1
They decree themselves to be popular,

2 What the hell is it with the left and this same internet stunt?

I blame Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter which is why I will never use them.

3
Yeah, why aren't they pissed off at their colleges and professors for their useless degrees/diplomas?

4 iowahawkblog David Burge
That piece of velum that says you spent 4 years and $200,000 in art school is not quite the proof of intelligence you think it is.

5 Why do they choose those degrees? Because these are people for whom honest labor or the prospect of any work other than high-level "thinking" is anathema.

I assure you that none of these worms ever dug ditches or washed dishes or shoveled snow in high school.

6

I'm thinking this movement is more of an "I made terrible decisions and now I don't want to pay for them" movement.

Even at the actual protests in the streets, it mainly seems to be college kids pissed about their loans and job prospects.

 

7 At this point, let us draw a comparison to Dickens... one can only quote Oscar Wilde: One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing.

8 I have 4 degrees: Women's studies, multicultural arts, ancient greek playwrights and philosophy.

Apparently, all I'm qualified to do is give BJ's to random guys in alleys for $5. Only 56,543 more till I pay off my debts.

Your fault, America!

Gulp. 56,542.

9 The wages of the "your own special snowflake" lie coming to fruition.  However, these people are adults and need to realize that that's a bunch of shit.

10

I don't see one goddamned accounting or engineering degree in the tales of woe.

Sorry, you lose.

Posted by Ace

That's an unfair statement.  THOSE degrees are, you know... hard.

11
You'd think their college/university would let them know that a degree in English or in History on their resume would not be a big selling point in the job market.

12 Get pissed at the govt as well for driving up the cost of education with the entire student loan industry. And the coleges for their building sprees and wasteful spening as well.

13 They could learn a lesson about brevity. "Pay for all my shit. I am the 99%."

14
If anyone is to blame for these losers being pissed off, it's the colleges who sell useless diplomas!

15 May the Higher Education Bubble burst, and burst soon.

16 Somebody call a Waaaambulance.

17

Has anyone seen even one of these that was typed or printed? What percentage would you term legible?

Favorite might be the 22 year old college grad who claims to have a "killer resume", but can't find a job.

Some of these eople might have an easier time getting hired if they weren't going on line to prove they were illiterate, innumerate, idiots. 

18 I don't see one goddamned accounting or engineering degree in the tales of woe.

How bourgeois of you. Yes, accounting, or science, or engineering may give a you a practical skill. But do they make you a better person?

19 My Masters Degree in Societal Gender Dialectics got me a job exchanging tickets for stuffed bears at Chuckie Cheese's.  So there are some success stories out there.

20 "Pay for all my shit. I am the 99%."

How about: "Pay. I don't shit"

21

Ace here is the site of the 53% who pay taxes.

 

http://the53.tumblr(dot)com/

22 The biggest lie is "the 99%".  I don't care if they define it as income, I have nothing in common with those losers.  My definition defines them as the .0000001%.

23 Favorite might be the 22 year old college grad who claims to have a "killer resume", but can't find a job.

I smell "douchebag" during his interviews.

24 Check out http://getadamnjobyouhippie.blogspot.com/

25

I have 4 degrees: Women's studies, multicultural arts, ancient greek playwrights and philosophy.

 

I do think at a certain point, you've earned enough degrees...

26 I don't see one goddamned accounting or engineering degree in the tales of woe.

My oldest stepson foolishly ignored his mother's and my advice about switching majors out of a science field and into the abyss of Cultural Anthropology.  When he graduated, the best he could do was work off the books at a fast food joint as a   fry cook like Spongebob Squarepants.  12 hours days working a grill including weekends with no time off.  He was miserable.  Just by sheer luck, one of the customers was a wealthy friend of the owner of a local brewery and he managed to get a foot in the door and is now their newest employee.  He loves the job because the biggest perk is bringing home free beer!  I shudder to think what would have happened had he not met the owner's friend that day.  Probably stuck at our house well into his 40's.

27 Another thing is amounts of loans they racked up! I have three degrees and managed to rack up $12,000 total in student loans. What the hell were they doing with that money?

28 Favorite might be the 22 year old college grad who claims to have a "killer resume", but can't find a job.

I smell "douchebag" during his interviews.

His resume actually says KILLER RESUME at the top.

29
Some majors should be categorized as Useless.

The colleges have a fiduciary responsibility to let students know that there is very little demand for someone holding a degree in Communications, or Afro-American Studies, or Gender Equality.

30 I stink therefore I am!

31 Have you experienced our beaches?

32 Oh it's personal.  They're dirty, smelly hippies.

33 Hey, don't blame us. We were simply responding to the large influx of Federal money for institutions and students. When someone gives you free stuff and doesn't hold you accountable, whose fault is that?

34 Yes, accounting, or science, or engineering may give a you a practical skill. But do they make you a better person?

Posted by: Big Academia at October 11, 2011 01:25 PM (PLvLS)

Well, oddly enough, YES, I find that having money in my pocket and not having to mooch off of others does make me a better person.  Thanks for asking.

 

35

You cannot shit in the same river twice.

36 Concerning the woman in the pic. 

Ahem ,excuse me miss?  I would like to make 52k a year.  Can I have your job?

What a whining pissy little brat.

37 http://the53.tumblr(dot)com/ Awesome.

38 They are the 0.99%.

39 All The Man cares about are skills and experience and attitude and shit.  Blah blah blah blah.

40 I demand that you 99%ers put on some decent clothing, get off the drugs, stop screwing around, take any job you are remotely qualified for, pay your bills, and start kicking into the federal treasury like us.

41 The definition of liberalism appears to include the phrase "freedom of consequences for actions."  These asshats want ME to pay for THEIR failures to choose an employable or even 'helpful' degree path.

Sorry, asshole, my money is for much better things than your dumb ass.

42 Their I.Q.s are 99% of room temperature.

43 Apparently, all I'm qualified to do is give BJ's to random guys in alleys for $5. Only 56,543 more till I pay off my debts.

Tell us more...

44

I heard that Victor Davis Hanson hires one Classical Studies graduate every year as his personal ball-washer.

That being the only Classical Studies graduate who gets hired in the US every year.

45

Jobs need not concern us because when we exist jobs do not, and when jobs exists we do not.

46 I don't feel sorry for these kids.  Nope.  They made their choices as free adults.  Deal.

47

Dog is dead.

48 Here's the thing. I graduate from college with a pretty useless double-major, too. So, I took crappy temp jobs doing technical writing until I had enough skill at it to get a permanent position. I leveraged that into a better position in project management. I went back and got a Master's in Technology Management which my employer paid for. I kept myself clean and got a security clearance. Now, I make a pretty decent living. I definitely live beneath my means, and I'm pretty nervous about the job market right now. (One of the managers told me in private if we don't get new orders in by year's end, we're finished.) But whatever it takes to get by, I'll do it.

I just don't see much of that, "I'll do whatever it takes" from the 99% crowd.

49

Spam is the measure of all things.

50

I think the twits who major in psychology mistakenly believe that "psychology" is the same as "psychiatry."  They assume that they'll graduate and be able to get sweet careers counseling rich people at $200/hour.  They don't seem to realize that no, that's not how it works.

The problem with so many of these 99%-ers is they assume they're the cream of the crop when at best they're the scum floating on top of the pond.  If you're absolutely brilliant and erudite, there's a place for you in the world of PhD's in Russian poetry.  But if you're like everybody else, stick with a major that you can leverage into a career. 

I majored in Communication.  Talk about a squish major.  But I knew I was smart and skilled enough to get a job in the field, and I did (I worked in the ad department of a daily newspaper for two years right out of college).  And you know what?  The degree was maybe 1/10 of the reason I got that job.  What REALLY got me the job was the fact that I said, "Oh, the job is 90% data entry?  Sure, I love data entry!  No problem!"   And then I got the job and proceeded to blow them away with how fast I could enter advertising tickets.  After two years I was pretty much doing everything but negotiating ad contracts with Pepsi.

Get a job, work your butt off, and quit complaining.  It's worked for millions of people in this country and around the world for centuries.  Learn it, love it, be it.

Oh, and get off my g-ddamn lawn!

51 I'm thinking this movement is more of an "I made terrible decisions and now I don't want to pay for them" movement.



I prefer the "I've never had to work for or pay for anything in my life and now that I'm in the real world, it sucks!" movement.

52 Barack Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

53

Hmm. WABC reporting "a major terror plot disrupted in Washington DC". No details yet.

 

54 I have 4 degrees: Women's studies, multicultural arts, ancient greek playwrights and philosophy.

Yeah I wanna hire you straight away.  Resume should state: I have bad judgment and no common sense.  What size paper hat do you wear? Maybe Pure Platinum is hiring.  You can spout of ancient Greek while showing your tits for money.

55 Yeah, it's amazing what these "credentialed but not educated" twits think are job skills.

The guy with a "killer" resume: Holy shitballs I can't stop laughing at you. In my entire life I've used my resume once--and I already had the job before I submitted it, it was a formality. You know why, 'cause throwing your resume to the wind and hoping it lands you a job is good at one thing: Telling employers you are desperate, stupid and ignorant. And the same dumbasses that got you in to debt are probably the same dumbasses who told you that was a good strategy to find a job.

I especially like the fucking retard who blames his company for firing him after he bad-mouthed them on his blog. That is a life-long Democrat if I ever saw one.

56
WO! Eric Holder's gonna hold a news conference in 30 minutes.

57

People are born free and are everywhere in stinky bedrolls.

58

Then there's the one who says she can't "find a job in her feild."  Tell you what, honey, if you'd spent more time planning for a real career in the (*spit, spit*) dreaded private sector instead of wasting four years of college and more years of grad school lost in a Starbucks-and-vajazzled-sexting haze, I'd have sympathy for you.  Yeah, finding a job is hard.  Math is hard.  Presidentin' is hard.  Living is hard.

Fuck you, suck it up, wipe the goth crap off your face, ditch the piercings, cover up your tats and wake the hell up!

Christ, there's never an 82nd Airborne squadron loaded with napalm and Agent Orange when you really need them. . .

59 Hmm. WABC reporting "a major terror plot disrupted in Washington DC".

Major terrorist plot?  That would be the Obama administration.

60

The unexamined tweet is not worth re-tweeting.

61 $550 in Utility bills on a $1000 per month apartment?  WTF?  then she complains about tolls and gas prices!  I bet you voted for Obama, didn't you?

62 Demands? Heh. First you will blow me.

63 You would think a degree in Patriarchal Hegemony  And It's Effects On Doing It In The Butt would get you a job on Wall Street, but it hasn't. I feel like I've been raped by Jesus and left to die. This will not stand.

64 Tales from the 1%:

YouÂ’ll like these letters better.  One from a 13 year old.  These are actually coherent!

65 Posting your pic on the internet with your set of grievances badmouthing businesses ..

HR departments and hiring managers just LOVE candidates like that when they do internet background searches on you.

