Unintended results. Everyone having a degree makes it tougher due to competition. I say get you masters now cuz that's next as a minimum for a job. I saw the writing on the wall in 1998 when I started my Master's. Best decision I made. I would not have the job I have now without it.

and because of those advanced degrees, they all have secure, well-paying jobs with employers who still even provide pension plans.

I consider motivating them and providing partial financial support to get grad. degrees to be one of the most important things I did as a single parent.

Best value/return on tuition cost was the daughter who was able to move back home with me, and get an MBA from a well regarded university in an accelerated 10 month program. Yes, everyone had student loans, but made enough to be able to live decently and pay them off in about 5 years.

Caveat: keep the hella away from law schools. I went to law school at age 40 - and subsequently taught at one for a couple of years back in the 90's. Even then there was a surplus of law grads and it's gotten so bad that recent grads (unless from a top tier school PLUS having a family connection to a firm or corporation) are lucky to be making $20 an hour, with no benefits, working as what is called a "contract" lawyer. That involves being in a warehouse size room with other contract lawyers, each with their own card table, folding metal chair and computer, doing document review. Timed bathroom breaks. Of course, their work is billed out at $200 an hour or more. And that, kiddies, is how $$$ are siphoned up to the One Percent. Ain't America great!!!???!!!

Anyone going to a 2nd or 3rd tier law school (probably anything outside of the top 15 or 20) without having most or all of their way paid has very little hope of paying off their loans in a livable way.

That was brilliant. I think you are right about law school.

and not able to get a job. Like you I went back to school and got a BA, followed by a Master's in Education. Good luck with that, can't get a job anywhere, just turned 59. I'm in the "sharing economy", Uber and Lyft. Uber is the worst, they reduce rates, they're more than a dollar less a mile than Taxis, they don't offer a tip option on the app. The passengers I take are the up and coming 1%'ers, who don't tip, though you get them there safely, etc. They think rating me a 3 or 4 is okay, they don't understand that Uber will deactivate me if my rating falls under a 4.7. I should receive a 5, if I get you to your destination safely, the car is clean and I pick you up relatively quickly and I don't take a round about route.

When the routes are handed out for the night, nobody wants the "Wealthy route"

I can't believe that people give you a 3 or 4. That's just some nasty shit.

4 out of 5 was an 80%, low B. A 4.7 was about an 86 or a high B, low A. And Uber deactivates you on this rating. I'm not sure their "whiz bang" staff ever figured that one out.

AND they don't tip? What's their fucking problem?

I don't know what kind of requirements UBER/LYFT places on drivers, but it seems to me you have nothing to lose by telling your customers exactly what you just stated in your post. Point out that you picked them up relatively quickly, your vehicle was clean, you took the shortest/quickest route and you delivered them safely. Tell them that is the standard for a rating of 5, and if your ratings fall below 4.7, you'll be effectively fired (deactivated).

As a great therapist I went to many years ago said to me - don't be shy or afraid to ask people for help. All they can do is say "no", and people have a hard time doing that face to face. I followed that philosophy successfully in court when I made motions to judges. I was never afraid of them. The worst they could do to me was say "Motion denied." Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I think a lot of the employers' rating systems are similar. Anything below a perfect/highest score and they use it as justification to give no raises, demand more unpaid hours, skip bonuses, and generally demean employees. I always give whatever the highest rating is - even if service was just average.

Good luck to you in the coming year. I hope it's a better one for you - and me, too!

to go "where the jobs are," even with the Masters. In some fields, such as teaching, the market is overcrowded in many areas . A Masters is pretty much a necessity to be hired. A PHD (and I'm talking public, secondary schools here) is the safest bet if you already have a job; but Catch 22: good luck with being hired at the extra salary you'll require. No, you can't work for a lesser salary even if you'd be willing. Ironically private schools have long paid only a pittance.

And $ome on thi$ board will get their pant$ in a twi$t over that!

(But not me!)

It was not the GOP.

It was the Democratic Party's answer to blue collar workers when Reaganomics made it easy to ship the jobs to slave labor countries.

