HIGHER ED SCAM EXPOSED IN “COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS”
|| By FITSNEWS || It’s been ages since we’ve paid attention to anything George Will wrote … so we couldn’t tell you where he stands on the pressing issues of the day.
Clearly we should give him another look, though.
The veteran nationally syndicated columnist hit it out of the park with his “2015 Commencement Address.” This unflinching YouTube video examines the sorry state of “higher education” in America – including an extensive treatment of its loan bubble.
But Will’s video (a must watch) goes beyond the mere fiscal unsustainability of our nation’s higher ed scam – he delves into the diminished academic standards and the conformist thinking, too.
He also takes a blunt shot at all the politically correct academic “fads” which dominate contemporary college curricula.
“Those of you who majored in gender studies, or women’s studies, or ethnicity studies, or cinema deconstruction or any other of today’s academic fads, to you I have this advice: When this commencement ceremony is over and you take off your cap and gown, do not bother looking for a job. Instead, go straight to the unemployment office. This university did not equip you to add value to the American economy.”
Wow … YES!
(Click to play)
(Vid: Via)
Brilliant.
83 comments
So you missed his recent piece on capital punishment? In it, he admits that innocent people have been put to death, that it is unfairly administered, and is declining in approval. But the most interesting thing he noted was that conservatives, being advocates for reducing governmental power should be leading the argument against giving government the ultimate power: the power to take a life. Smartest thing he’s ever written outside of his views on the DH.
What is DH? I agree that innocent people have been put to death. Conservatives should be leading the cause, but there are various articles that show that social conservatives are hardcore death penalty. Even on this site, the polls show they favor the death penalty.
DH is that American League abomination known as the “Designate Hitter.” Will fancies himself a baseball historian.
ah ha! Well, I’m no baseball historian, so I don’t feel so stupid now ;)
Sweetheart, you must go to a baseball game soon. Believe it or not a lot of colloquia are derived from baseball terminology.
I should, could, but probably won’t ;)
Go to a Gamecock game. Sorry to say those games are better than the blowfish. Watch a few games on the tele first.
I used to little pp not taking my advice – just a part of being a Mom. But at least you know what DH means now.
And everyone knows the only people who get to have the power to take a life are pregnant women …. Funny how hard it is to take away that kind of power once it has been granted.
I know someone who graduated Dartmouth with a degree in Women’s Studies. She went on scholarships and some out of pocket. She went on to Columbia and is now a neurosurgeon. I hate it when people paint with a wide brush. BS
I guarantee that not one minute of classroom time spent in Women’s Studies resulted in an employable skill. Only by venturing into the Biology and Chemistry departments was she able to salvage an otherwise useless degree.
She picked an easy major so she would have good grades to get in med school. Another form of a scam.
… And the better parties offered undergrads.
And she was successful in med school and is now a neurosurgeon. She the went to Columbia and is employed in a major hospital in New York. She earned her grades and her position. Too bad it doesn’t fit in with the narrative many want to paint for her.
I would question the judgment of a doc who majored in “Women’s Studies”. Thanks, but no thanks – I’ll take another doc to be MY neurosurgeon.
Good for Her! She finally declared a real major.
In addition to the above mentioned, let’s talk about how the apartments around these campuses rip you off. As a parent, you can sign as a guarantor for your student child. You see one page. Many college students are not contract educated and the Guarantor does not get a copy of said apartment/lease contract. These leases around campus are ridiculously expensive. The biggest scam I have yet encountered is the requirement to give a written notice of vacancy. One might assume that you sign a lease for one year and when the year is up, then your contract is over. Read the fine print of the lease agreement some state you must give a written 60 days notice prior to lease expiration or the lease will automatically renew on a monthly basis at the new and significantly, higher rate.
So if you are paying $885 per month, your lease expires the 15th of this month, your rent due is now roughly $1,040. It’s a money racket all the way around.
YES. And why the hell do students have to live in expensive off campus housing? Back in the day we could live in dorms all four years. The reason that is not the case now is bc colleges don’t make enough money on dorms. The real estate is better used for other things.