The guy with the KILLER resume doesn't seem to have work experience on there, does he

66 I thought there was some pretty good dough in "Classical Studies". I know for a fact that there are many $100,000 jobs available for those majoring in "African American Studies". "Women's Studies" is pretty high up on the pay scale, too, as I recall, but let me check the want ads...............Wait...................what?...............Oh shit..........Never mind.

67 4 iowahawkblog David Burge
That piece of velum that says you spent 4 years and $200,000 in art school is not quite the proof of intelligence you think it is.
________

Makes me think of the old "Double your IQ or no money back" Far Side cartoon.

68 #54
of = off

my bad.

69 I was lucky. I had horrible advising, came from BF nowhere, and had no idea what I was doing. Fell into an Ivy school, went for English. Fortunately, I've been writing software for fun since I was a little kid, and ended up in software development despite my 100% useless degree, now in Healthcare IT one of the very few growth industries in this country. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Of course, I wasn't afraid to work hard or take risks once I actually understood the score.

People sometimes ask me "English?" And my response is "Yeah, I was an idiot."

70 On second thought, I'd rather not touch you.

71 What I find hilarious is that it's impossible to tell which of these are real and which are people with Moron Horde like senses of humor punking them.

72 You benefited from a college loan? F U, pay me.

You have a mortgage on the house you live in?  F U, pay me.

You have a car loan?  F U, pay me.

You have credit card debt to pay for your fun?  F U, pay me.

You received hard earned money from a person or entity and promised to pay it back?  F U, PAY ME.

Nobody owes you a damn thing, unless you lent them money, but you didn't because you are a taker.

73

Certainly many of the OWS crowd made poor life decisions about going to college in the first place, about where to go to college and how much to pay for it, and about what to study when you get there.   If it were me -- and this comes from somebody who wasted a decade at the beginning of my working life getting a Ph.D in English before becoming a lawyer (OK, maybe that's a waste too) -- I'd outlaw about half the majors in colleges.   We simply don't need degrees in Creative Writing or English or History.   Those are things that educated people can learn about on their own, particularly in the age of the Internet.   (I can't tell you how many smart secretaries in our firm are well-read or have serious intellectual interests that they developed outside of school -- in particular, the gal who sits outside my office is an incredibly well-read and knowledgeable Civil War buff and re-enactor.)   

And it's doing an incredible disservice to young people to let them pick their own majors anyway.   Why shouldn't a self-respecting college say to parents... hey, if your kid comes here and you shell out $150 K, we guarantee you that he or she will come out of here with a significant dose of accounting, economics, math, science, engineering, etc.?   Make it mandatory that people take real courses, and you'll give the students who ought to be in college a chance at real careers, and you'll simultaneously weed out the kids who can't cut it on that level, and save them from going into debt they'll never be able to repay.

But, having said all that, I do think that the combination of government support for college education in the form of "loan guarantees" and the booming industry in providing college educations over the past forty years has to bear some of the blame.   Yes, these people were suckers.   But they were also suckered by the flim-flam men in government and education bureaucracies who got rich on their backs.   The problem with the OWS crowd is not so much that they don't have a beef; it's that their beef is not with Wall Street, it's with the entire culture that says that everyone ought to have a college degree, and the fraudsters in college administration who take advantage of that culture.

74 You can spout of ancient Greek while showing your tits for money.

Molon labe?

75

Ethnics (re: Joos)  should not be multiplied unnecessarily.

76 Didn't we all have killer resumes at 22?

Well, I did, just not sure about these 0.99%-ers.

77 @53: Given that the media thinks the Tea Party is a major terrorist plot, I'm not sure what to think of that.

78
Also, this movement may have its first martyr. A guy in San Diego yesterday was trying to hang a banner from a parking structure (probably illegal), lost his balance, and fell eight stories to his death. Or maybe they won't use that guy; it's not the same as standing in front of a tank. In fact it's kind of absurd.

79
"Classical Studies" majors suddenly panicking at the idea of entering the job market.




"Applied for a job as Propraetor of Cisalpine Gaul.  Waiting for a call back..."

80 In case you didn't think that these occupiers were fascist enough.

81 But they ignored advice to think practically about their future earning power

Do we think that they got any advice? 

For all we know, their parents are similarly idiotic and their college advisers in it for the money.  Not that that gets them off the hook -- if you're old enough to sign for it, you're old enough to pay for it.  But I think that at least some of them might have made decent cosmetologists or plumbers, if they had been pointed toward a trade or an employable degree with enough vigor.

82 You should see my font.

83 Waaay OT, but the article is hilarious, based on the Politico piece Michelle’s Bad Eating Habits Scientifically Chronicled Actually, by the look of the article, it seems like rarely is more accurate. Here are a few samples of (Michelle Obama's) desserts, taken directly from the article. Napoleon crème brûlée A 15-layer carrot cake Bittersweet molten chocolate cake with cappuccino ice cream Blueberry kulfi and apple jalabi Strawberry shortcake A log-shaped, flourless chocolate cake with a rosemary ganache Warm ricotta beignets Blueberry sorbet – Note from the author: “She passed up the tiramisu.” Such willpower. A perfectly balanced warm chocolate bread pudding Banana cream pie Key lime pie, bread pudding and banana pineapple cake (shared) Birthday cake

84 It's these whiny, crybaby candyasses that are exactly why America is "soft" today.  Too bad their messiah isn't telling them to STFU and eat their peas.  Yeesh.

85 71 What I find hilarious is that it's impossible to tell which of these are real and which are people with Moron Horde like senses of humor punking them. Posted by: alexthechick

alex,
Wouldn't you love to infiltrate the mob and fuck with their minds?  Oh the fun we could have.....

86
Scott Brown should do one of these letters. He's a guy who came from a middle-class family, worked his way through college and law school with jobs and the National Guard.

Ironically, Brown's opponent, Harvard's Elizabeth Warren, spends her time on the campaign trail talking shit about Scott Brown at the same time claiming she's a "fighter" for the middle class.

She hates the middle class. She's a fighter for the underclass, the dependent class.

87

Do unto others as you would have them share your space on the exhaust vent from the Wall St exchange.

88

Hmm. WABC reporting "a major terror plot disrupted in Washington DC". No details yet.

 

Posted by: Anachronda at October 11, 2011 01:32 PM

Oh shoot. Maybe that's Holder's press conference. I was hoping he was going to dig himself deeper on Operation F&F.

89 I not only want a Big Gulp, I want a SUPER Big Gulp. I am the 99%

90 I especially like the fucking retard who blames his company for firing him after he bad-mouthed them on his blog. That is a life-long Democrat if I ever saw one.
Posted by: Jimmuy at October 11, 2011 01:33 PM

Another genius who loves attention so much that he figures recruiters will ring his phone off the hook after he brags about badmouthing his employer to the world.

Rule # 1 - NEVER badmouth your former employer even if you personally worked for Hitler himself

91

Applied for a job as Propraetor of Cisalpine Gaul. Waiting for a call back..."

ahahaha

92 The political science major wants 'respectable politicians'.  Did he learn nothing?

93 I love Mr. PoliSci and his "killer resume".

Yep, that's all it takes to get on the gainfully employed gravy train, a "killer resume"!

Tool.

94 Remember they did "Sorry, World" after Bush beat Kerry in 2004, too.

95 #78
OMG arhooley, that's epically stupid.  I shouldn't laugh but I am.  Darwin was right.

96

Ahem ,excuse me miss?  I would like to make 52k a year.  Can I have your job?

What a whining pissy little brat.

My work machine doesn't let me see the pictures, but someone actually said that?  Wow.  The stupidity burns.

My degree floats between usefulness and uselessness, but it has helped in the career that I knew I was getting into after college.  I've taken advantage of the training that I've gotten during this time, and have been working out plans for increasing my value once I get out.  I'll probably start taking classes towards the CPA exam and will go to grad school at some point thanks to the GI Bill.  However, I'm not stupid, and know that I have to take advantage of the fact that I'm single and unattached to any one place.  Would I like to live in Denver?   Yes.  Will I likely live in Texas, where there are jobs?  Probably.

97 I applied for Steve Jobs old job but I haven't heard back yet.  Haterz.

98 My advice to the kiddies: Two year Tech degree from the community college until you figure out what will pay the bills. One had to do the art thing. Luckily she woke up and is doing very well finishing her radiography degree. The funny this is that her images are like art work and the docs notice.

99 alex,
Wouldn't you love to infiltrate the mob and fuck with their minds?  Oh the fun we could have.....

Posted by: mpfs, TPT at October 11, 2011 01:36 PM (iYbLN)

I think someone should post a picture of themself with a sheet of notebook paper in front of their face, with the brief, pithy comment from upthread writ large across the front:

"Pay for all my shit.  I am the 99%."

100 hey my daughter graduated from College with a degree that wasn't doing her much good. A) She got a full time but shitty job B) She took a few courses at the local Community College C) Got into Grad School For Occupational Therapy. So you 99%ers. Get off your lazy asses and do something.

101 53 Hmm. WABC reporting "a major terror plot disrupted in Washington DC". No details yet.
56 WO! Eric Holder's gonna hold a news conference in 30 minutes.
________

Coincidence, wag the dog, or Eric Holder is a major terrorist?

Hmm. Tough choice. Where's my magic 8-ball when I need it?

102 #97
I understand Alex.  I am 50 years old and am studying to be credentialed in CPT Coding and Health Care Records Management.  Using my own money, no loans or grants, on my own time to improve my marketability.

103 I planned to go to law school after I graduated, but it looks like my folks won't have enough money to put me through college.

104 33 Hey, don't blame us. We were simply responding to the large influx of Federal money for institutions and students. When someone gives you free stuff and doesn't hold you accountable, whose fault is that?

Posted by: Your College Administrators at October 11, 2011 01:29 PM (VKRmb)

 

This.

105 14
If anyone is to blame for these losers being pissed off, it's the colleges who sell useless diplomas!
Posted by: soothie at October 11, 2011 01:25 PM (G/zuv)

All the while, the voracious maw of Big Education continues to consume whole paychecks in order to assure the tenured class a life of ease and contemplation.

106

What is Classical Studies? I graduated in 2006 and I don't remember that being an option.

 

107 Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.

108 These folks are pissed off at capitalism because of its focus on usefulness, of which they have none. Their colleges failed to tell them that being useless is a real bummer, outside of school. (and government)

109 First day in English 101 at community college - Assignment - Make a family tree. I realize then and there that college was a joke (at least as far as gen ed) and never went back. I spent the next 10 years playing in bands and working various sales jobs. Now I'm a manager for a mid-sized musical instrument manufacturer. I have the skills to command a better wage than all of my friends that stayed in college into their late 20s. Fuck them.

110

NEVER badmouth your former employer even if you personally worked for Hitler himself.

Don't I know it, bro!

111 Posted by: George Orwell what knows Obama is a stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure at October 11, 2011 01:36 PM (AZGON)

No french fries for you!  And that wasn't a partial eclipse.  Michelle was walking to Mickey D's and passed in front of the sun.