Almost all the voices who objected then are quiet now. They have either given up or been neutralized thanks to their own personal shortcomings.

Now we have the GOP who wants to tell us who to blame (gays, blacks, mexicans, muslims, liberals, planned parenthood, atheists, single moms, geezers...... take your pick) and we have the majority of the Democratic Party telling us they can fix it with more spending.

Martin and Hillary both have some ideas I really like, and some things Bernie wants I don't agree with 100%. But he's the only one calling attention to the fact we were sold a bill of goods on more than one front. What he can actually get done in this political atmosphere is up for grabs but at least he's starting at a place of airing the laundry so to speak.

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job to India (again) for not making good career choices. They'll honestly tell them to take out more loans and go learn the current hot field of the political moment which is already on its way to Asia as we speak thanks to TPP. Then they'll say TPP is necessary to improve life in Asia and punctuate the absurdity by calling you xenophobic for disagreeing.

But they'll never discuss the root of the problem because it exposes the fallacy of their conservative ideology and makes Wall Street donors uncomfortable.

edited for clarity (hopefully).

Asking the hoi polloi to map their futures and blaming them for not doing so when business professionals and pundits can't even begin to name what occupations we should be "retraining" for pretty much defines conservative pretzel logic.

I still remember being a teen and being aghast at the claim that de-industrialization was a good thing because we'd all have college degrees and high-paying carre-uhs as professionals.

It's been known for a long time that there's a mismatch between degrees awarded and degrees needed, between the level of education achieved and the level of education needed.


Too many humanities and social science BAs and MAs.

Shortage of 2-year and certificate-wielding skilled workers, unless there's a hearty recession going on.

Too many high-school grads (with no real post-secondary training).

And far, far too many high-school drop-outs.


At the same time, we love the idea of an interconnected world--but this has a downside. The steel industry died in the 1970s because it went with mass production of fairly low-tech steels. Europe went with designer steels and China went with mega-production of low-tech steels. There was no niche for US steel in the volumes that had been produced. Granted, there were government subsidies to business across both oceans, but in the US we had either liberal capitalism or liberal anti-corporatist thinking (watch the definition shift for "liberal" to avoid whiplash) that made that kind of public-private partnership evil.

The race to the bottom would have started before it was big enough for Reagan to think it needed a little help.

Thanks for the reminder....... important factoids I'd forgotten over time.

Happy Holidays

I remember in the 90's how the mantra was "we don't need manufacturing jobs; everybody can work as a programmer"! And I'm thinking, "huh"? I was working as a programmer, and I was working with people who would probably be better off doing something else, and you're telling me everybody can be a programmer? Stupidest thing I had ever heard, at least before that. I've heard many stupider things since then.

This would be a good question to ask at this places sister site though. Be interesting to see how certain types try to justify it.

Been living it.

Peace

. . . that loss of income/wealth to the wealthy (via teh evil taxationz!!!) will somehow disincentivize them, but lowering or eliminating the minimum wage on the poor (or replacing them with a kiosk) will somehow motivate them to improve their lot in life.

P.S.: If they ask how are poor people supposed to better themselves when they don't have the means to afford improvement, just give them the finger and say "because REASONS!"

Remember to say this with a completely straight face.

wish I had your gift.



Cher

There are thousands of conspiracies to deprive the Middle/Working Class of their money.
They are called "Corporate Board Meetings", and there are thousands every single day.
So for those who poo-poo "Conspiracy Theories"....wake the fuck UP!

Why the Systemic Corruption?

The money is good.

Step into a thread and quietly drop something that totally blows me away! Ok, more reading material for my list. Will I ever catch up, probably not. In any case I'll do my best because I want to understand how we are being 'handled' by the PTB.

Happy holidays Octafish and thank you!

If the wealthy could automate or offshore/inshore/volunteer every position except their own, so long as they kept their ostentatious fortunes intact, they'd do it.