And it certainly isn’t student parking that we pay for on the FAR side of campus.
Yep. College has become a money making business. The banks and the government benefit.
George is smoking the crack pipe again.
He somehow thinks Colleges are = to technical institutes.
Tell that to recent grads. I don’t know many making a decent living, instead they are burdened with debt.
I’m not harping on the idea that college is expensive and student loans are through the roof. However, when you go to college for a job, you might check out DeVry, or some other job oriented place… Colleges are not designed to teach people how to work. It is about refining oneself. The idea that Women Studies are bad is asinine. George just said, college is for people looking for jobs and then he discounts areas of study comparing them to what he thinks are employable attributes.
I just recently met a couple who had a child that graduated with a degree in Opera. Needless to say the job offers aren’t rolling in.
I personally regretted that I never finished a degree, high GPA, Presidents List, but all over the board in choices – too many great areas to explore. And too busy working. However, I went further in my career than I think most of your college graduates today will.
I have been insistent one of my children get a degree and we certainly have paid through the nose for a degree. In hindsight, which is always 20/20, I think I would have insisted on getting a full time job.
College educations have morphed into something they were not intended to be. Mainly bc the cost has become exorbitant. Parents and students have to step back and question the ROI (return on investment). Is it really
“Colleges are not designed to teach people how to work.”
Your honesty is refreshing, though I don’t have much use for refined people incapable of feeding themselves or paying back what they owe for said refinements. For generations, the vast majority of kids have been told they will amount to nothing without a college education. Wonder who started that notion? I know too any friends and others with college educated kids still living with them and ranting that fast food jobs should pay 15 bucks per hour, refinement indeed.
LOL – tell me how you really feel ;)
There are majors that prepare the student for trades: Engineering, Teaching, Nursing, Accounting…
At one time there was a shortage of nurses in FL and they had a very rigorous/competitive program that upon completion of 2 years of college, you could be a RN. I got admitted, but…. that was very short lived. Once I figured out I faint when people are in pain and no idea if I could overcome it – tossed that idea.
Oddest thing – I never even realized it was making me sick or bothered me in any way, but to see someone in pain gives me tunnel vision, I get hot, the room starts closing in ….and the dots….
I didn’t really choose my career path as much as it chose me. I just did what I was good at and excelled. Didn’t even know I was good for years….lol. True story.
Good story. But you are obviously an exceptional person. Most pp need some training on their resume to get a job.
Thank you for your kind words. You are right most people do. But….there are ways around it. I desperately wanted a job in marketing that was well below my pay range, but required a 4 year degree in marketing. I wanted the experience. They wouldn’t even look at my resume because I had no degree in marketing. I was told I didn’t want to work there (a nice turn down). I put together a large package that contained an unconventional resume, newspaper clippings, pictures, and marketing pieces I had pulled together independently – slipped it under the President of Marketing door at night. The next day I was interviewed and got the job. It was a crappy pay and he was probably right, not the best place to work, but the knowledge and experience I gained in a short period of time – better than 4 years in college. IMHO
And there a lots of unemployed engineers, teachers, nurses, & accountants.
There are. I lean toward Technical/compact training. I had enough credits in high school that I was able to complete my accounting certification and also work a co-op job (no pay initially) right out of high school. That led to my first job in either the County Clerk’s Office or Sheriff’s – I worked both soon after graduation, just don’t remember which came first. Interesting enough I grew up in what was a Democrat state at the time. As soon as I was able to cast my first vote, time to find a new job ;)
Not as many unemployed Women’s Studies majors.
College isn’t for getting a job.
He’d prefer they join the military to keep the war machine fed.
Republicans love dead troops, because they sure don’t like paying for the ones that live.
You mean the registered republicans who give overwhelmingly to charities such as the wounded warrior project? Oh well, don’t let facts get in the way of a trite leftist myth that makes good for a petty barb.