112

"7 years in college $50 g's in debt STILL NO GOOD JOB. I am the 99%"

 

It couldn't possibly be her impressive writting skills that could be holding her back. Nahhh...it's got to be Wall Street, that's the root of her trouble

113 Probably not the time to mention I'm dating a guy who is about to graduate with a degree in Music Management.

114

Boo hoo.  I went to school and got a bachelor degree in Communications Design (illustration).

I knew full well when I pursued this course there would not be high-powered art recruiters for huge corporations coming in my senior year to tempt us artists with tasty signing bonuses and salaries starting at 75K.  I knew this because I am of at least average intelligence and was taught work ethic and responsibility.

When I could not do art full time and pay my rent, I got a job that allowed me to do art part time and pay my rent (and my not insubstantial student loans), and that works out great for me.

How these people can be surprised or outraged at their situation, and then blame people completely outside of the process ... then demand handouts and pity to rectify their bad decisions makes me want to choke a fucking kitten.

115 There is always a place in this world for the drawers of water, hewers of wood and dispenser of french fries.  These people should accept their fate.

116

Oddly enough, unless I tell people what I majored in in college, they always assume it's one of two things:

A) English (cuz I'm wordy, yo)

or

B) Database management systems

When I tell them "Communications" they sort of blink and go, "Oh."

117 Forgive if posted before:

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/129504/

MORE: Did I bury the lede? A reader emails:

I should prefer this not be attributed to me. However, in your recent post on OWS and the higher ed bubble, you touched what seems to me to be the core of the issue — in the last paragraph.

“UPDATE: Reader Jonathan Card emails: 的知 a consultant travelling to Kentucky for a contract. I was watching the local news last night and a local machinist shop was being interviewed about not being able to find enough workers. The money quote, that I thought you壇 be interested in, was ‘You can buy gas from a college graduate, but I canÂ’t fill a $70,000/year machinist position.’”

First: This is also my experience as an employer. I have more college graduates wanting to work for me than I can employ — but good machinists, good mechanics, good technicians are hard to find.

118 This Confused Woman... is mostly complaining that 32% of her salary is going towards taxes... A gallon of irony spilled but not a drop splashed upon her. Ace is back, in rare form. Priceless.

119 I despise whiny, self-important, ignorant f*cksticks who have no clue that the poorest among us live better than 2/3rds of the world's population for a f*cking reason.

120 I have a Masters in Interpretive Polovetzian Dance and a PhD in Holistic Psycological Astrological Studies and 500K in student loans. How can I pay off that loan on a 35K a year Life Coach job and still buy the i-Phone 4.5?

I worked hard and studied hard and deserve a 350K job with full health coverage for me and my life partner.

Tax everyone who makes more than me except for my favorite musicians, actors, and authors.

I am the 99 %

121 I got a nephew, he's studying Communications (or some such shit). He's 20 now. He just got his first job (such as it is) as an RA in his dorm. Yup. No summer job EVER. No after-school job EVER. I fear for him. On the up-side, he's only on his second year at a community college, so he's not running up any debt.
His sister now, she went and got a RHIM degree at the local university (after she flunked out of her initial attempt at Architecture then Interior Design--too hard, long hours, no time to party). She's sitting on a f'ing four year degree making $10 an hour as the Assistant Catering Manager at a local deli.

F me, I have no idea where kids today get so stupid.

122 That pic is hilarious. 
"I am in a Greek organization."
Then you should be used to bending over and taking it up the butt.  It's the American Way.  Shut up and get a real job.

123 104 I planned to go to law school after I graduated, but it looks like my folks won't have enough money to put me through college.

Good thing. Job outlook for lawyers sucks right now -- worst of all fields.

124 Why '99%'? 99% of the people we know hold the same beliefs. Kind of like being in a newsroom. The 1%? Our parents. They're weirdos. And old.

125 Do you reckon that palin steele is pictured in one of these?

126 How many of these empty headed women went to Emily Dickinson College and are named Brunella?

127

I love Mr. PoliSci and his "killer resume"

It wasn't long before the Germans started work on a resume of their own.

128 Dear "occupiers",

Too bad you are too stupid to realize the tuition is the problem,  not the student loan.  If the tuition wasn't so high,  you wouldn't need the student loan,  would you?  See how that works.  Did you see what I did there?  I went down another layer,  to the core.  The core your professors keep obfuscating by talking about the terrible student loans and the bankers who use them to enslave the poor befuddled masses.

Further obfuscation from academia turns you lackluster individuals away from the fact that you have wasted years of your lives.  That degree in ___ studies isn't anything but a crash course on debt.  And rapid depreciation.  Should have looked into that degree choice.  See what the career options are while holding that piece of fancy parchment.  Guess you were too smart for that.  It's an important and very expensive lesson to learn.  Too bad it's been learned so late.  And you're still paying for it.  Years after the fact.  Maybe you should march on the colleges and universities that ripped you off.

129 http://therealrevo.com/99/ "The Ninetyninepercenters" --ha

130 Freaking News Breaking Out everywhere.  Christie, Issa supeonas going out, Iran embassy terror plot foiled.....

131 I have an English degree, but I went into a technical field. (Thank You, God!) One of the things I regret most about my college days was letting my "advisor" talk me out of a degree in chemistry.

132

From American Research:

Herman Cain leads the South Carolina Republican presidential primary with 26%. Cain is followed closely by Mitt Romney at 25%. Rick Perry is third at 15%..

But who will Alvin Greene endorse?

133

The other thing I love about these dipshits?  Look at how many of them were in college for more than the traditional four years.  WTH?  When I was in college I couldn't wait to get out and find a damn job. 

Wait.  I guess I just answered my own question.

134 Don't go to law school. I've been banging this into my kids' heads for years.

135 Most of these people would have a job if they just walked into an armed services recruiter office.

136 Given the huge gap between the unemployed college grad (4.2%) and the general public (9.1%), if these bozos can't find jobs then they should take a good hard look in the mirror for the source of their problems.
 
My daughter had several ideas about what she wanted to study for in college, but I always pushed her a bit to think of the practicality of her ultimate decision. For instance, I told her that lack of income and jobs was the largest stressor on a marriage. You want to be happy? Then don't put yourself into something where you have to worry about your next meal or the next rental check. That's a stress reducer right there.
 
She's in her final year of nursing school. Sometimes she listens.

137

People sometimes ask me "English?" And my response is "Yeah, I was an idiot."

 

Ha! Ha!  I really wanted to be an English or an history major, but I never even broached the subject with my dad because I knew he would never help me pay for those degrees.  Likewise, my older sister (the analyst) wanted to go to school for Spanish, but again, she didn't even try because my dad would have put his foot down. In my family we have a systems analyst (B.S. and M.S. in comp sci), a nurse (B.S.N.) a former educator/instructor in the Insurance industry, now author/editor and educator for insurance underwriters (B.S. in Secondary math education with a minor in math and a M.A. in Financial planning) and a C.P.A. (B.A. in accounting from Wharton School of Business).   

My dad wasn't really happy about my brother changing his major from engineering to math ed., but my brother has done just fine (he just didn't want to work that hard when he was going to school!)

You can't just blame educators for kids choosing dead-end majors.  Where the eff are the parents?

138 socks off

139
We should start AoS University.

We'll offer majors such as IKEA Furniture Putter Togetherer.

140 Well they always said there is an education bubble. Now we're starting to see its results.

141 In fact, it would be a cool stunt to set up a military job fair across the street.

142 I'd love to check out something like "classical studies" or "creative writing" and other majors like that if I had the money to burn. Difference with me is I'd see it as a fun, entertaining learning experience as oppose to real world training for making a living.

143 124 104 I planned to go to law school after I graduated, but it looks like my folks won't have enough money to put me through college.

Good thing. Job outlook for lawyers sucks right now -- worst of all fields.

Posted by: Arms Merchant at October 11, 2011 01:45 PM (VKRmb)

Hehe...that line is from Caddyshack! 

144

mpfs,

The funny part is that I would likely have even better prospects if I was willing to move to the DC area, but I really want to avoid that.  I will submit my resume to a few places, because everyone in my line of work submits to those places, but beyond that, I'm not interested in the DC rat race.

 

145 @142 I like your way of thinking.

146 I don't get it. Don't girls have pointless majors in college because they're just going for their MRS degrees anyway? hee hee hee

147

And in one long internet whine the Occupy Wherever movement just turned the bulk of the country against them.

 

(Hipster douchebags should never photograph themselves complaining about not being able to find a job.)

148 Someone, anyone, should let students and their parents know that there is one, and only one purpose to Universities:

TO KEEP THEMSELVES EMPLOYED.

To keep their gravy train going, they will do ANYTHING to keep students there AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.

Putting out graduates who are employable has nothing to do with their goals.

And as soon as people realize this, the better off we'll all be.

/btw, I do not include trade schools, or colleges/ universities that actually have programs that do result in actual employment.

149

I never liked that guy.

Reminded me too much of Michael Moore.

150

And these are the kids that are going to pay for your social security and medicare Boomers.

 

I don't understand why these kids aren't pissed at the schools. The schools lie about job prospects, heck law schools are notorious for that.

They charge you extremely high rates for room and board when you could get much cheaper accomadation off-site. The college I went too wouldn't let you live off-site until your junior year. I'm sure that was because they cared about our safety....

They charges you hundreds or even thousands of dollars for books every semester. New editions are put out every year to justify the high prices of text books.

They force you to take classes that aren't related to your major. So if you want to graduate with an engineering degree you have to pay them to take philisophy, women's studies and 1990s Movies and Their Effects on the Political Economy classes.

They raise tuition almost year and at a higher rate than you could earn investing.

You cannot default on college loans. You can default on your house, your credit card, medical bills, almost everything, but you can't default on your college loans.

Why isn't the anger directed at colleges, federally backed college loans, the textbook industry, and the people who make stupid decisions.

151

You can't just blame educators for kids choosing dead-end majors.  Where the eff are the parents?

My kid, if he wants to learn a trade - more power to him. I'd only hope at some point he'd start his own business...

152 When I was going to (engineering) school in the 80's we used to say something like "in the 60's kids majored in Philosophy so they could 'find themselves', while today we major in Engineering and Science so we can find jobs."

It worked then, but sadly that doesn't even really apply anymore, judging from what I see coming out of your average domestic undergraduate engineering program these days.

153 Someone should explain to these people that working for a pimp is not the same as working for a corporation. Give that a shot.

154

Look, they're trying, that always worked for them in college.

I don't know what the hell you people want from bunch of [insert] Studies majors.

155 65
The guy with the KILLER resume doesn't seem to have work experience on there, does he
Posted by: kbdabear at October 11, 2011 01:34 PM (Y+DPZ)

But, but, but ... check out the "My Demands" section! Comers, every one!

