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High school counselors for mass-funneling students into university. Corporations for demanding college educations for unskilled labor. Creditors for lending to

High school counselors for mass-funneling students into university. Corporations for demanding college educations for unskilled labor. Creditors for lending to young-adults predominantly 18-20 years old. Universities for inflating social experience to the detriment of academic quality and increased tuition. Parents for the cultural peer pressure. Ultimately, I tend to agree with you but I have a hard time criticizing the naive 18-20 year old rather than the multitudes of enablers who allowed this situation to arise. Is it really fair to blame the victim of an elaborate and complex system designed to extract the perfect amount of present and future value from them while leaving them with just enough (or in the extreme case, not enough) to survive? "I've designed the perfect device. It can extract just enough usable meat from a cow while still keeping it alive." -Paraphrase of a quote that I can't attribute at this time. EDIT Actual quote thanks to leetcrew and andygcook: "I invented a device called Burger On The Go, it allows you to obtain 6 regular size hamburger, or 12 sliders, from a horse without killing it."

leetcrew 8y ago
that is a dwight schrute quote, except it's actually about extracting hamburgers from horses.
andygcook 8y ago
Pretty sure you’re referencing this quote from Dwight on the Office: “I invented a device, called Burger on the Go. It allows you to obtain six regular sized hamburgers, or twelve sliders, from a horse without killing the animal. George Foreman is still considering it, Sharper Image is still considering it, SkyMall is still considering it, Hammacher Schlemmer is still considering it. Sears said no.”
rectang 8y ago
No matter how predatory or even fraudulent the lender, in U.S. culture the individual takes the blame in the name of "personal responsibility". After all, if we were to acknowledge that vendors influence consumer choice, uncomfortable ethical questions would arise.
- qeternity 8y ago
  Nobody disputes that people are influenced. But it still comes down the the fundamental right of self determination, which is a pretty core principle in Western Democratic society. It's my right to try to influence you to do something (within reason) and it's your right to do whatever you please.
sys_64738 8y ago
> High school counselors for mass-funneling students into university. I agree with this statement. These people plant ideas in the heads of young people which grow and grow due to the influence they have impressionable kids. Some kid can play a flute so is encouraged to take on unbearable debt to pursue their dream. HS Counsellors are dangerous.

leetcrew 8y ago

that is a dwight schrute quote, except it's actually about extracting hamburgers from horses.

andygcook 8y ago

Pretty sure you’re referencing this quote from Dwight on the Office: “I invented a device, called Burger on the Go. It allows you to obtain six regular sized hamburgers, or twelve sliders, from a horse without killing the animal. George Foreman is still considering it, Sharper Image is still considering it, SkyMall is still considering it, Hammacher Schlemmer is still considering it. Sears said no.”

rectang 8y ago

No matter how predatory or even fraudulent the lender, in U.S. culture the individual takes the blame in the name of "personal responsibility". After all, if we were to acknowledge that vendors influence consumer choice, uncomfortable ethical questions would arise.

qeternity 8y ago
Nobody disputes that people are influenced. But it still comes down the the fundamental right of self determination, which is a pretty core principle in Western Democratic society. It's my right to try to influence you to do something (within reason) and it's your right to do whatever you please.

sys_64738 8y ago

> High school counselors for mass-funneling students into university. I agree with this statement. These people plant ideas in the heads of young people which grow and grow due to the influence they have impressionable kids. Some kid can play a flute so is encouraged to take on unbearable debt to pursue their dream. HS Counsellors are dangerous.