I mean the Republicans that regularly reject spending money on vets that come home with PTSD and other medical problems. The problems that charities like Wounded Warrior Project have to try and make up for, and I assure you those charities can’t help all of them. Republicans like starting wars but don’t like taking responsibility for the soldiers their wars injure.
No Republican has voted against a spending bill that was dedicated solely to caring for wounded troops. That’s just something you read on a left wing website that lacks any substance. The only bills that did not get voted for were ones where Democrats tried to tack on wasteful earmarks that have nothing to do with funding veteran care. That way, once Republicans vote against those bills because of the underhanded agendas attached to them, Democrats can paint the picture that they don’t care about the troops and they rely on people like you to carry that water for them. No Republican would ever veto a bill that truly gave troops what they need. That would be the dumbest thing they could possibly do, as their constituents are overwhelmingly in favor of any spending going to vet care.
There are some vets on Military.com that would disagree. I don’t know a lot about the issue, because I pray I never require veteran healthcare, but seems Graham was defending cuts. I posted links on the Graham article.
Oh I’m sure. Not to belittle any one person, but there are always going to be individuals of all different services that feel shafted on this or that circumstance. I’m referring to the notion that there were specific bills dedicated to funding veteran care that were voted against. That’s different than voting for a cut. There are lots of veterans who lobby for certain cuts because they see non-combat veterans receiving the same monthly stipends as they do, when they have had to deal with all sorts of physical and psychological issues related to combat. No idea if that is Graham’s reason or not. He has been all over the place on all different types of military foreign/domestic spending. I can’t speak for or defend him on anything and most Republican voters wouldn’t either.
Let me see if I can find the article and interested in your views. I care not for Vet benefits personally at this point in my life. I’m relying on that about as much as Social Security – if it’s there, I feel it is a benefit that should I need it (may the heavens forbid need) I will use it. But Graham is all over the board. Increase forces and cut benefits – just as he is retiring.
Quit begging.ALL of us have served our country.WE are teachers,doctors,nurses etc…most of us have served our families as responsible and loving parents.
IF you served, you are NO better than me! Raise your damn family and shut the fuck up!
I am raising my family. My service is over. Why don’t you take your own advice and get on with your life?
Ignore Flip. He is clearly an angry old man with nothing better to do.
““To take away from those who have gone the long term — the ones we need to go long term – to give to those who are one-and-done, will have a significant effect on the all-volunteer force,” Frank predicted.”
Read more: http://militaryadvantage.military.com/2015/02/graham-defends-pay-commission-after-hearing-its-critics/#ixzz3c3HDuIFQ
MilitaryAdvantage.Military.com
Here are some of the comments from current veterans:
“Sen. Lindsey Graham How dare you take away from those that served to protect you!! get off your duff and go to the front lines, go to the hospital see what they gave up for YOU!! My husband is DEAD because of people like you. I lost my home because the military would not help him. Veterans Affairs is a huge crock of crapola. You should be giving up things not the military! You live on a budget the average retired military person lives on. I imagine you live in a huge house drive a nice car or have a driver to drive you. I will make you a deal you come to where I live for and live off what I have and see how you like knowing the average retired military person lives below the poverty line can’t pay for their meds. can’t afford the niceties or the luxuries which you have those who want to cut military benefits should be charged with murder because that is what you will be doing. The cost of living is going up and you want to take away. Start with your self not the ones who have lost so much spouses children arms legs eyesight hearing worst of all support, Like I said you come live off my budget and see how you do”
and
I fail to understand, I guess, why the people on Capital Hill always want to help the military with their retirement plans. What’s wrong with the current plan? I know our budget has problems but why does the military service member have to be the one to give up their benefits to help the budget. After all we are the ones who do duty to ensure the ones on Capital Hill have the funds to provide for all the programs they want. What rules do elected officials have for retirement, should theirs be better then the ones who fight, get wounded and even die so we can have the freedoms we have in America.
SFC, USA (Ret.) served 1975-2002″
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say I personally believe a some of that PSTD is BS. I receive notifications – I think they find you by social and I’m glad they do. But….I was attached to a hospital unit. Was it horrible? Hell yes! Did I suffer any PSTD or any symptoms due to the oil smoke? None that I am aware of. That was what ’92?