Not a single Wal-Mart employee would lose their job. Someone else would buy or inherit their shares and no one would know the difference. That's how important the "job creators" are.

start with a free 2 yr degree in the area of your choice and then transfer to your ivy league school of choice with financed by school/gov....for the remaining 2 yrs....coming out with tada....almost free post secondary 4yr degree....thanks obama....thanks hrc....

We used to be able to attend a 4 year State University
and graduate Debt FREE if willing to work a part time job.
This was the NORM, not the exception...and extended into Graduate School.

If we had a Political Party that represented the Middle/Working Class, we could have that again....easily.

yes, true, in the past...in some states true in the present under certain conditions....agree ...that over time this has gradually gone away.....and agree we had the middle class tax base and the wealthy donors to support it in the past....as well as the job growth in the past to support the number of graduates needing jobs...and cheaper housing /cost of living with rising pay.... no one political party can snap it's fingers and "make it all better" however the team to come up with the best over all plan for now and the future based on the here and now and not the markers of the past....nothing about our world now is like the past...so really it's the team that can come up with the most supportable sustainable plan...for the here and now...trying to our country is so different from it's past and we need new answers for a new country...when people talk about the past that is tea party gop rightwing talk....you know women have it better now than in the past more opportunities for minorities as well....so I would not go back to the past....the good ol days were even more discriminatory tho the GOP has brought back bigotry of all kinds with a vengence.... cheers maggie

A few candidates for public office talk about it. Sure doesn't happen here in Wisconsin. And if you can't get into at Ivy League school, you too can pay $50-$100k for your BA or BS at a state school.

for residents....some states had free four year in the past and don't anymore...my state is starting free 2yr....many many highschoolers can now accelerate, graduate hs at 16 and get a 2yr by 18 in my state because of this....that means many many young people will now have 2yrs of college with a 2yr degree for free.....I think when you are looking at the economic underclass in my state that is a huge leap in the right direction....between 18 and 20 they will come out with an employable skill and 2 yrs of post hs education with out having to pay for it....

It's coming sooner then we think. The idea that everyone needs a college education is horrible. But because we sold that crap, now without college you are stuck with working at very few places. Who started that everyone needs a college education nonsense anyway?

two year degrees come in many varieties...the medical, technical fields etc etc....better to enter a great 4 yr with a two year degree....the first two years of a four year are spent drinking and doing nothing anyway for thousands of dollars a year....why not get a technical degree and go to a four year to complete ?

But I am talking other places. Even the federal government wants a bachelors degree for majority of jobs where before a high school degree was fine and to advance you need a masters degree. I am just concerned about education level versus jobs really needing them.

underclass needs a place to start....a free cc education allows young kids to accelerate out of hs early at 16 and get a free two year degree by 18...that means they are employable by 18 and also have a two year degree...that qualifies them to go to a four year.....it's a great opportunity when you consider how many kids come from single parent households

...are a result of not working hard enough and pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.

HUGE.

That's just another of the scams they ran on the American people. When they talked it up they said it would smooth the way for massive investment and create millions of jobs. Well, that simply didn't happen

I tell that to anyone who still believes "trickle down" is a viable economic policy.

They create jobs ONLY because they have customers.

Of course sine the Roth has taken off. You don't pay capital gains at all.

their wealth and try to get more. Don't vote conservative, vote Sen Sanders.

or the day they graduate that they are worthless crap WITH one, or two or three as well.

I have two, have barely been able to secure anything other than temporary work that is even remotely relevant to any of either of my degrees. I have yet to earn more than $17K in a year since I got my Master's degree fifteen years ago.

Have a BA from Rice and an MS from NCSU. Since I obtained my accelerated teacher's certification,"You're over-qualified" has been a constant refrain during countless, fruitless job searches. Schools won't hire me because I would cost them quite a bit more than a youngling just out of college.

Almost every interview goes south the minute they become aware of my age.

most of the time. When I apply for government jobs, I get the "you have to wait until all the veterans and disabled have been disqualified or turn down the job" letter. I'll be 60 on my next birthday and I don't see where I can break even let alone get into a stable situation before I die.

Thanks for the thread, whereisjustice.

Which takes some guts, but there it is.