156

useless degrees + a lifetime of never producing for yourself + facing the real world for yourself = scary.  But yet, it is the American dream for millions of Americans and third world dreamers.  These lazy priviledged spoiled brats that call having to get a job a nightmare are my nightmare. 

 

 We absulutely need college reform.  Subsidizing colleges has led to a proliferation of useless degrees and graduates, inflated tutition prices and piles of debt, and protected leftist academia that undermines a free society based on individual respoinsibility.    End the federal grants now and watch tuition prices fall.  We need to Occupy Big College because the greed of the academic world is ruining our country. 

And would somebody tell these idiots that they would have no iPhone if it were not for the greedy corporations they are bashing. 

 

157 We should start AoS University.

We'll offer majors such as IKEA Furniture Putter Togetherer.

Val-U-Rite vodka quality assurance testor.

158 One of the idiots a 26 year old female is bitching that 35% of her salary is going to taxes. Yet, I'm sure that she loves Barry and all of the other big govt. libturds. These people have no concept about economics or finance or life in general

159

I>>>n fact, it would be a cool stunt to set up a military job fair across the street.

do you think any of these people are fit for military service?

 

Maybe they could be used to clear mines if you get my drift

160

99% of what?

They never answer that question.

161 I know why kids today are so dumb. Because back in the day we were partying hard with all the bimbos at college who were too f*ckin stupid to get any other degree than one in education. Yeah, they're teaching our kids.

162 I got me a degree in African History that I worked 7 years in school to get me. All I got was a damn job at the front desk of the DMV that only give me two 15 minute breaks a day

Obama bought my gas, but the damn bank expected me to pay for the damn car it was gonna go in

I be the 99 %

163 161. 99% of the US's HPV carriers

164 Ah, letters from the 99% of the people we reject, and with the very reasons for said rejections written in their own hand!

165 We should start AoS University. We'll offer majors such as IKEA Furniture Putter Togetherer. Among our majors we offer: Hobo Quartering and Brining Basement Distillation Longbow Fletching Really Animal Husbandry Our financial counselors accept payment in coin, liquor, or pounds of flesh.

166 If I had to do it over again, I definitely would have chosen a different college and a technical degree as an undergrad, and probably a stint in the USAF to pay for it.

167

Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at October 11, 2011 01:49 PM (jx2j9)

I Like Christie, I Dont Like Romney, I Expected Him To Endorse Romney.

168 162, I know you're kind of joking but that is in fact exactly what happened, you know. And ed majors aren't getting any *smarter*

169 My Children apparently forgot their promise to clean up after the dog. I'll give her $10 to pick up poop. However she must use her hand because I doubt she could figure out the complexities of a shovel.

170 Oh, and you, the unemployed teacher with the (guffaw) M.A. degree: the Open University of Anarchy Studies is looking for go-getters like you. Flexible hours without salary, of course, because you'd be working for anarchy!

171 147 I don't get it.

Don't girls have pointless majors in college because they're just going for their MRS degrees anyway?

hee hee hee

Posted by: HeartlessBlackOrchid at October 11, 2011 01:49 PM (SB0V2)

HAH!  Very true.  I knew more than one fellow female in college who was only there looking for a ring. 

The fact that most of them, and most of the males they were lusting after, were all varying degrees of weapon's grade stupid does not bode well for the mental acuity of the next generation.

172 How many of these empty headed women went to Emily Dickinson College and are named Brunella?

What, my Primitive Cultures degree isn't going to get me $150k to start?  Maybe I should have gone with Pottery like Fawn.

173 142  Yeah, high quality recruits are just standing around in the OWS crowd.  I'm sorry, the tattoos alone would disqualify them.  I see lots of discharged losers for "failure to adapt."

174

When I left college as an archeologist, I quickly learned that no one without a PHD was making any real money in the business.  So after digging for a little while, I went to a technical school for computer programming.

That decision has kept my family in beans and bacon and college degrees for 30+ years.

I am apparently not the 99%.

175

>>>The other thing I love about these dipshits? Look at how many of them were in college for more than the traditional four years. WTH? When I was in college I couldn't wait to get out and find a damn job. 

 

It reminds me of the line from Tommy Boy

 

Lot's of people go to college for 7 years.

 

Yeah, they're called Doctors.

176 136 Most of these people would have a job if they just walked into an armed services recruiter office.
_________

Not for long.

177 Go to the link from Michelle Obama's Mirror and check out the 99% story from the sheep.  Priceless.

178 Another airhead wrote that she pays 30% in taxes but would gladly pay double that if they made education free. Yeah, go ahead and do that and let's have all of the Marxist professors work for minimum wage or if they love teaching soooooo much do it for free

179 These 99%ers want high-paying jobs doing touchy-feely do-gooder things. Good luck with that. I think it's fine to pursue one's dreams, but these kids need a fall-back plan for when that doesn't work. If you are going to major in Classical Studies, you need to expect to have to go back and get an MBA to get a job, so take some math as an undergrad.

180 The Classics major is actually a good major.  It is still one of the only liberal arts degrees that teaches higher order thinking and problem solving skills.  Most colleges have programs that are rigorous and demanding. Those skills are transferable into most jobs. 

I worked for an Engineering firm that couldn't find "qualified" Engineering majors, mainly because they insisted on paying 20% below the market on starting salaries.  (I work in HR).  Since they wouldn't pay, Engineering majors went to work elsewhere.  I did some research and found that Classics majors have a tough program  (most universities) and these kids have very fine tuned problem solving skills.  The company would have to train them on the vocational part of the job, but most of them are willing to learn what they can on their own.  They took my advice, and it has worked out beautifully.  In fact, that is the main major they hire for most jobs, not just Engineering. 

Philosophy majors are the same way for some students and some universities.  It is more hit and miss with Philo majors and they do have a tendency of wanting to spend their time "thinking" instead of  "doing".  But my point is, there are still some universities that have degree programs that are beneficial to the workforce that are not traditional science degrees.

Employers are missing out by passing up Classics majors.  I have hired Classics majors for positions in Engineering, Finance, Accounting, Project Management, Risk Management, IT, and Operation Manager positions.  These kids aren't afraid of hard work and they are used to a heavy work load. 

Also, homeschoolers are great employees too.  I have hired homeschoolers that got a classical education (apparently, this is popular in the homeschooling environment) and didn't go to college.  They are more qualified than some MBA's I have interviewed.  Their depth of knowledge and problem solving skills are impressive.  Many of them have run their own little business when they were teenagers and have a far better understanding of business and business principles than some MBA's.  And an 18-20 year old homeschooler is more mature some MBA's.

Just thought I would share.

181 Notice now that they only want to tax the super rich

Can't get Kanye West, Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo to come pay a personal visit if they tax the shit out of the merely rich

182 These "Kids" can all go fuck themselves. My daughter worked full time for 2 years and took courses at night, after graduating from College, so she could get into Grad school. Lazy no good bastards.

183 As I'm reading these whiny notes from Classical Studies degree holders CNBC is on in the background doing yet another story about the lack of trained workers to fill openings in solid, established companies.

184 If you're honest, dependable, work hard, and can get along with people, you will have more work than you can handle. Explains those ignorant losers in the parks.

185 You can't just blame educators for kids choosing dead-end majors.  Where the eff are the parents?

This^


The boy is only 6, but has announced that he wants to be an engineer, which is a degree I will happily pay for. He changes his mind and decides to major in Angry Vagina Studies, he will have to pay for that on his own.


Further, my hubby gave a seminar last week to some high school drama students. One of the points he made was, that if you intend to pursue drama as a college degree, be sure to minor in something to fall back on, like say, accounting or finance. Think about it. Let's say that you are wildly successful as an actor and start making millions, don't you think a background in finance would be helpful? And if you aren't sucessful as an actor, don't you think a background in finance would be useful? The teacher actually pulled him aside and thanked him for telling her students that.

186

If I ever have kids, the rule will be,

1)  You will attend a community college first for two years to get your prereqs out of the way.

2)  While you are there, you'll take courses in a trade so that you have something to fall back on in life.

3)  If you do 1 and 2, then I'll help support you through college.  If you don't, then I'll only provide support if you're studying something in science, engineering, math or business (finance, accounting, economics).  If you want to study Russian literature, then be prepared to pay your own way.

187 A 15-layer carrot cake?

That's the one where she wows onlookers by unhinging her jaw to swallow it whole, right?

188 Further, my hubby gave a seminar last week to some high school drama students. One of the points he made was, that if you intend to pursue drama as a college degree, be sure to minor in something to fall back on, like say, accounting or finance. Think about it. Let's say that you are wildly successful as an actor and start making millions, don't you think a background in finance would be helpful? And if you aren't sucessful as an actor, don't you think a background in finance would be useful? The teacher actually pulled him aside and thanked him for telling her students that.

Posted by: mpurinTexas, Evil Conservanatrix, supports Rick Perry, bitch at October 11, 2011 01:56 PM (pY3GI)

EXACTLY, we're not telling folks you can't go chase fame, sucess, or jump for your dream. we're merely saying the real world is cruel and you better have a plan B to throw back at it

189 You would think these "bright young people," would have thought about this kind of thing when selecting their facial piercings, visible tattoos, and medieval literature majors. 

Additionally, how much talent does it really take to rip-off post secret? 

Ohhh wait, the post secret folks at least had to go to the mail box to bitch about life. 

190 @118 As a machinist, my hubby's stint on fun employment, when his plant shut down earlier this yea,r was a whole two weeks. He had offers almost immediately. It's good to know how to turn brass and steel and iron into actual things.

191 I suppose we all have loser relatives. I've got a brother-in-law who smokes weed, plays his guitar and doesn't pay his electric bill. Dude is pissed that they shut off his power and so now he and his long-haired, smelly friends are protesting the electric company----everyone is entitled to the basic human right of electricity, don't you know?

192 A log-shaped, flourless chocolate cake with a rosemary ganache

And this one sounds like something fished out of a punch bowl (hint: its name rhymes with 'absurd').

193 Man, I am makin' a killing off these stupid brats!

194

And these are the kids that are going to pay for your social security and medicare Boomers.

 

Cough, cough!  Death Panels!  Cough!

195 53

Hmm. WABC reporting "a major terror plot disrupted in Washington DC". No details yet.

 Posted by: Anachronda at October 11, 2011 01:32 PM (xGZ+b)

What, they're shutting down Larry O'Donnell's show?  That lunatic is looking increasingly scary... those eyes... OMG...

196 That schmuck can't even cut his own finger nails.

I just love that he's self-proclaimed to have worked very hard and will graduate with highest honors on Latin. Perhaps the genius could have given a shit about his future when he was in High School.

Shit happens. It's not a cute, friendly, funny, ironic witticism. It's life. It's hard. It'll give you a wedgie after duct taping your nuts to the bottoms of your feet and laugh at you while posting the video on YouTube. It's a f*cking fact. Deal with it.

The reason he is unemployable is simple: He is a liability to any successful enterprise he will ever encounter.

Can you imagine the f*cktards that higher education will be excreting in 20 years?