Yet, there are many claims and many follow ups on some PSTD among other disorders. I throw them in the trash. Should I need care one day and not be able to afford it, well, I might end up at that VA hospital, but I am of the opinion, for those I served with – it is grossly exaggerated. My comment in no way reflects opinion of those who were on the front lines living in trenches, but those attached to a hospital, which is not necessarily safe, but certainly not front lines.
The biggest complaint seems to come from where he set the oil well on fire and endless smoke. Some have side effects? I’m not trying to diminish their claims, but those claims started almost immediately.
It’s a difficult decision in cases like that. But when you have military members who need limbs, blood, whatever to keep them alive – that takes precedence IMO.
The rest is smoke and mirrors (pun).
I would agree with the PTSD part. That’s one of the things I was referring to. There were many cases of non-combat officers being “diagnosed” with PTSD due simply to suffering from nothing more than homesickness. Those who actually were in combat saw these individuals go home and not work (even though they were able) because the stipends they received were just enough to get by.
Exactly! I heard the whiners day after day. I said very little if anything, no one knew my situation. I kept a smile on my face until the war was over. I had been the face of optimism, encouraging everyone to keep up the faith, visiting the hospital in my free time. My stories about the whiners could go on and on.
When the war ended, I had a baby back home I desperately wanted to see, but had kept mostly to myself so as not to drag anyone else down. No one realized I had a legitimate case of hardship until the war was over. They wanted to leave me on clean up crew and keep me on active duty for extended period of time. I am sure they thought they were doing me a favor, they were kind to me. My Commanding officer mentioned that to me after I had plans to go home. For the first time, tears clouded my eyes and with all due respect, I requested to be on one of the first planes out, whatever seat available.
He was surprised, used to seeing that daily smile on my face. I was on one of the first planes out, even if I had to ride a jump seat. It was Spring break and they could only get me to I think PA. I had no money, no license on me. I took it. I got to PA and waited on standby for a flight to Tallahassee, FL – a couple hours and half from where my child was. I got on the standby flight, no one to meet me and no ride from Tallahassee to Panama City. Luck have it, I was still smiling, I was on my way home. The passenger next to me, was also going to Panama City. I rode back with a complete stranger, who later became my friend.
When I got home, not so happy with military pay/benefits. In fact, so unhappy, I never picked up ANY of my awards. I resigned. But …. I still have a great deal of respect for the true soldiers and I met many.
Have you considered spending time with your SIX year-old daughter? How in the hell do you have the time to blog 24/7 on Fits DAY after DAY and raise a child? We raised three and barley had enough time to lay a head on our pillow at night.
Apparently you had so many problems ya didn’t/don’t have FULL custody of that gift from God.Hard for a mother to lose that right.
You appear so angry with your ‘lot’ in life you have apparently forgotten you are a MOTHER first.Hate those you served with and the military.We are all sorry you don’t feel your benefits are what they should be. Such is life.
However please go spend some time with that child.It goes so fast.
I’ve considered many things. Just not you.
Even as I type this msg. I am cooking a late night snack for my daughter. We had dinner, I commented while cooking. Care to know what we had? You seem so interested in my life, maybe you want to know I laid out for breakfast: “fresh” sausage from a local farm for breakfast, that I will cook and likely type at the same time. I know multi-tasking isn’t important in your world, but even a mother needs an outlet.
LMAO! You have been posting since the early morning hours.12 PLUS hours.
Have at it. How sad. My last word on it.
Time the posts in reference to the day and do consider I have a husband. I’ll be happy to type a list of accomplishments I made outside this site if that will satisfy you – but you are never satisfied. You are so full of hate and anger it will surely eat you alive.
Wimp!
No.I feel sorry for you…humiliating yourself like this.I don’t believe a damn word you post however still feel sorry for you…you ain’t right ‘upstairs’.
Best of luck.
