I've made the argument for some time now that we are hurting high school graduates with this idea that they all need to go to college. Since this is the time of year for graduations, I'll restate my opinion again. College is important, don't get me wrong. After completing my B.A. I started working on an M.A. then started working full-time. My wife has a Ph.D., which is a degree they do not give away easily, and takes a good 13 years or so to get. However, not everyone is college material, in my opinion, and I don't think everyone needs to go to college. What is wrong with working with your hands? Yes it can be dirty work but it can also be very rewarding and you don't start out $30,000 in debt from student loans. I don't think office work shuffling papers is particularly rewarding, although cleaner usually. We are also losing skilled laborers to retirement and they are not being replaced. This is critical if we want to be able to have our cars fixed, plumbing fixed, houses wired with electricity etc.. Hopefully we can reverse this trend or the trend will reverse by people that find great reward in working on motorcycles instead of using a Ph.D. to teach, as the author of the book linked below has done.
Here is an essay on this idea The Case for Working With Your Hands - NY Times
Here is a link to the book:
From the Essay:
Ultimately it is enlightened self-interest, then, not a harangue about humility or public-spiritedness, that will compel us to take a fresh look at the trades. The good life comes in a variety of forms. This variety has become difficult to see; our field of aspiration has narrowed into certain channels. But the current perplexity in the economy seems to be softening our gaze. Our peripheral vision is perhaps recovering, allowing us to consider the full range of lives worth choosing. For anyone who feels ill suited by disposition to spend his days sitting in an office, the question of what a good job looks like is now wide open.