197

>>.Dude is pissed that they shut off his power and so now he and his long-haired, smelly friends are protesting the electric company----everyone is entitled to the basic human right of electricity, don't you know?

You should tell him he can get his own electricity and all he needs to do it is plug an extension cord into a transformer and run the cord to his house

198 I know why kids today are so dumb.

Because back in the day we were partying hard with all the bimbos at college who were too f*ckin stupid to get any other degree than one in education.

Yeah, they're teaching our kids.

Posted by: Dave at October 11, 2011 01:51 PM (Xm1aB)

Sadly, so true.

I read the "In the Classroom" forum over at the Chronicle of Higher Education website now and then, and I'm always struck by three things:

1) Yes, academia is full of a bunch of idiot leftist douchebags, though a right-wing light does on rare occasion shine through

2) The shit kids try to pull to pass their classes these days is absofuckinglutely incredible.  They clearly have no shame at all.

AND

3) The stories of the "education" majors are enough to make me want to run over my own head with a dump truck before I have a chance to bring a poor, defenseless child into this world of monumental dumbass fuckwittery.

199

And these are the kids that are going to pay for your social security and medicare Boomers.

It's worse than that.  These are the future male orderlies that will be taking care of you and sexually molesting you in the old age home after your stroke.

200

>>>I am worth more dead.

I doubt it. I bet none of these idiots have life insurance

201 Well they always said there is an education bubble. Now we're starting to see its results.

There is, and for exactly the same reason there is (was) a housing bubble -- government financing. 

The government makes credit artificially easy, which appears to the sellers to be an increased demand (even though it's an illusion), which drives up the price of the good.  Do this for 30 or 40 years, and voila, you end up with Classical Studies degrees that cost $200,000.

202 I spent 11 years in college quadruple majoring in Marxist/Feminist/Gender Bender/Hate White Men studies. I've got $250k in debt and I can't find a job. I've got money for tattoos and piercings and every iProduct on the market but nothing for rent or other essentials. Someone should come along and clean up my diaper because I'm too useless to take care of myself. It's all Wall Street's fault!!!!!

203 From the looks of these "protests" we're gonna have a lot of "have nots" in our future.

204 Brenda Sue Doolittle

heh!

205

Posted by: Dave at October 11, 2011 01:59 PM (Xm1aB)

my dead-beat relative is my self loathing conservative brother. lives with his wife, hasn't had  ajob in years. just plays PS3 and watches Netflix all day. Meanwhile, he gets a $20 weekly allowance from his wife and then goes off at me when I correct him after he refers to the money she gave him as his

206 181 The Classics major is actually a good major.  It is still one of the only liberal arts degrees that teaches higher order thinking and problem solving skills.  Most colleges have programs that are rigorous and demanding. Those skills are transferable into most jobs.

I'm sorry but your post sounds like absolute bullshit.  There's not an engineer company that would hire an "engineer" without the education behind it.  Do you honestly expect us to believe that a classical studies major is going to learn advanced math all by themselves, and on the job?  Are you fucking kidding me?

207 If you're honest, dependable, work hard, and can get along with people, you will have more work than you can handle.

Explains those ignorant losers in the parks.

Posted by: Dave at October 11, 2011 01:56 PM (Xm1aB)

This.

208 I'm sorry but your post sounds like absolute bullshit.  There's not an engineer company that would hire an "engineer" without the education behind it.  Do you honestly expect us to believe that a classical studies major is going to learn advanced math all by themselves, and on the job?  Are you fucking kidding me?

Is that I=V/R or I=R/V. Has to be R/V, that's what I lived in at OWS

209 You can't just blame educators for kids choosing dead-end majors.  Where the eff are the parents?

That said, I like Insty's idea that these deadbeats can get their student loans wiped off if the college that sold them a bill of goods in Womyn's Studies pays for it.  I think you'd see a lot of administrators gain immediate clarity about the value of their various degree programs.

210 These 99%ers against government corruption and corporate corruption are really libertarians, they just don't know it yet!

*cue laugh track*

211 If you know that "99ers" is white-power internet slang for [some people white-power types talk about a lot and who can be described by a generally poorly received word that if you're trying to sneak it past certain internet filters, the last five letters in it are "99ers"], this outburst of white-people hysteria is slightly funnier.

212 I just love that he's self-proclaimed to have worked very hard and will graduate with highest honors on Latin. Perhaps the genius could have given a shit about his future when he was in High School.

Sic Semper Follis

213

Certainly many of the OWS crowd made poor life decisions about going to college in the first place, about where to go to college and how much to pay for it, and about what to study when you get there. If it were me -- and this comes from somebody who wasted a decade at the beginning of my working life getting a Ph.D in English before becoming a lawyer (OK, maybe that's a waste too) -- I'd outlaw about half the majors in colleges. We simply don't need degrees in Creative Writing or English or History. Those are things that educated people can learn about on their own, particularly in the age of the Internet. (I can't tell you how many smart secretaries in our firm are well-read or have serious intellectual interests that they developed outside of school -- in particular, the gal who sits outside my office is an incredibly well-read and knowledgeable Civil War buff and re-enactor.)

I'll grant you English, but how are history buffs going to learn about history if there is no one to write the history books? I am willing to be there aren't many secretaries out there learning Medieval Latin so they travel to Europe and comb through charters and hagiographies. Yet, if someone hadn't done just that, we would still all believe that the Crusaders were younger sons looking to grab land.

Given the constant complaints from conservatives that so few people understand history, I would think they would be supportive of those of us that wish to study it professionally. Research doesn't do itself than goods manufacture themselves - don't be the mirror-image of the hippies!

214 A 65 mile daily commute & $100 in tolls?  Move closer and maybe the rent won't be $1000 a month.  Jimney Crickets people, it would take so little to improve your lot.  Stop begging and do something.

215 I am worth more dead.

I got a job for you,  kid.  Fill this box with Soylent Green.  No,  not like that.  Get. In. The. Box.

216 I saw that video in the park where John Lewis was going to speak. Some nerdy, little, liberal totalitarian was speaking and the good little comrades in the audience repeated every damn thing he said. I've never seen a sorrier bunch of sheeple in my life. The only thing I'm repeating back is the Lord's Prayer and/or the Pledge. What a bunch of little, pansy-ass followers.

217 My 99% can beat your 99% any day of the week.

218 Well, he can always get a job, teaching "Classical Studies" to other losers.

219 Given the constant complaints from conservatives that so few people understand history, I would think they would be supportive of those of us that wish to study it professionally.

You can study it professionally all you want.  Just don't come crying to us when you find out it doesn't pay the bills like these douchebags are.

220 I got a paying job. I study history in my spare time--I read. I don't expect it will ever pay the bills though.

221 You know WHO ELSE had a "killer" resume

222 Plenty of great paying jobs for good mechanics and auto body specialists

Oh, but that was for the stupid kids who couldn't get into college like these thumbsuckers.

223

The world needs ditch diggers too

224 Oh, boo-friggin' hoo. You are part of the 99%. 99 % of people who have no clue.

225 The so-called 99%-ers are stuttering clusterf*cks of miserable failure, just like Obama. 

226 I think it's fine to pursue one's dreams, but these kids need a fall-back plan for when that doesn't work. If you are going to major in Classical Studies, you need to expect to have to go back and get an MBA to get a job, so take some math as an undergrad.

Posted by: Spike at October 11, 2011 01:54 PM (g/arr)

THIS.   My theater teacher in high school liked to tell us how, when she went to college, her parents sat her down and said:

"We know you want to major in theater, sweetheart.  But if you're going to do that, we also expect you to dual major in a field that has more economic viability.  Hope for the best, but plan for the worst, dear."

She ended up a dual major in theater and mathematics, and proceeded to excel in both.  She was a leftist to the extreme, but that was always a story that stuck with me.  I don't think enough parents have that conversation with their children anymore. 

One of the worst side effects of the cancer of high tuition is that student loans further separate parents from their childrens' higher education.  I'm not saying parents should have to pay for their children to go to college; if that had been the case, neither my sister nor I could have gone to university.  But when you're the one footing the bill, or even a portion of the bill, you've got the clout to say, "Oh hell no.  You are NOT majoring in Transgendered Cultural Studies, young lady.  You're majoring in Computer Programming or another viable field, or you are coming home right now and finding a job.  I'm not paying for a worthless degree." 

Student loans can be a godsend to someone who can balance the value of their education against the level of debt they'll acquire.  But too many kids today are too stupid, to apathetic, or too arrogant to care.

227 The pussies in the parks couldn't dig a ditch or change the oil if their pitiful lives depended on it.

228 Unless your name is Ranger Rick or Smokey the Bear,  you will never found a job at the park.

229 "But I worked hard! Give me whatever I want! I deserve it!" 30 years of the "esteem movement" finally coming to a long overdue tipping point.

230 #175 I got a degree in Anthropology. At the same time I was going to grad school I was an apprentice tool and die maker. Today I'm a journeyman machinist, a certified welder. a nondegreed mechanical engineer and machine designer. The young son of two college professor friends of mine are all up in arms because their son wants to work with horses and also be a ferrier. I told the young to go for it. There will always be a job for people who are good with their hands. He can always get a degree later.

231 Yeah, these helpless twits in the parks are the reason they should have kept score at those youth soccer games.

232

I don't feel sorry for any of these people. They have always looked down their noses at guys like me because they were supposedly smarter or richer or from better families. And they just naturally expected to get their college degrees on Mom and Dad's dime, followed by the cushy job in business or at a university, and never have to break a sweat a day in their lives. That was for guys like me to do.

Well, welcome to the real world, Skippy. We're all stocked up on poly/sci majors here. Can you swing a hammer? Drive a truck? Hook up a water heater? Because those jobs never go out of style. Women's studies? Can't use you, but if you can pound dents out of a fender or rebuild a transmission, welcome aboard.

Your student debt? That's on you. You could have gone to a local college, maybe the university in your home state, but that was beneath you and your limitless self regard. You wanted a sheepskin from Harvard, Princeton, Stanford. You were certain a prospective employer would see that on your diploma and just hand you the keys to the kingdom. Surprise! Your demographic- young, idealistic, over-educated, with soft hands never sullied by a day's labor- has been grossly oversold.

Welcome to the real world, which doesn't give a fuck about your $100,000 art history PhD from Brown University. You don't get the big house and the 2 hybrid SUVs and summers off. You get a one bedromm apartment and a 10 year old car and Hamburger Helper.

You chose... unwisely.

233 Student loans can be a godsend to someone who can balance the value of their education against the level of debt they'll acquire.  But too many kids today are too stupid, to apathetic, or too arrogant to care.

When my oldest stepson was researching which college to attend, the question of student loans came up.  We told him the same deal, that he had to major in something useful or else we'd be cutting the support.  He said he could get loans all by himself and pay it back a year after graduating.  When he read the fine print on the loan application, it said that he had to have his parents or another 3rd party as a co-signor.

PWNED!!!

