The College Conspiracy?

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Scifi

Scifi

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This is amazing. I've been reading about this student loan crisis for a couple years. Its worse than when I went to college (late 70's and 1980's).

The College Conspiracy - Full.


I got a BS in chemistry in 1982. Things are worse now.

Chemists React to Worst Unemployment Data in 40 Years

Where the Hell Are the Science Jobs?!

Three million open jobs in U.S., but who's qualified?

Overeducated and Unemployed
http://www.capitalchemist.org/2015/03/overeducated-and-unemployed/
 
Catch 22. Scientists develop ways for people to have more children, and keep them living longer. Engineers develop machines that take the place of hundreds of workers. The better the machines, the more workers they can replace. So when many of these people can't go to work, they stay home and have more kids. Vicious circle.
 
All things considered, college isn't the only way to secure a good living, particularly in today's job market and the availability of H1-B workers.

While not commanding the "status" of a fancy degree, the trades can provide a pretty good living if one is willing to wok and get their hands dirty. HVAC techs can do quite well here and how long can you go without a working toilet or no electricity? There are others as well but those three just spring to mind.

This is another option of which too few companies are availing themselves.

http://tucson.com/business/local/st...cle_900c80b8-97cd-59b0-8b33-24f60cb15afc.html
 
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the skipper said:
While not commanding the "status" of a fancy degree, the trades can provide a pretty good living if one is willing to wok and get their hands dirty. HVAC techs can do quite well here and how long can you go without a working toilet or no electricity? There are others as well but those three just spring to mind.
Click to expand...

So true, I work in hvac and there is a major employee shortage. Guys can make $80k no problem but you have to work! Guys can't grow their business due to lack of qualified personnel
 
SuperjazzyJa said:
They're even working on making self driving vehicles, including BIG TRUCKS! :yikes::mad::wtf:
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Big trucks, big airliners, ships, trains etc. Then on the heals will be doctors etc. The 21st century will see the complete unemployment of mankind by machinery. What will everyone do then? How will capitalism survive this?
 
Plumbers! You gotta have plumbing and robots can't fix it. Can Watson unclog a drain? We're also a long ways from self repairing robots, so robot mechanics will be needed for quite a while. Cops and soldiers aren't going away unless crime and wars do.
 
ConradH said:
Plumbers! You gotta have plumbing and robots can't fix it. Can Watson unclog a drain? We're also a long ways from self repairing robots, so robot mechanics will be needed for quite a while. Cops and soldiers aren't going away unless crime and wars do.
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Yes, shit will still flow downhill and payday on Friday, at least for a while. Same with electricians as they spend their final employed years energizing automated machines that will put untold millions out of work.

Don't mean to be such a downer but what does a young person do about this stripping away of human usefulness in mass? I'm retired and if I start to feel useless I could tackle a multitude of half finished projects around the house but I think if I was a young person in today's world I would find my niche in the arts somehow. All the "higher paying" careers are targets for either outsourcing, off shoring, or automation elimination.
 
Alobar said:
Big trucks, big airliners, ships, trains etc. Then on the heals will be doctors etc. The 21st century will see the complete unemployment of mankind by machinery. What will everyone do then? How will capitalism survive this?
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The rich and powerful have ways. The rest of us, not so much.
 
SuperjazzyJa said:
They're even working on making self driving vehicles, including BIG TRUCKS! :yikes::mad::wtf:
Click to expand...
Sorry to say, but they've already got 'em. When I took my air brakes course, they showed us a promotional video from Volvo showing their latest big rig being put through its paces ... with no driver! The instructor told us we had maybe a five year window if we were looking to drive big trucks for a living.
 
SuperjazzyJa said:
They're even working on making self driving vehicles, including BIG TRUCKS! :yikes::mad::wtf:
Click to expand...
There was a group of Science Fiction stories in Analog Magazine about "Future: (near future) " truck drivers and management's attempts to supplant human drivers with 2 legged 2 arm robot drivers, by Paul Carlson (March 2011)
We are outstripping science fiction in some respects.
 
noogies said:
Sorry to say, but they've already got 'em. When I took my air brakes course, they showed us a promotional video from Volvo showing their latest big rig being put through its paces ... with no driver! The instructor told us we had maybe a five year window if we were looking to drive big trucks for a living.
Click to expand...
How long ago was this?
 
No offense to anyone who is in this situation, but taking out large student loans to get a degree in something like art appreciation where there are no jobs is not the brightest thing to do. There are tons of people that owe tens of thousands of dollars for degrees that are useless. Student loans should only be granted for degrees that provide jobs that are needed in this country and the recipient will have the ability to repay. Not everyone needs a college degree to have a good job. Technical schools and training provide lots of good jobs. We will always need plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc. Just think ahead and use a little common sense before you take that big step.
 
HTHMAN said:
No offense to anyone who is in this situation, but taking out large student loans to get a degree in something like art appreciation where there are no jobs is not the brightest thing to do.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this is the residual effect of the time when a college education in ANYTHING would get you a job. And big name private college degrees don't always carry the weight they used to.
 
I never got a college loan, so I don't have one of these debts hanging over my head. I lived with my father until I was 39 when he died from lung cancer. I still live in the same house. I've lived in it since 1961. A lot of people thought I was a bum for living at home that long. Also, a lot of people thought I was inferior when I worked in construction, especially other construction workers. Now, I have a desk job and have the illusion of having a professional job. I never had a mortgage and I don't pay rent. My house is paid off and I'm worth over a million dollars, thanks to no mortgage and no rent, plus the stock market. If I listened to half the criticism against me, I wouldn't be as successful as I am now. I might have even gone bankrupt if I listened to people who tell me I have to live like everyone else. At least people stopped asking me if I'm a homosexual because I've been single all my life.
 
The whole push to get people in college has been boon for the credit industry. So there's one aspect of the whole thing.
If we look at the education system as a means to funnel laborers into the workforce at a regular rate, but humans are being replaced by automated systems, then college is a perfect way of slowing the rate at which we enter the workforce.
I keep telling my kids that they'd better have a clear destination in mind before they hit college!
 
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