I got no degree, which is fine because I own the business. I no longer care if the people I employ have one either, because I have figured out that a degree is in no way predictive of job performance. There are two or three professional certifications that are much more useful and predictive of job performance in my business. Could be done in a 1 to 1-1/2 years for less than $5,000. Add hard work and a good attitude, and you could be my shining star with almost no student debt!

It's parents that are being sold the bill of goods, IMO. And managers who are either just trying to cover their ass or can't think their way out of a paper bag who only look at college grads for entry level jobs that pay under 35k. If you are a very strong student, want to be a lawyer, accountant, go into medicine or something, do a degree. Otherwise, I don't really get why anyone would spend that kind of money or time on it.

Yes, higher minimum wage. Yes, lower college cost and better student loan terms. Yes, some sort of rent control in hot markets.

You are wrong about the Wall Street thing. They are just a mindless capitalism machine, completely out of control. But they don't actually benefit from murdering the middle class since those are the people who are supposed to buy the cheap crap made by exploited labor. It is like when a mother cat eats her babies and you think WTF was that about?

And I don't think either candidate will have much luck making them actually stop. Supreme Court, people. New Supreme Court. Until then, they overturn any decent law that we actually does manage to pass.

then you are correct.

If you consider Education a vehicle to learn about The World, the great diversity of People that live in it and how they think, exposure to the greatest thinkers and art in History, and HOW to live a life worth living ....then you are way wrong.

I have never worked in my degreed field, but have never regretted the 4 years I spent at University,
and 2 years at graduate school.


My background in Liberal Arts combined with extensive reading has given me the ability to hold a confident conversation with any interviewer for any position.

if you are a very strong student, a college degree might be for you. Meaning, in part, someone who has intellectual curiosity about the world. But if you were mediocre in high school and then decide to spend 50-100k for a four year degree in Hotel Hospitality (yes, that is a thing that exists), then you might want to re-think that choice.

Glad you are happy with the choices you made, but I will also point out the nothing is stopping anyone from reading great books, looking at great art or traveling widely and experiencing the wonders of the world first hand either. None of that requires a college degree. I read compulsively from the time I learned. Hit the Beats and authors like Capote in middle school and read everything from Moby Dick to Anna Karenina to Kafka FOR FUN in high school. I skipped a grade, was still bored so I skipped a bunch of school to do things like go to the National Gallery or hang out with older musicians I knew. Just soaked in every intellectual opportunity I could. Got perfect verbals on the SATs without even trying, too, but I HATED school. So choosing to skip college doesn't mean I am intellectually deficient or don't appreciate an intellectual challenge.

Sheesh, people assume that just because you figured out how to make a dollar, you must be an asshole.

I applaud independent, self owned businesses, and the people fortunate enough to have the resources to start one.
I try to patronize these independent stores, and so do most Liberals I know.

Now...if you bought a franchise , there is little chance of seeing me as your customer.

What I do is so far out of the mainstream, no one will ever guess. It is nothing as dull as store. I got the resources by working like a dog to impress rich guys enough to get the money to start and by being really poor for a long period of time until I could afford to pay myself. Basically just dues paying, but I when I finished, I didn't have any student loans.

And there is nothing wrong with owning a franchise. I would not know a single thing about that, but seems like honest work and you get to be your won boss. Why is that bad?

special?

Dripping

I did basically win the lottery.

I am lucky to make a living doing something I love and believe influences the world in a positive way. I pay my employees fairly, provide insurance and mentoring. I am a shitty capitalist, actually, because I am willing to take less profit than I could get away with to produce a truly excellent product.

Bitter much?

and that is Mentorship and direction.
Those are both great facilitators...more than a lone individual tackling all the books in a college library.

Some very few have been able to find their way through that maze and emerge with a balanced view of the World. Of course, THOSE are the ones we always talk about and hold up as examples, which leads to a false conclusion....that EVERYONE can do this, and if you don't, it is THEIR FAULT.
That is a cousin of "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps".

For each one that has those talents, there are hundreds/thousands that do not.