234 You know who majored in Classics? Me. BA in Classics with Latin.
You know why I have a job now? 'Cause I knew it was a worthless degree and I only picked it 'cause it was interesting on my way to law school.
But, you know what else? I had a back-up plan. I knew that if I didn't get into law school, I'd just go back for another year, take the hours to turn that degree into the qualification to teach Latin, work for free for the professors and was prepared to go where ever in the US I needed to to work.
Looking at statutes ain't a fucking job, son.
But then, that wasn't going to happen: Graduating Magna cum Laude helps.

235 Raise them right. Tell them, You don't have a right to be happy. Life ain't fair, get used to it and quit your bitching. You don't work, you don't eat.

236 What really pisses me off is that behaving in this sad sack behavior -- post your dumb luck story for all to see -- is more and more becoming the norm. A prominent example from 2008 was Barky's 30 minute infomercial that ran in the week prior to Election Day.

Have these people no pride? Or, more accurately, have they no humility?

237 What to do with the other 99%ers

238 Dear 99%, You reap what you sow. You sowed your seed to create President Hussein Obama. You got your hope. Boy, you got your change. Now STFU. Your pal,

239

What really amuses me about the brainless college chick at the top of the page is that the put the "useless" part about her degree in Classical Studies in the scare quotations.  She hasn't come to grips with the fact that her degree really is useless.

Unlike her, I graduate in 7 months with a useful degree in Mechanical Engineering. But I guess the 12to 16 hour days of class, lab and homework wasn't for her.

 

240

Let's not be too hasty to beat up on narcissists.

241 We need history majors to teach history and English majors to teach writing and literature.  We just don't need as many as are being turned out, and we don't them to be corrupted with marxist, post-modern, post-colonial [insert your favorite form of BS here] ideologies.  But that's what we're getting.

242 I wonder how many of these whiners had a part-time job while in college.  Even something at Wal-Mart or McDonald's.  Those jobs teach a job ethic and provide experience working for someone else.  In my case, working was a necessity to pay for books and gas up the car, but the experience of actually working and drawing a paycheck was a valuable one.  Clearly, many of the whiners at that site have not taken advantage of such experiences.

243 I run a very modest little personal blog. No trolls in more than 3 years. Then I did a piece on the OWS protests and attracted some. In tracking back it seems that these people are specifically searching for blogs that do posts in opposition to the protests and then flaming them in comments. I've even had to go to comment moderation, something I never thought I'd have to do. If I'm getting that much flack on my very small and hardly read blog I can only imagine the flames pouring into your electronic coffers. I guess I should view it as a compliment but all I see is idiocy and intolerance once again trying to overtake us all. My thanks to Ace and all the contributors and commenters for continuing to hold these people's feet to the fire. Keep up the skeer. If it was ineffective they wouldn't be screaming in pain.

244

We should totally be doing this.  Except instead of the crap the are doing we have a list of things we think makes Obama and the liberals idiots.

Except the tag line should be something like 'we are the 48% of the country that pays for all these sorry ass whining losers that want to take more food away from my family'.

 

I'm on salary and work up to 80 hours a week in a crisis.  I'm watching my freedoms and liberties being eroded as they are attacked from politicians on the Left and Right. I fear for my health care after Obama based his 'health care reforms'. I watch in horror as the incompetent douchebags in Washington continue to spend money we don't have.

- I am the 48% of the country that pays for the rest.

245

Dear Disillusioned Recent College Graduates:

 

I quit HS and joined the Army for 3 years. When I got out I had a few menial jobs like insulation installer, truck driver, and warehouse dispatcher. The I got a job with a big public utility. I started in the ditch with a shovel, then worked up to customer service. I was there 20 years and bought one house and 5 cars and trucks. Made a life, got married.

I learned how to use a computer and then I got a great job offer in Colorado. Now I work in a highly technical environment and am well paid. I own a house, a late model truck that's paid for, and I just bought a new motorcycle.

I have these things because my Dad taught me that if I want something, I have to work for it. It's called a work ethic. Show up every day and give your boss his money's worth. Don't think you're more important than you are. Mind your manners and play by the rules.

I AM THE 99%, MOTHERF***ERS!

246

This isn't entirely their fault, of course: Their colleges lied and lied and lied to them, encouraging to "explore themselves" and take whatever courses they thought interesting, rather than actually building towards some kind of hirable skill-set.

But none of the whining is directed at their teachers and provosts, of course. It's directed at you, because you don't have any use for a Classical Studies major.

One of my undergraduate degrees is in Classics (Classical Latin and Classical Greek).  I will say that it is most certainly not “easy” in the way that other liberal arts degrees are perceived.  Like math or science, there is a “correct” answer.  It was one of the more intellectually rigorous and time-consuming pursuits – as a Freshman, I did routinely spend 3-5 hours of preparation for each 50 minute 101 Ancient Greek class, and I had had the advantage of studying both Classical Latin and Ancient Greek in high school.  But it was always rather clear to me that the degree itself would be relevant to a limited scope of job prospects – Catholic Priest, parochial high school teacher/tutor, and very few others. 

All this is to say that while it was a tremendous mental discipline, it would be wise to pair the degree with some training for a practical career. 

Additionally, plenty of people wind up in fulfilling careers in areas for which their formal education is not relevant – but many of those stories begin with someone taking the initiative, and learning skills on the job without believing that he or she was the precious snowflake for which there is (or should be) a perfectly matching job at a generous salary. 

College is supposed to be the beginning of oneÂ’s life-long education, not the terminal end.     

247 Hey OWS accomplished something... http://tinyurl.com/3ptyp6u

248 Useful degrees: Law, engineering, medical, architecture, sciences, business degrees, marketing.

Non useful degrees;Ethnic Studies, gender studies, art. Wait, I take it back, these degrees make 'useful idiots'.

Those fuckers made their beds, they should fucking sleep in it like I do.

Fuck their sad story, wish I had the money to go to college! They should count themselves fortunate.

I got no fucking sympathy.

249

Got a degree in Marine Zoology then joined the Navy. Got out and found two jobs - Marine Zoologist for the Gub'mint for $7K or factory work for $11K.  Took the factory job, used the GI bill to get an MBA and wound up a junior VP for GM. 

GM closed the plant and offered me a transfer to Detroit.  No thanks, I had kids.  Went back to school for engineering and got a job in the computer field.

Still there aftter 20 years...pretty much layoff proof.

My boys got CE degrees, each did a tour in the service, and are doing well.  Dispite my warning my daughter got an Art History degree.  She found a job in the higher-end not.for.profit biz pretty quick, makes $45K (enough to live on) and travels to Europe Art Museums to get her art fix.

She inherited my philosophy on jobs - shovel shit against the wall if you need to, - but make money.

250 If you read the header at the link, they list their grievances which include:

We are suffering from environmental pollution.

Really?

I think these hippies mistake the smell of industrial strength disinfectant that the local restaurants are no doubt now purchasing in drums as "pollution".

Sorry kids, the rest of us call that smell "clean".

251 The young son of two college professor friends of mine are all up in arms because their son wants to work with horses and also be a ferrier.
I told the young to go for it. There will always be a job for people who are good with their hands. He can always get a degree later.

Posted by: mueller at October 11, 2011 02:16 PM (QO+2f)

a good corrective shoer can make 250$ per horse for a full set of orthopedic shoes with wedge pads or hot-shoeing a competition horse for optimal performance. if you do eight horses a day 5 days a week....

252

Don't girls have pointless majors in college because they're just going for their MRS degrees anyway?

Or their education degree - the really useless piece of paper.  In the immortal words of P.J. O'Rourke, "anybody who doesn't know what's wrong with American education never screwed an El-Ed major."

253 Dear 99% There are only so many baristas and pale, pasty nose ring-wearing douchebags in thrift-store clothing cashiers that Starbucks and Barnes and Noble can hire. But those who need blowjobs always hiring.

254

The logic of college education for the last hundred years: 

1.  Education consists of assimilating knowledge.

2.  Knowledge consists of information.

3.  Assembling and disseminating information has a cost in terms of libraries, classrooms, and professors and all the other accoutrements of a campus.

4.  Administering a campus, in turn, also has a cost.   Administrators must be paid.

5.   Therefore, education has a cost.   Pay up.

The logic of college education ca. 2011.

1.   Same.

2.   Same.

3.   The cost of assembling and disseminating information has plummeted due to the Internet.   Now, whole college curriculums are online and available for free.   Whole libraries are online and available for free.   Lectures... online and available for free.   Cultural enhancement like symphonies and good movies and plays... ditto.  

4.   So why should there be an ever bigger cost of administering things that are already available for free without a building, without a classroom, without a dorm, without a library?   

5.  Fuck you.   I'm going to be a plumber and an auto-didact in my spare time.   See you at Kinko's, sucker.  

255 Remember about 4 years ago when companies hired consultants to advise them on proper coddling of Generation Juicebox?

They demanded 50K to start, time off for pilates classes, freedom to update their Facebook pages or text friends, and be promoted by Friday morning or they'd go work for someone else.

Shit like that isn't easily forgotten when the worm turns

256 I'm sorry but your post sounds like absolute bullshit.  There's not an engineer company that would hire an "engineer" without the education behind it.  Do you honestly expect us to believe that a classical studies major is going to learn advanced math all by themselves, and on the job?  Are you fucking kidding me?

There is an Engineering company that does hire people without an Engineering degree because I worked for them.  And I hired them.

These kids take math classes too, 15- 18 hours.  Many of them take logic in place of some of their math.  For example, they have Algebra, Calculus or Trig, Geometry, and 2-3 semesters of Logic/Advanced Logic.  That counts as a "math" at most universities. 

There are some who lacked the math skills to learn on the job and they quit before they were fired, but I can count them on one hand.  The majority of them had enough math that they could pick up what they needed to know to do the job.  (the Project Mgrs refused to hire anyone that didn't have at least 15 hours of math.  If they had multivariable calculus or differential equations, they would hire them on the spot.  But I only came across 2 of those). 

What I find most impressive about them is their willingness to learn on their own.  Most of these kids would spend time at home learning/studying what they needed to learn. They don't just follow seasoned engineers around all day and watch them work.  They had actual textbooks, journal articles, whatever the engineers, threw at them that they had to read and study.  They did that on their own time, then the engineers would show them how it is applied and make them do the grunt work no one wants to do so they could learn to apply what they just studied. 

These are civil engineers I was hiring, btw.

257 209 Are you fucking kidding me?

The punchline is, he probably isn't.  This sort of thing has been starting to happen all over the place--companies have given up on the education system, so they find folks with 'the right stuff' and fill in the skill blanks themselves.  Some even find it cheaper than hiring the actual degreed candidate.  (And they frequently have the means in place anyway to get the hires with 'the right education' up to speed with what they should allegedly already be capable of!)

258 Boo-friggin-hoo. Even an imbecile with an advanced degree in Navel-Gazing can find a job working for the government, - look at the Obama Administration!

