For entrepreneurs, no college degree required. Everyone else, good luck getting a truly professional job with just a diploma or GED. Have fun selling cars or doing manual labor all day, kids!
Define professional job.
Is a tradesperson, electrician, plumber, house framer, auto mechanic, firefighter, policeman, HVAC tech a professional person or just a worker?
For entrepreneurs, no college degree required. Everyone else, good luck getting a truly professional job with just a diploma or GED. Have fun selling cars or doing manual labor all day, kids!
Define professional job.
Is a tradesperson, electrician, plumber, house framer, auto mechanic, firefighter, policeman, HVAC tech a professional person or just a worker?
Yeah, skilled labor, trades, etc, important and valuable, more people should consider them, but different from say an engineer.
Is a tradesperson, electrician, plumber, house framer, auto mechanic, firefighter, policeman, HVAC tech a professional person or just a worker?
Yeah, skilled labor, trades, etc, important and valuable, more people should consider them, but different from say an engineer.
I think Maher's point is more about questioning the traditional path of college for everyone. It's not about devaluing skilled trades or manual labor but rather acknowledging that college isn't the only route to success. It's about expanding options and recognizing different paths to professional fulfillment.
For entrepreneurs, no college degree required. Everyone else, good luck getting a truly professional job with just a diploma or GED. Have fun selling cars or doing manual labor all day, kids!
Define professional job.
Is a tradesperson, electrician, plumber, house framer, auto mechanic, firefighter, policeman, HVAC tech a professional person or just a worker? I know people in the trades who make more than some folks with fancy degrees. My cousin's a plumber, and he owns his own business, rakes in six figures, and has a ton of freedom and job security. College isn't the only path to success. And I remember struggling in college, which made me doubt my decision to even be there. I found AI essay writer on https://customwriting.com/ai-essay-writer, and it honestly saved me a ton of time and stress. It didn't make college worth it for me, but it was a silver lining during those tough times. Bill Maher might be onto something when he says college isn't for everyone. We need to broaden our definition of success beyond just getting a degree. There are so many routes to a fulfilling and prosperous career.
There are many posters on this board who would benefit from taking a course or two in women's studies.
Whether it's worth pursuing a degree in women's studies is a different question. But it still gives you an important skill in life, and that's knowing how to learn. Besides, someone has to major in it, and get a graduate degree in order to teach it to other people. So at least some people can make a career out of majoring in women's studies.
And the above is true about many humanities disciplines. We need some people to teach those subjects to undergraduate students as part of wholistic education. Therefore, we need a certain number of people who can teach them.
I don’t understand why it’s always framed as college vs. no college. It’s much more specific then that. If you’re going to be a doctor then you better damn go to college. I don’t want someone performing surgery on me with a public school ged as their credentials. However, if you’re looking to work on trade, which is highly needed, then a four year college degree in women’s studies is a waste of time and money.
When is a degree in women's studies not a waste of time and money?
When you can get a job at a Soros funded PAC paying $160k per year to stage confrontations with right wing politicians.
What grinds my gears is the purpose of higher education was really never meant to prepare you for the workforce. I knew that going into college. I learned a lot, but just about zero of it was directly applicable to my career. Instead, I learned to problem solve and think critically and get my ideas challenged. Then I started teaching myself career specific knowledge and skills when I figured out what I wanted to do.
The last few decades have seen a big shift towards teaching skills that are directly transferable to a career. That's not what higher education is for, that's what trade schools are for. And trade schools shouldn't be frowned upon.
Obviously there's some exceptions, I want my doctor to have rigorous hands on training in school.
There are many posters on this board who would benefit from taking a course or two in women's studies.
Whether it's worth pursuing a degree in women's studies is a different question. But it still gives you an important skill in life, and that's knowing how to learn. Besides, someone has to major in it, and get a graduate degree in order to teach it to other people. So at least some people can make a career out of majoring in women's studies.
And the above is true about many humanities disciplines. We need some people to teach those subjects to undergraduate students as part of wholistic education. Therefore, we need a certain number of people who can teach them.
What is a woman?
It’s something that Harrison Butker, apparently, denigrated. Otherwise, we’re not biologists, so we can’t really answer that question.
By the way, Maher, like Mike Rowe has been saying for a very long time, is correct.
There is still value in getting a college degree for a kid who wants a professional career, but there’s absolutely no reason to overpay for it. And we do need tradespeople. Like, get out there at age 18 or 19 and start earning and investing. Someone who starts investing at age 18 for 20 years and then contributes nothing more to an investment account comes out way ahead of someone who waits until they are 33 and invests for the duration of a career.