You are very lucky.

Just pointing out that college is a resource and needs to be treated with respect. Saying "everyone" should go to four year university is silly. I am just pointing out that most people don't even really want the education and it doesn't prepare them for the work they will end up doing AT ALL. And then they are stuck with enormous debt and no skills to exploit to pay them off. It is a rip off all around.

For people who care about the intellectual challenge or who want to do something that requires training like engineering, medicine or accounting, then yes GO! For those, we should make it free or much less expensive. But only to those who have shown the ability and desire to work really hard at it. But just giving it to everyone is not a good investment.

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When you graduate with debt no honest person can repay, you're obliged to seek a job in that field - and hold onto it like a lifejacket.

While I'm on a first name basis with my local librarian I don't have a degree either.

There's undoubtedly more than one way to a happy life. My brother went to college and then to work for state government. Once he had that security there was no way he was going to try anything outside his experience and education. He spent many marginally happy years answering calls from angry "taxpayers" before retiring on a modest pension.

I went straight to work out of high school, bounced around at a few jobs and now split my time between directing a small nonprofit and self employment. I love both and wish I could spend more time at each. Because I spent my young working years acquiring wealth rather than creating wealth for others, I am now able to thrive on what most would consider a modest income.

The kind of employer for whom my education is important isn't someplace I want to work. The kind of employee who thinks that their degree is the overriding consideration that should entitle them to the job I'm offering isn't someone I want to hire.

I think we would have fewer Trump mouth-breathers if everyone had a decent liberal arts education. It wouldn't take a college degree to do that. We should really start much earlier than that. There is a very good reason people with more education are generally (though by no means always) much more liberal.

The problem is that people see a college degree (not everyone, but too many) as an avenue to making more money. To some degree that is true, but certainly not always (or even mostly). And it is a huge mistake to focus on that.

But I also am leery of these "You don't need a college degree" arguments because of the very things you point out. College (at whatever level and at almost any institution) exposes students to ideas and people they normally don't get exposed to, on a day-to-day basis. YOu live with and around people from many other countries, for one thing. And I am afraid that a return to a situation of narrow-focused apprenticeships, which is usually considered the alternatives, leaves people without that exposure. And that will be dangerous for progressive ideas and policies, I think.

Comradery! A wonderful thing about these times though is access to higher learning and even a means to learn and certify on one's own like with the 'Mother of All' Mooc sites:

http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses

What is missing with this would be the supportive live Comradery. But a good number do have some means toward interaction. It's just not the same. Still, with a determined head about one's self, it can be achieved through this method w/o paying $ into it much at all

Anyone can read a book. You can borrow them for free if you have a library card. And I live with and around people from other cultures and other countries out in the world. You don't have to pay anyone for that. Just go live somewhere diverse and take time to meet your neighbors. It's basically free since you have to pay rent somewhere anyway.

Narrow-focus apprenticeships are fine as long as they are not tracking, a form of de-facto segregation by race and class. There are smart kids who will benefit from higher education from all classes and races. To get there, first we need to make desegregating schools a SERIOUS progressive goal. If you have kids, you can start by making sure they attend integrated public schools. Most white liberals don't do this. Hmmm, wonder why?

And then eliminate child poverty. Because kids who are hungry and sick are not going to benefit from even the best educational plan.

And once you have those basics figured out, then encourage kids to love learning and then make college cheap or free for anyone who can hit a fairly high level of achievement. And not for the rest. Because, for many people, it is a bad investment of time and money. And also, encouraging kids to spend 60k for a half assed communications degree when what they really want to do is binge drink is wrong. They can work and go to CC until they figure it out for much less.

BTW, it is the height of arrogance to think that people with college educations are intrinsically smarter or better than blue collar peeps. If you think that, if might be that you just don't know many.

The best benefit of a four year degree is to learn that lifelong learning is a very important thing to do. By having some years focusing on learning you see the value to continue learning all your life. There is so much more to gain from that than a supposed better $ per hour that you are supposed to see with a college degree.
-Airplane

Education is about more than making money.

