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tough opinion: As a blue-collar worker, im glad they cant get into college. Im sick of seeing talented kids that can solve difficult problems and work hard, s

tough opinion: As a blue-collar worker, im glad they cant get into college. Im sick of seeing talented kids that can solve difficult problems and work hard, submit themselves to a meatgrinder that promises them wealth and success and instead shackles them to endless debt until theyre dead for a peasant wage at the local burger joint. If the schools tell you to pound sand, come work for us in trade. We need welders, machinists, mechanics, HVAC, plumbers, electricians, and ironworkers. Youll tackle some of the hardest problems and at the end of the day feel like you did something you can be proud of. Our wages wont move you in next to ole Musky, but theyre enough for me to comfortably own a home, a car, and two motorcycles. talk to your guidance councelor or local trade-tech college and ask about the opportunities outside the walls of a college sports team masquerading as an undergrad education.

paulpauper 5y ago
The typical student loan debt is less than a new car and unlike a car pays for itself in the form of higher real wages. It's not as bad as the media hype would suggest. The trades can make good wages but the data suggests college grads make more, even after accounting for student loan debt and have lower rates of unemployment compared to non-grads. The college educated batista trope is not really that accurate.
- seattle_spring 5y ago
  Well put. Anti-college folks act like the only university option out there is $300k for an oil painting degree.
ecf 5y ago
Not a tough opinion, just a flawed one. > I’m glad they can’t get into college. I saw this sentiments a lot with the older workers I was surrounded by when my father put me to work doing manual labor for construction sites during my high school summers. In the same way that college isn’t suited for everyone snd set them up for success, the trades aren’t suited for everyone. Stop being happy to see choice taken away from the younger generation. > We need welders, machinists, mechanics, HVAC, plumbers, electricians, ironworkers. You’ll tackle some of the hardest problems… You sound like a FAANG recruiter trying to make ad-tech sound sexy. The majority of someone’s time in the trade will be spent following poorly planned blueprints led by site supervisors that only care if you can do three days of work in two. > Our wages won’t move you in to Ole Musky, but they’re enough for me to comfortably own a home, a car, a motorcycle The wages also don’t take into account a lifelong career of manual labor that slowly breaks down the human body.
bawolff 5y ago
Umm, nothing against trades but i have trouble imagining that people who are self-taught academics would be happy there. Its not that the problems to solve are any less real, just really different.
anchpop 5y ago
> In recent years, the average college graduate with a bachelor's degree earned $78,000, compared to $45,000 for those with only a high school diploma. This means a typical college graduate earns a premium of well over $30,000, or nearly 75 percent. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2019/06/10/study-finds-college-degree-remains-solid-investment/ https://www.higheredtoday.org/2019/06/10/study-finds-college... You can argue that the effect isn’t causal, it’s just that people who are destined to be high-earners also are the type of people who go to college. This doesn’t seem super unlikely to me, considering in many cases college is literally a socially-accepted 4 year long vacation from all responsibility on daddy’s dime (and subsidized by government loans). If you told me that people who had the means to afford that at 17 made more money in their lifetimes, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. But that’s just a theory and there is something to be said for the “college actually does increase your earning potential” hypothesis, and if it does by even half of that estimate I quoted above, the average in-state tuition would pay itself off in just 5-10 years. It’s not as bad of an investment as some would have you believe
thatcat 5y ago
Those jobs have other arbitrary barriers to entry and if they were more desirable than knowledge work, college grads would be doing them too.

paulpauper 5y ago

The typical student loan debt is less than a new car and unlike a car pays for itself in the form of higher real wages. It's not as bad as the media hype would suggest. The trades can make good wages but the data suggests college grads make more, even after accounting for student loan debt and have lower rates of unemployment compared to non-grads. The college educated batista trope is not really that accurate.

seattle_spring 5y ago
Well put. Anti-college folks act like the only university option out there is $300k for an oil painting degree.

ecf 5y ago

Not a tough opinion, just a flawed one. > I’m glad they can’t get into college. I saw this sentiments a lot with the older workers I was surrounded by when my father put me to work doing manual labor for construction sites during my high school summers. In the same way that college isn’t suited for everyone snd set them up for success, the trades aren’t suited for everyone. Stop being happy to see choice taken away from the younger generation. > We need welders, machinists, mechanics, HVAC, plumbers, electricians, ironworkers. You’ll tackle some of the hardest problems… You sound like a FAANG recruiter trying to make ad-tech sound sexy. The majority of someone’s time in the trade will be spent following poorly planned blueprints led by site supervisors that only care if you can do three days of work in two. > Our wages won’t move you in to Ole Musky, but they’re enough for me to comfortably own a home, a car, a motorcycle The wages also don’t take into account a lifelong career of manual labor that slowly breaks down the human body.

bawolff 5y ago

Umm, nothing against trades but i have trouble imagining that people who are self-taught academics would be happy there. Its not that the problems to solve are any less real, just really different.

anchpop 5y ago

> In recent years, the average college graduate with a bachelor's degree earned $78,000, compared to $45,000 for those with only a high school diploma. This means a typical college graduate earns a premium of well over $30,000, or nearly 75 percent. https://www.higheredtoday.org/2019/06/10/study-finds-college-degree-remains-solid-investment/ https://www.higheredtoday.org/2019/06/10/study-finds-college... You can argue that the effect isn’t causal, it’s just that people who are destined to be high-earners also are the type of people who go to college. This doesn’t seem super unlikely to me, considering in many cases college is literally a socially-accepted 4 year long vacation from all responsibility on daddy’s dime (and subsidized by government loans). If you told me that people who had the means to afford that at 17 made more money in their lifetimes, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. But that’s just a theory and there is something to be said for the “college actually does increase your earning potential” hypothesis, and if it does by even half of that estimate I quoted above, the average in-state tuition would pay itself off in just 5-10 years. It’s not as bad of an investment as some would have you believe

thatcat 5y ago

Those jobs have other arbitrary barriers to entry and if they were more desirable than knowledge work, college grads would be doing them too.