If you really want to tango without getting tangled GT. You might enjoy this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic4PQ-tnwJw
You are so damn funny.14 fucking hours on the computer and not a damn minute for your daughter.
Night.tangoed out with a delinquent parent.
I just looked at my records – pathetic I even listened to you – you lie. Nite Dr. Phil. May your dreams be as sweet as SNYTwist!
you are pathetic
Maybe Miss Lindsey suffers PTSD from her times of service in the Middle East.
Would explain a lot.
Vets don’t receive the best treatment because they have to signup for ObamaCare. Imagine not only not receiving the Obama promises but not even receiving the expensive treat ObamaCare offers!
Wondering where you learned that?
… at least then they would learn a useful trade.
Try to find a job when you get our having been an infantryman or artilleryman — in other words, the guys who do the fighting.
Look, if a GI can come out and be able to hit a target, repeatedly with reasonable accuracy, He or She could find work as a starting machinist for one.
Easier said than done. I know several.
Will,
Since I publicly said somethings indirectly about/to you via this site, that I now regret, instead of sending you some cheap msg/email apologizing – I want to apologize publicly.
I think I have narrowed it down to the nitwit who wants to mess with me and they likely gathered my information from political contributions.
Please accept my apology. Not sure if you read these comments, but hope Carl or someone passes the information on. Please forgive.
Weren’t you like a poly sci major or something? Masters in communications?
hahahaha
Are you referring to Will? I think he majored in History/Philosophy?
Well, E – you obviously weren’t an English major.
hahahaha
Weren’t you like a poly sci major… ?
Easy now, Hoss.
*Gets back to work*
Care for fries and a drink with that, sir?
“I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematicks and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, musick, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelaine.”
John Adams, Letter to Abigail Adams, May 12, 1780.
Very refreshing. And I believe he means it!
Fits today: Colleges don’t teach you anything, charge too much, puts students in debt, and should probably be shut down.
Fits yesterday: Charleston School of Law, a law school that doesn’t teach its students anything, charges too much, and puts students in debt should stay open.
Sic, you definitely should be keeping tabs on George. He’s a brilliant writer and I’ve often thought his perspective was quite valuable. I don’t always agree with him, but he admits openly that he’s become libertarian-ish over the years.
Disappointed in George.He has become a liberal on most issues.
Still appreciate his love of baseball.
He’s a brilliant writer
——–
His shtick is his glasses, and that New York drawl.
Q: Two little potatoes stand on the street corner. One is a prostitute. How can you tell which one is the prostitute?
A: It’s the one with the little sticker that reads: “I-DA-HO.”
The federal government needs to set about repairing this problem. Congress needs to go on the offensive against the academia industrial complex. End all federal subsidies encouraging runaway price inflation and start taxing the heck out places like Harvard, whose endowment is so big the interest alone could pay all student tuition twice over. Make federal research grant money inversely proportional to tuition.
College has become nothing but a sinkhole of debt and subsidy temporarily housing quasi-alcoholics while they await whatever shitbox cube farm call center job they can get at graduation. (AFLAC! quack) People are carrying student debt into their 60s because no one wants to jump off the gravy train and tell people the truth. No, you are not brilliant or talented. No, everyone should not go to college. No, you will never make 7 figures doing things you learned at the University of Humping Drunks. Yes, debt is extremely risky. Only a very narrow set of careers provide enough ROI to justify student loans, and if you are savy enough to know what they are, chances are you are smart enough to avoid debt in the process. Todd rant /off.
Never drop the con, never break – die with the lie.
“” He also takes a blunt shot at all the politically correct academic “fads” which dominate contemporary college curricula.
“Those of you who majored in gender studies, or women’s studies, or
ethnicity studies, or cinema deconstruction or any other of today’s
academic fads, to you I have this advice: When this commencement
ceremony is over and you take off your cap and gown, do not bother
looking for a job. Instead, go straight to the unemployment office.
This university did not equip you to add value to the American
economy.” “”
Pretty sure that includes PolySci majors too Will