I so SOOOOO many degreed idiots

or eventually the entire machine grinds to a halt. American middle class is the Designated Consumer in that food chain, at least since WW2.

Like I said, watching Wall Street destroy the middle class is like watching an animal eat their own young. It is some kind of gross misfire of natural instincts.

before the crash).

i think some industries should be worried about the disappearing middle class, but wallstreet is not one of those industries. Eventually they handle investments/money so it doesnt matter if its $10,000,00 from 1000 people or from 1 person.

..... but for certain positions/professions with certain organizations a degree isn't necessarily, candidates are screened on that basis and it is simply required.

As I posted up thread:

Caveat: keep the hella away from law schools. I went to law school at age 40 - and subsequently taught at one for a couple of years back in the 90's. Even then there was a surplus of law grads and it's gotten so bad that recent grads (unless from a top tier school PLUS having a family connection to a firm or corporation) are lucky to be making $20 an hour, with no benefits, working as what is called a "contract" lawyer. That involves being in a warehouse size room with other contract lawyers, each with their own card table, chair and computer, doing document review. Timed bathroom breaks. Of course, their work is billed out at $200 an hour or more. And that, kiddies, is how $$$ are siphoned up to the One Percent. Ain't America great!!!???!!!

Bernie is not the only progressive in the party.

They take it all.

College education is great but it is no measure of intelligence and the corporate world we live in places too much regard on a piece of paper.

I have a degree but tend to make it a one line entry on my resume because I ain't that proud of it honestly.

I learned most of what I know from curiosity and interactions with people - college just charged me for it.

I learned most of what I know from curiosity and interactions with people - college just charged me for it.

happy he is with his new home and wife and the new kids...oh and the job too! Without the worthless degree from DeVry, he would be living on the streets with no family. See how important it is to get a worthless degree from DeVry? Getting that fantasy house and wife and kids depends on it!

Thanks DeVry!

People earning $8/hr cannot afford to pay the salary of people who earn six figures.

Ease back a bit. Life is long.

ATTACK them saying that college isn't for everyone and they don't need to go.

Funny how it has turned full circle.

and wipe away all benefits...

We're bombarded by cognitive dissonance.

bankruptcy, so that everyone can be an indentured servant for the rest of his or her life.

Everything for profit is going to ruin everything.

Those who say you have to go to college or those who say if you go to college you are wasting your time and money (and there are plenty of people on DU who have said that).

As I have said before I'd like to see a lot more vocational training programs that are 2 years. The unions do some, but their programs are very competitive.

Recently I finished my doctoral degree in international business. Not everyone is suited to earn even a bachelor's degree. I myself am on that high end in terms of having student loans, but my situation is quite unique so I'm not worried about them.

could have gotten a student loan my third year, at Cal Berkeley. A friend told me, don't do it, you will never pay it back...I took his advice, I have friends still to this day strapped in Student debt. Not Me, I am just less educated because I was smart enough to say no to a student loan.

I've seen a few multi-degreed folks who dont have a clue!
As you said, you were smart enough to say NO to more debt

Poorer than I am, it never came with a degree... a bachelor of Arts in Asian studies would have been nice. Its not going to happen now, not with my income.

I hate to say this to you, but when I went there tuition was in the hundreds, not thousands, of dollars per semester. Reagan was in office but his miserable screw government/screw everyone but the rich legacy had not yet ruined everything that was once great about the United States.

Unless you went to Austin or College Station, the rates were affordable to residents. Then they all skyrocketed in price. I can only imagine what non residents must pay.

at multiple campuses that some of the dumbest people I ever met where not only students, but professors as well. You could read the British library and be the smartest person on the planet with nary a degree.

by telling everyone that if they don't own a home, they've failed at the "American Dream", and saddle them with a mortgage they can't afford.