What grinds my gears is the purpose of higher education was really never meant to prepare you for the workforce. I knew that going into college. I learned a lot, but just about zero of it was directly applicable to my career. Instead, I learned to problem solve and think critically and get my ideas challenged. Then I started teaching myself career specific knowledge and skills when I figured out what I wanted to do.
The last few decades have seen a big shift towards teaching skills that are directly transferable to a career. That's not what higher education is for, that's what trade schools are for. And trade schools shouldn't be frowned upon.
Obviously there's some exceptions, I want my doctor to have rigorous hands on training in school.
Spot on. And doctors don't receive their "vocational training" until they attend medical school.
I was a sociology major. I went on to get a master’s degree and a doctorate. I now make $150k a year.
Cool story bro. I got a BS in engineering from a state school and paid an average of $17k a year including room and board. I was making $200k a year less than a decade out of college. How much debt you take on for that crap pile of a degree.
The nice thing about a liberal arts education is that you also learn something about being a good citizen and good person.
The nice thing about a liberal arts education is that you also learn something about being a good citizen and good person.
Just saying.
I am not sure I agree with you based on what I am seeing on Liberal Arts college campuses. They THINK they have the moral and ethical upper hand, but in action they all seem to be angry, bigoted, hate speech-filled brats.
Maher is anti-establishment...kind of. He's not conservative and he doesn't fit neatly into a liberal bucket either. What he is though is absolutely full of himself. He should have stuck with good standup, which is what he delivered in the 80s. He's nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is. He's a prick is really what he is.
This might be somewhat true. But he’s a sober voice of reason. I don’t always agree with Maher but I agree with a lot of what he says and I think a lot of down-the-middle folks do to.
He makes a couple of good points, however, pretending that Israel is completely blameless for the current predicament is designed to appeal to those equally as blind to the whole picture as the people he's denigrating.
two things, 1) bill graduated cornell. bill sounds like he went to some elite school. that alone makes this rich.
2) are people this naive? what might a cynical person with a talk show do. hmmm maybe rant about trump to get lefties watching and then rant about culture war stuff so righties watch. voila, one of the few talk shows both sides will watch and reference.
I don’t understand why it’s always framed as college vs. no college. It’s much more specific then that. If you’re going to be a doctor then you better damn go to college. I don’t want someone performing surgery on me with a public school ged as their credentials. However, if you’re looking to work on trade, which is highly needed, then a four year college degree in women’s studies is a waste of time and money.
Perhaps college would have been helpful for you? maybe you would have learned the difference between “than” and “then”!
most of the GOP leaders pimping "you don't need college" have elite coastal degrees. the fundamental tension of the GOP is the notion of republicanism -- that they will rule for you. that you will be subject and them boss. want to be the boss? you should then be attentive what the bosses do. the bosses generally either have a degree or come from family money. or both.
a further fundamental tension in the small "r" republican GOP is you are told up front you are on you own. what gets missed is this can be a sort of moral disclaimer. the old boxing "protect yourself at all times." your argument seems to be the dem elites don't protect your interests. but you seem blissfully unaware of whether your leaders are protecting you. they throw you culture war crumbs but not the jobs and salaries you want. they pretend to go after china while having their shirts and ties made there.
no, a bright person, told by the republican boss their job shouldn't need a degree, but also can't pay more, should have some natural skepticism. should be defending themselves. if all the good jobs take a degree, it's a bill of goods to tell your partisans they don't need degrees. but, you're missing that a true machiavellian "republican" might feel he can manipulate his own voters -- if it served his purposes and sense of the greater good. and he will even excuse his own behavior to himself by saying you are "on your own" in america -- and should be defending yourself. it's not his fault you're being a naive schmuck.
last, what the culture warriors fail to grasp is the college requirements are not government red tape, they are private companies looking at their application piles deciding what they want to see. if company after company ask the same thing, maybe there is a reason.
what y'all miss is the era of easy jobs was when minorities were segegrated and women stayed largely at home or worked specific jobs like teaching. the workforce has integrated. the country has multiplied in size. the era of easy jobs with no degree for white men is over. wake up.
We've updated our BetterRunningShoes.com web site to make it easier to find good deals on the best shoes. To keep it great we need new shoe reviews from you.
Fill out a review to be entered into a drawing to win a free pair of shoes.