monk or something, one HAS TO have the car, the McMansion, the trophy wife name "Patricia" three kids and a dog.
This is middle-class culture...
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
...thinking that the next promotion, the next big McMansion or the next new car will make one eternally happy? This makes on a Yuppie
This is mainstream upper middle-class culture, its not a "subculture". You are a part of a subculture, not them. Anyhow, you are conflating "yuppie" with upper-class. Harvard is not filled with yuppies.
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
The purpose of the modern University in America is to turn a person into a drone in the Vast Machine.
So punk rock dude....
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
The only college graduates I have met who are not office workers or doctors or something are the kind who decided to just smoke pot and be "slackers" after college.
Oh yeah? You do realize this says more about the groups of people you are hanging out with than college graduates in general right? Lets face it, you are not around the bright successful college graduates. They are not going to go where you and your friends hang out. You don't realize what a polluted sample the people around you are....people surround themselves with people like them. That is the point of your subculture....
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
The vast majority of people who go from college to the cubicle live grim existinces for a long, painful life until they die at which point the realize how horrable life as been for them.
Your fixation on cubicles is neurotic. It does not matter whether your workspace is in a cubicle, a private office, your home, etc. What matters is what you do in that workspace. In your world a game designer has a worse job than a gardener because he may work in a cubicle!
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
Also..."grim existince"? What the hell does that mean? Heck, someone happily living off of nine dollars an hour with no debts, no fat wife, and no worries who still loves life is not a "grim existince" by any measure.
It means just what it suggests. Their existence is grim, they themselves are not happy. They have no money, no savings, no security, no ability to retire, nothing. They are slaves, who gain what little happiness they can by hanging out at clubs over the weekend.
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
I suppose those Zen monks in the other video also live a "grim existince" devoid of Tivo, Martha Steward, a SUV and all the other things "necessary" for a happy existince?
How many times have you been to Asia? Let me guess...zero. Monks like religious leader in our own society live off the community. They live relatively well, because their communities support them. Monks are no more holy than Pastors/Priests in our own society. You have a made for TV (err...youtube) view of monks and Buddhism.
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
Or 3) they just like working with their hands better! Are you really telling me that those guys who do custom autos are "ignorant of other options available to them?" Did it ever accur to you that maybe they just like working with cars?
I said "hard labor", building custom cars is hardly hard labor. Its dynamic work that changes day to day.
This has nothing to do with "working with your hands". Going to college does not mean you'll be working in an office.
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
But yes, if one does not want to be a Yuppie, then one is mentally ill...
In your world there is punk rock subculture and then yuppie. You don't see anything else, yet there is a lot else in the world. You can continue to live a sheltered existence or you can start to expand your experiences and your world view.
Or be a mechanic, or be a welder, or be a plumber, or any other number of skilled labor jobs which are in demand and are recession resistant and pay well and require only trade school...
Nothing is as funny as a Yuppie looking his nose down on the "commoners"...until his car breaks down and he needs one of those "commoners" to fix it, and, nine times out of ten, the commoner makes more then he does!
User ID did say "an equivalent of a college education" - all of these skilled labor jobs that you describe do take training above and beyond high school.
Or be a mechanic, or be a welder, or be a plumber, or any other number of skilled labor jobs which are in demand and are recession resistant and pay well and require only trade school...
Again, this is just a class issue. You seem to have little idea what sorts of jobs are out there beyond those typical of your social class. I was little different when I was a teenager.
Most skilled labor jobs are uninteresting, in fact the ones that are more interesting (e.g., mechanic) require just as much education as most degree programs. The top mechanics at a shop are rather educated in what they do, you don't get these jobs by going to a trade school for a year either.
Anyhow, if you want to do these things go for it. I would be surprised that you'd get far with your attitude but go for it. There is no need to complain endlessly about college though.
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Originally Posted by victorianpunk
Nothing is as funny as a Yuppie looking his nose down on the "commoners"...until his car breaks down and he needs one of those "commoners" to fix it, and, nine times out of ten, the commoner makes more then he does!
I'm about as far from a yuppie as you can get. I can also fix my own car, do my own plumbing, etc. I learned all of this stuff when I was a kid, I had two grandpas that built houses, took wood/metal shop from 7th to 12th grade, years of auto shop etc When I say these jobs are mostly uninteresting, I'm speaking from experience with them. I did this sort of work before I started college, my last job at a machine job was rather motivational. It was rather boring and to make it worse on each work order I'd see the invoice. Knowing you are getting paid $100 bucks to do a job that your boss is making $2000 on...gets you thinking.
Also, the people in these trades in no sense make more on average than college grades. The low end of the pay scale is pretty bad actually...it is only the really good ones that get paid well.
Or be a mechanic, or be a welder, or be a plumber, or any other number of skilled labor jobs which are in demand and are recession resistant and pay well and require only trade school...
Nothing is as funny as a Yuppie looking his nose down on the "commoners"...until his car breaks down and he needs one of those "commoners" to fix it, and, nine times out of ten, the commoner makes more then he does!
My husband is an engineer and not only fixes our cars, appliances and anything else that breaks and he has also worked roofing houses. On weekends he plays in a band. He's not much of a reader except for financial and Science magazines. He graduated summa *** laude from college. The only time college is ever talked about is in regards to sports.
I am extremely irritated at being put in a certain box because of your prejudices and continual generalizations. Every single person has their own hopes and dreams. For a lot of people, those dreams do not involve earning a pile of money. For most of us adults, jobs are just a small part of who we are, as is our educational background.
Everyone who goes to college does not work in an office. One of my close friemds is an archaeologist who spends about 85% of her time covered in dirt, in a third world country. Yes she does spend some time in an office, but she sees it as a break.
I went to college and am by no means a yuppie, in I can only think of a hand full of people who fit in that group.
And the idea that only rich people go to Ivy league schools is ignorant. My friend J. was born and raised in Waterbury,CT, a city that is always broke and so-so schools. Her parents were immigrants from Puerto Rico who worked hard to send her to a Catholic HS, where she worked her butt off and got a FULL Scholarship to Princeton. She also has a heart of gold and is one of the sweetest people you could ever meet.
I don't think you are ignorant because you didn't go to college, I think that you are ignorant because of your views about people who got to college. They are unfounded and biased, on your experiences with a few people.
I read the whole of the OP's rant. I don't get what the big deal is here. College will not necessarily make you smart? Is that really a revelation to anyone? Is it also suddenly a secret that the subject of college brings out class and prestige issues?
I don't think anyone has a problem with the header itself - it was the unfounded rantings, assertions, and assumptions in the subject body (and in his following posts) that got people worked up.
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