Make trillions off bogus debt. Then get us to pay for it.

through a private college ($130,000) at my expense and even saved enough money to retire at age 62. We only had one child though and I told him I can't give you a lot of material things, but by god somehow I will give you a quality education. Can't imagine how hard it would be for someone with a large family.

but it's important and notable that the DLC/Third Way have seized control of large swaths of the Democratic Party and that the Clintons and their friends are direct economic beneficiaries of this American Destruction. Supporting them is supporting this intentional destruction of the American middle-class and economic mobility. If anything in whereisjustice's post concerns you...do your part for America. Just say "No!" to Hillary and the Clintons' friends.

But also, get involved. The leaders of tomorrow's Democratic party are today's local office holders and officials...there is no such thing as a small political office, only small ambition and lacks of effort.

If you want to put in 20-30 years of your life, you can rise to be a state party official like my Grandma did; as a Republican. (She was a lunch-lady and a PCA, barely graduated HS and was on the CT Republican Committee for almost 12 years after serving 8 as registrar in town and 16 more as chairwoman of the town Republican committee. (My extended family is overwhelmingly Eisenhower/Nixon Republicans of a kind that simply don't exist outside New England anymore.))

Run for office. Every single member of my immediate family holds appointed or elected office in town, several members of my extended family hold state offices. Nothing gets passed in this town without being touched by household hands. More importantly, nobody gets screwed over because having a strong hold within both major parties allows us to referee and it means that more than a few of the major negotiations in local politics have taken place over my dinner table: Agriculture conservation, purchase of 112acres for natural preserves, a refocus on teachers and resources in the school budget away from unneeded building expansion and useless overhead like consultants, streetscape projects to attract locally-owned small businesses to the town center, setting and maintaing fair and reasonable tax rates, opposition to the opening of a branch of a major US bank...we did all that because we got involved and care.

Join your town Democratic committee. They have say in the selection of state leadership and state leadership has a say in national leadership. It may seem like a small thing but there is local attention that our town committee has passed a n-b resolution (more of a stating for the record of acknowledged fact) that we will not support anybody for office for CT Dems that will not pledge to vote against Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, even if she is the choice of the President, for another term or on any "no confidence" action. Two more towns did the same thing...it's likely as a result that CT's delegation to the DNC will vote the chance they get to expel her from the chair. Who brought that local n-b res? I did. Who seconded it? A local cider-miller with an 8th grade education.

Anybody can be politically important. You just have to give a shit and get involved. There need to be more people like whereisjustice and I that see the problems and say "I want to be part of the solution" rather than "I'm powerless to fight this entrenched problem."

Bernie says he can't do this alone, he needs a movement...we need a movement whether he gets the nomination or not. If he gets the nomination, he's going to need a party and officeholders that share his vision. If he doesn't get the nomination, we're still going to need a movement to oppose the further destruction of America under two parties that share the same bleak economic agenda.

They made their money by making their own businesses; small and large. A few of them started after military service.
I was asked to join in one of the projects. Still kick myself for missing out
There are a LOT of jobs that pay good money and wont be outsourced that dont require a degree.

To V.I. Lenin, ca. 1922.

Sounds stupid to me now, but I had been told my whole life I needed a degree and fine arts is what I loved. My cousin, who is a working artist without a degree, asked me, "what makes you an artist?" while I was in college and it hit me. Making art, not a degree. I finished that semester and never looked back.

I work for a railroad and I love my job. It's dirty blue collar work, but I enjoy it. It also pays well and provides good benefits.

I was able to buy a lot of canvas and paint with money I would have otherwise used for tuition.

I am also on board for free technical training ie: mechanics and plumbers.

We need to talk about jobs that can't be outsourced. And those jobs are jobs like mechanics, plumbers, and electricians. Hopefully there are many more jobs like that jobs that you have to hire people within reasonable traveling distance. We also need to talk about how we allow companies to move jobs to other countries to avoid paying US wages, this shouldn't be allowed at all. All countries should have wages that are comparable enough to US wages to make such moves uneconomical.

My posts kept dropping and I was called an Obama hater for criticizing his education policy.

But it is what it is.....his first words as president just about were "College for everyone".

It's been disastrous.

Education is definitely not, and a BA is one giant step towards a whole education, but $100,000 for a BA sure the hell is.

GD-P material