259 251 Hey OWS accomplished something...

http://tinyurl.com/3ptyp6u
Posted by: TheGarbone at October 11, 2011 02:31 PM

From the comments, more of the OWS mentality;

"a bit short-sighted but not unexpected. This is a governor with vision (thru green dollar tinted glasses). Let's have Florida become the home of money-grabbers and avoid the dangerous types like poets, philosophers, anthropologists, english majors, and any liberal arts majors. Don't forget that term "liberal" cannot receive taxpayer support in this state."

Yes, a state that got hammered by the real estate crash and still has 11 percent unemployment needs more hippies doing Sunday night drum circles on the beach and customer service reps who will bore the shit out of their co-workers with philosophy.

History of the World Part I

Clavdivs :"I'm a stand up philosopher"
Unemployment clerk: "Oh, another bullshit artist

260 The one thing I will say as someone with a History and Poli Sci degree (and who teaches with them because I know what the hell I'm doing) is that we need to keep a wary eye on this movement.  Promise people free shit and absolving them of responsibility for their own situations is extremely popular.  The fact that most folks in America do not have enough economic common sense to see through the influence hundreds of thousands of pages of government laws and regulations have on businesses and the economy makes it really easy for a movement like this to blame anyone but those actually responsible for hardships.  Ask anyone who mentions Bank of America's 5 buck fee about the Durbin Amendment and you'll get a blank stare; asking them about its economic impact is obviously pointless. 

This group is hilarious until you realize it is the exact same people who elected Obama and are now gearing up Independents to support progressive nonsense again.  I see a lot of jibes from the conservative and libertarian blogosphere but not much that is sticking with your average non political voter.  I've been trying but without much success.  We have to find a way to undermine this thing now or we'll pay for it very shortly. 

261 We have told our kids that they MUST get a marketable degree, if they want us to help them with their college. That means engineering, computer science, accounting, nursing, etc. NOT Women's studies, Classical Studies, English Lit, or what-have-you. Not paying for that. I will  make sure my kids CAN MAKE A LIVING. You can explore literature or art or whatever on your free time.

262 Our daughter majored in psych despite the fact that she is a math whiz.  It paid off.  She now works in a liquor store.

263 250

This isn't entirely their fault, of course: Their colleges lied and lied and lied to them, encouraging to "explore themselves" and take whatever courses they thought interesting, rather than actually building towards some kind of hirable skill-set.

But none of the whining is directed at their teachers and provosts, of course. It's directed at you, because you don't have any use for a Classical Studies major.

One of my undergraduate degrees is in Classics (Classical Latin and Classical Greek).  I will say that it is most certainly not “easy” in the way that other liberal arts degrees are perceived.  Like math or science, there is a “correct” answer.  It was one of the more intellectually rigorous and time-consuming pursuits – as a Freshman, I did routinely spend 3-5 hours of preparation for each 50 minute 101 Ancient Greek class, and I had had the advantage of studying both Classical Latin and Ancient Greek in high school.  But it was always rather clear to me that the degree itself would be relevant to a limited scope of job prospects – Catholic Priest, parochial high school teacher/tutor, and very few others. 

All this is to say that while it was a tremendous mental discipline, it would be wise to pair the degree with some training for a practical career. 

Additionally, plenty of people wind up in fulfilling careers in areas for which their formal education is not relevant – but many of those stories begin with someone taking the initiative, and learning skills on the job without believing that he or she was the precious snowflake for which there is (or should be) a perfectly matching job at a generous salary. 

College is supposed to be the beginning of oneÂ’s life-long education, not the terminal end.    

Posted by: Alec Leamas at October 11, 2011 02:30 PM (mg08E)

This is exactly what I was saying about the Classics majors.  The degree program in most colleges is still very rigorous and demanding.  These students are taught how to make connections from one thing to another, which is where the critical thinking and problem solving skills are learned.  The work load is usually heavy and there is a tremendous amount of reading, so these students are used to do a lot of work and having to meet high standards.  They are also of the believe that education is a life long process and that is why they are willing to spend their own time learning engineering, finance, accounting, etc.

These skills take a long time to teach.  They are cultivated over years of study.  Teaching someone how to read and analyze an annual report is easy.  Teaching someone how to think beyond the obvious and solve complex problems is long and arduous.  It is better for employers to hire someone with this skill set than the vocational degrees, in most cases.

The reason I really like this degree is because it is really the only degree plan left that is demanding on the students.  All the other degrees require little reading and they all write their papers in groups now.  WTF?

264 I need to do one of these:

"I graduated from a non-accredited Christian school in southeast Louisiana.  I never attended college, and opted instead for the experience in my chosen field that would allow me to get ahead (which I'm finding out was not the best career move later in life).

I'm 35 and on track to pull down $80k+ this year, and have no debt but my house and car payments.  All with just a high school diploma.

I am the 48%."

265 I can almost feel sorry for some of these people. They took the phrase "do what you enjoy, the money will come" a little too literally. The money certainly won't come if nobody wants your product or labor.

They had convinced themselves that useless degrees would land them work, like somehow degree => employment, regardless of the education that degree represents. They racked up scandalously high debt to pay for a shitty education.

I even have a friend or two who's gone down the "women and gender studies" route, and I believe they will be woefully unprepared for gainful employment. I really think these 99%ers should be heeded as strong warnings against going down that path.

266 I actually have a psych degree!! If I could go back, I would get a nursing or MIS degree in a heartbeat. I am actually working in my field, but as a BS level not MS level, so my pay is just ok. Luckily, the husband has a marketable degree! AND SO WILL MY KIDS!!!!

267 Damn.  Sock utterly fail.

But I'm still the 48%

268 Posted by: tinkerbelle at October 11, 2011 02:59 PM (Oo90s)

Yeah - another thing is that you couldn't hide.  In a 300 or 400 level undergraduate Latin or Greek course, you may have had 2 or 3 students.  It was basically "take out the text and let's start reading Greek."    

269

270 No job prospects with a classical studies degree?  Say it isn't so.

271 I used to like orange juice a lot. I wanted an endless spigot of ice cold, high pulp orange juice in my house.
Now I don't like it so much anymore.
I am the 99%.

272 It's directed at you, because you don't have any use for a Classical Studies major.

Ahem.

273 276 It's directed at you, because you don't have any use for a Classical Studies major.

Ahem.
Posted by: Prof. Victor Davis Hansen, Classical Studies Professor and noted Neo-Con at October 11, 2011 03:07 PM

Hansen also owns a large farm in Central CA and does his own mechanical and maintenance work. He can repair his own irrigation valves. Something these juiceboxers felt was beneath them to learn

274 259 Remember about 4 years ago when companies hired consultants to advise them on proper coddling of Generation Juicebox?

They demanded 50K to start, time off for pilates classes, freedom to update their Facebook pages or text friends, and be promoted by Friday morning or they'd go work for someone else.

Shit like that isn't easily forgotten when the worm turns

Posted by: kbdabear at October 11, 2011 02:44 PM (Y+DPZ)

OMG!  Working in HR, this was a topic that was discussed endlessly since like 2002.  And these little punks really did have this believe they were special and deserved special treatment.  And if you didn't show them enough "appreciation', why they will just leave to work for someone who does.  Their definition of 'appreciation" varied but almost always included letting them do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and don't bug them about doing stuff they don't want to do.  Because they are brilliant.  And special.  And you suck if you can't recognize that.

And do you know how many parents moms of these little darlings I have had to talk to for the last 10 years?  If precious got passed up for a promotion, mom would call me to tell me that precious was going to work for someone who appreciated them.  If precious got a performance review they didn't like, mommy would call me and demand the rating be changed and the "proper" merit increase be given, usually no less than 7%.  If precious had a boss that expected them to work and mentioned as much to them, mommy would call me to tell me that they were going to sue for harassment.  It was almost always a mom who called regarding her son.  Young men of today are a bunch of whiny wimps.

I am actually kinda glad this is happening to these kids.  They needed a dose of reality and sometimes the hardest lessons in life are the most valuable.

275 Remember about 4 years ago when companies hired consultants to advise them on proper coddling of Generation Juicebox?

They demanded 50K to start, time off for pilates classes, freedom to update their Facebook pages or text friends, and be promoted by Friday morning or they'd go work for someone else.

Shit like that isn't easily forgotten when the worm turns

Posted by: kbdabear at October 11, 2011 02:44 PM (Y+DPZ)

 

And they could dress how ever they wanted and show up whenever it pleased them and basically treat the work place like a college dorm. And the little douches who have had everything spoon fed to them, never got a failing grade or kept score during sports because it would hurt their feelings or precious self-esteem are now facing reality for the first time in their useless lives and they have no idea on how to deal with it. Reality doesn't give a shit about their self-esteem.

276

Posted by: tinkerbelle at October 11, 2011 03:11 PM (Oo90s)

 

A few years ago I worked at a large investment company. We had some college kids, from wealthy families, who were summer interns. They were supposed to file and do other assorted work like that. They said, they wouldn't file and do work like that. I guess it was beneath them. Maybe these 20 year old douches thought they were going to walk in and start investing millions/billions of dollars. These little SOBs have had mommy and daddy pave the way for them and they seem to think that they are going to walk in the door as the CEO

277 Didn't Obama, the Stuttering Clusterfuck of a Miserable Failure just tell them two weeks ago: "Stop complainin', stop grumblin', stop cryin'"

278 My favorite of the "letters" was the girl claiming that "a job should not be the difference between dialysis and kidney failure."  If she indeed needs dialysis, then she would know that every dialysis patient is eligible for Medicare.  It's about $100 a month.  If you can't afford even that, the American Kidney Foundation will pay your premiums for you.  You just have to ask.  Either she is stupid or she is lying to elicit sympathy.

279 Reality doesn't give a shit about their self-esteem. Posted by: TheQuietMan at October 11, 2011 03:14 PM

Dear Mr Reality,

My client, Justin Juicebox is special and has had to undergo treatment for severe stress and depression with no health coverage to pay for it along with his student loans.

Dylan Coddlestein, esq.

280 272 Posted by: tinkerbelle at October 11, 2011 02:59 PM (Oo90s)

Yeah - another thing is that you couldn't hide.  In a 300 or 400 level undergraduate Latin or Greek course, you may have had 2 or 3 students.  It was basically "take out the text and let's start reading Greek."    

Posted by: Alec Leamas at October 11, 2011 03:04 PM (mg08E)

This is exactly what these kids have told me.  They said that their college experience was like one on one teaching because the classes were so small.  They knew their professors and their professors demanded a lot of them.  That is also the reason why when these engineers throw books, journal articles, etc. at them to learn, they take it home and learn it.  Because their expectation is they will be quizzed on it the next day, just like when they were in college.  Their on the job training  is just an extension of college for them.  When they are told they have to learn something or know something, they take it upon themselves to learn it.  The engineers take their book knowledge they have learned and show them how to apply it.

