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> Yes, but unless I had some damage to my rotator cuff or something I would think it was possible. It would be naive of us to think that we will 'surely" adap

by NTDF9 13y ago

> Yes, but unless I had some damage to my rotator cuff or something I would think it was possible. It would be naive of us to think that we will 'surely" adapt to new skills. Circumstances can mean that you just don't have the ability to do such things anymore. Is it "possible"? sure. But is it going to suck the life out of you? Most likely. Upgrading skills takes time, effort and resources. Most people (even in America) don't have enough of each of those. Look at all these students with $200k debt. They've basically imprisoned themselves for a long time. Even a job that pays $100k (-35% tax -30% living expenses) does not cut it. Acquiring new skills with negative equity makes it harder for most people.

ChuckMcM 13y ago
Just a couple of follow-ups. I see your points but history doesn't agree. People adapt or die, and sometimes adapt and die. Looking at it in the 'small' (which is on an individual anecdote level) vs looking at it in the 'large' which is on a population cohort level. When there are large industrial changes there are employment shifts. That displaces some workers, creates new opportunities which are filled by new workers. After one or two generations of stability the process flattens out. > Look at all these students with $200k debt. This gets thrown around a lot. But it is a red herring. You need to drill down to find students who paid $200K for a worthless education, yes there are some, are they a material subset of all students? No. Look at all the people who were put into mortgages they couldn't afford because the rules were changed to incentivize that. That about pulled down the global financial system (we're still not quite done with that mistake). There is certainly a social justice issue with student debt, providing loans to students to get degrees that are unmarketable. But the 'fix' is to get rid of the debt discharge protection that student loans currently have. Allow the students to declare bankruptcy and dump the obligation, and guess what nobody will loan students $200K to get a fine arts degree. Is that a problem ? I don't know. For schools? Yes, they are already figuring out that they can't sell a diploma for an arbitrary price any more.

by NTDF9 13y ago

ChuckMcM 13y ago

Just a couple of follow-ups. I see your points but history doesn't agree. People adapt or die, and sometimes adapt and die. Looking at it in the 'small' (which is on an individual anecdote level) vs looking at it in the 'large' which is on a population cohort level. When there are large industrial changes there are employment shifts. That displaces some workers, creates new opportunities which are filled by new workers. After one or two generations of stability the process flattens out. > Look at all these students with $200k debt. This gets thrown around a lot. But it is a red herring. You need to drill down to find students who paid $200K for a worthless education, yes there are some, are they a material subset of all students? No. Look at all the people who were put into mortgages they couldn't afford because the rules were changed to incentivize that. That about pulled down the global financial system (we're still not quite done with that mistake). There is certainly a social justice issue with student debt, providing loans to students to get degrees that are unmarketable. But the 'fix' is to get rid of the debt discharge protection that student loans currently have. Allow the students to declare bankruptcy and dump the obligation, and guess what nobody will loan students $200K to get a fine arts degree. Is that a problem ? I don't know. For schools? Yes, they are already figuring out that they can't sell a diploma for an arbitrary price any more.