It actually works great.  Like I said, in my experience, Classics majors are the most well rounded and educated of all majors and have skills that are transferable; mainly because of the work they are required to do and the expectations that are placed on them in college. 

Liberal Arts majors are supposed to work the same way, but they have become a total waste.  I graduated in the early 90's with a degree in Psychology and my work load was pretty heavy.  I had at least 3 research papers every semester I had to write - BY MYSELF.  When I hear about how much reading and writing is required in college today, I think about what a waste of time and money these kids are spending.

When I graduated, a Liberal Arts degree was still valuable.

281 ...the handwriting is too juvenile, but I suppose that's the norm of a generation that types instead. Was she told that joining a sorority would guarantee her a job placement after logging volunteer hours?

250 & 267 I agree that by neglecting the classics, the mind is stunted, repeatedly "reinventing" the wheel. Classical Studies should have provided the student an understanding of human relations in civilization, to not realistically expect pre-existing "comfort zone" conditions to remain static or to return.

If it's a "real" job she seeks outside of academia, she can always augment her education with practical vocational training in math/accounting/computing for Human Resources, or forming her own non-profit work, or earn a degree in engineering and build her green dream.

College students today act as if this economic slowdown is the first ever, that there were no college grads during the 1970s and 1980s recessions who couldn't find "appropriate" job placement to match their degrees, that work was plentiful for all during the 1930s, and after WWI and WWII.  Such is life. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

282 Didn't Obama, the Stuttering Clusterfuck of a Miserable Failure just tell them two weeks ago: "Stop complainin', stop grumblin', stop cryin'" Posted by: Adirondack Patriot

LOL, evidently that's directed at his opposition Obama calls "the enemy" -- us.

283

Dear utter idiots who are crying about their student loan debt:

Are you aware that the government has a program that will reduce your payments to no more than 15% of your monthly income? Are you aware that this same program will end your payments in 25 years (10 if you work for the government!) regardless of how little you paid?

 

Are you aware that if you have $80,000  in student loan debt yet make only $35,000/year because your degree in Feminist Studies was a load of crap, you can get the government to pay over 100K of your loan. You'll be on the hook for about 10K. You'll pay between $50 and $150 per month on a 80K loan.

You can thank all of us for picking up the rest of the tab.

284 I've hired lots of people out of college over the years, and I've established a rule that the person has to have majored in a quantitative subject. I don't particularly care which subject - physics, chemistry, economics - but the person has to have done that and done well. (I always quiz them in detail about the math classes they've taken.) Part of that is the kind of jobs I hire for, but a lot of that is cultural - no one who did well as a physics major is going to complain about working late occasionally. Downsides: candidates like that are hard to find, and after several years of work experience, they tend to be eminently employable elsewhere, so you tend to lose them. Still worth it, though.

285 Regarding that "confused" lady:
I've lived off of practically the same take home amount just fine. With a similar amount of rent. (Hint: take a roommate and cut that in half. I didn't do that, but had considered it.) Does she really need to be spending $650/month on student loan debt? $550 on bills and utilities? How fancy of a TV/cell phone package does she need? My father is usually conservative with money, but when even he heard my job offer, he encouraged me to get a new car, and I did. And the monthly cost still came out to less than this lady's car figure.

The best advice I ever heard when I got married: don't expect to live now the way your parents do, with the (at least) two more decades of saving and earning they have on you. You won't have a fancy car, new furniture, and all the extras on your cable package. Tough. Suck it up. I think this generation really needs to reprioritize. The ego on some of these kids -- I'm embarrassed to be a part of this generation.

286

Does she really need to be spending $650/month on student loan debt?

Nope. She could probably reduce that to 100/month if she took 5 minutes to apply for the income adjusted repayment plan.

Of course, that takes 5 minutes of work....

287 46 I don't feel sorry for these kids.  Nope.  They made their choices as free adults.  Deal.

Posted by: EC at October 11, 2011 01:30 PM (GQ8sn)

That's not really fair.  Some of them made that choice when the economy was healthy enough to absorb them.  There are a whole lot of jobs out there that require any college degree.  In 2007 these people would have easily gotten jobs selling insurance or working for the city or whatever.  The ones in the most useless degrees would have gone to law school and ended up able to pay the bills.  Yes, those were unusually good times, but that's all they'd ever known, so it's not hard to imagine they didn't realize it.

The other part of the problem is they hear mixed messages when they get to college.  Mom and Dad are telling them to get a marketable degree (maybe), but the most immediate authority figures, the ones they see every day, are telling them "If you wanted job training you should have gone to a technical school.  College is about education - you'll be so much more valuable to employers after we teach you to think!"  Who doesn't want to learn that?

And most of them have never had a job, so how would they know?  These days you can't get into a good school without having some kind of Miss America lefty dream resume.  Whereas I worked in some crappy job during the summers in high school, these kids had to volunteer at the local homeless shelter and distribute condoms in Burkina Faso.  And anyway, at least here in California all the crappy jobs are already taken by illegals.

I feel sorry for them.  They've been lied to their entire lives.  They've been told self esteem is more important than results since before they could walk.  They've been force to do "volunteer" work when they should have been getting work experience.  They've been led to expect their efforts in college would be the ticket to (at least) the middle class irrespective of major.  They've been saddled with so much debt they'll be in their forties before they can pay it off.

So I feel sorry for them.  Not enough to wipe out their student loans with my tax dollars, but I don't think  it's fair to ridicule them either.

288 11
You'd think their college/university would let them know that a degree in English or in History on their resume would not be a big selling point in the job market.

Posted by: soothie at October 11, 2011 01:24 PM (G/zuv)

The facilities and equipment to teach Hydraulics 201 to a class of MechEng students costs a lot of money.  Teaching "Vampires in Literature and Cinema" at Madison is cheap for the school.

289 I once mocked the employment prospects of "gender studies" majors on a local newspaper web page, and got a response from a "gender studies" major that she had landed a great job right out of college. She worked for the government, of course...

290 I'm a university professor in a humanities field, and frankly I think it's unfortunate that so many in the conservative movement take such a negative view of anything that isn't vocational training. William F. Buckley, Victor Davis Hanson, and many other conservative luminaries (including me in my own modest way) are able to make the contributions we do precisely because of the educational path we took. I understand the impression out there that all we do in the humanities is churn out Marxist drones and navel-gazing narcissists. Some profs (but probably fewer than you think) do just that and attract a lot of attention for it, but there's a lot more to the story that isn't told, unfortunately, even in the conservative media. Critical thinking, a broad knowledge of the intellectual history of mankind, the ability to construct and frame arguments--these are very important skills. And frankly, it isn't even true that somebody with an advanced degree in classics is only going to find a fast-food job. A job in academia, which so many of them assume they're going to get, is unlikely for most, but journalism, law, and many other such fields are natural next steps for somebody with those degrees. As for the fine arts or popular art, conservatives routinely howl about the left-wing bent in such fields. At the same time they barely if at all support conservative artists, filmmakers, and etc., they look down their noses at acquiring the training to do actually do these things well. Can you do them without training? Yes. As you can do many vocational jobs without university degrees. But working as hard as possible and learning as much as you can about you want to do as a career will only make you better--I for one that consider that totally consistent with conservative values. In addition to conservative engineers, bankers, business-owners, etc., I think there should also be conservative professors, film-directors, painters, poets, philosophers, historians, and intellectuals of all kinds.

291

Posted by: Ace's liver at October 11, 2011 03:41 PM (1+XRG)

 

ThereÂ’s something to this – theyÂ’re not unlike the working class people who bought more house than they really needed because they sort of felt that if they qualified for a mortgage, well the Banks knew better than they did what they could afford, after all theyÂ’re the Banks.  Same deal with colleges loaning tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars for degrees that wound up being unmarketable – these colleges with their professors and advisors are supposed to know what the hell is going on.  Only issue is that the college kids are in a worse position than the mortgagors, because without a verified disability, their debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy, whereas someone who is underwater on a house can get out of the whole thing if theyÂ’re willing to declare Bankruptcy. 

292 Posted by: Paul at October 11, 2011 03:47 PM (VNK+k)

Non-vocational majors are fine. Just don't expect an employer to hire one in a recession over someone with a vocational major.

293

I spent an hour on that website this morning and all I wanted to do was slap each and every one of these losers.

Would someone please not just tell these jackwads "don't major in stupid crap," but also point out that every freakin job does not require a degree, and even less of them require Masters or PhDs. If you need all of the above to get a specific job, I'm sure it will pay enough to cover the loans. However, if you are majoring in something you need 2, 3, 4, degress for, and you don't plan on teaching at that very college you are attending, good luck with that. If your career options are so narrow that you're going to have to wait for the current occupant of that job to die, or kill him/her yourself, you might want to reconsider.

If you decide to get a Masters before you ever work, don't expect to walk in the door and get paid Exec level salary (I'm talking to you, Mr. "Killer Resume"). Entry level positions don't need a Masters Degree, and with no work experience, that's all your gonna get. Try a nice internship, and get in at a company who will pay for your Masters. 'Cause that's what real employers do. If you need an advanced degree, many of them will pay for all or part of it. Do not go to school for 7 years racking up debt because it is so impossible for you to work AND study (unlike those of use who do both - FULL TIME) and then complain because you can't get your dream job. Hate to pop your fantasy land bubble, but why don't you go scream at whatever guidance counselor told you that would work.

Finally, to all those kids on there bitching about their parents refusing to pay (Go Dad on that one!!), those kids dropping out because their parents can't continue to support them, and those kids complaining about how stapped their parents are: You suck as a child. YOU did that to your parents, no one but YOU. Ask my kids if I am paying for their college education. Ask my parents if they paid for my college education. You are ungrateful leeches.

294 @295 Paul

"Hey hey ho ho, Western Civ has got to go!"  Remember when Jesse Jackson led that chant at Stanford?  One of the best schools in America then dropped it's Western Civilization requirement to graduate.  No wonder conservatives regard the Humanities departments as hostile.

295 A few years ago I worked at a large investment company. We had some college kids, from wealthy families, who were summer interns. They were supposed to file and do other assorted work like that. They said, they wouldn't file and do work like that. I guess it was beneath them. Maybe these 20 year old douches thought they were going to walk in and start investing millions/billions of dollars. These little SOBs have had mommy and daddy pave the way for them and they seem to think that they are going to walk in the door as the CEO. Heard the Governor of Idaho tell a funny story about this once. In preparation for his political career, he took the precaution of marrying the daughter of the richest man in Idaho, the late JR Simplot, who supplies McDonalds with a lot of its french fries. So, he needed a job one summer during college, and had his then-girfriend get him a summer job at a Simplot potato plant. He showed up the first day, expecting to be shown his office, and was given some hip waders and a shovel, and was given the job of cleaning out the trap under the production floor. Guess JR intended to make a point...

296 The best advice I ever heard when I got married: don't expect to live now the way your parents do, with the (at least) two more decades of saving and earning they have on you.

That's what we were told as well. Of course today, the kids have to realize that even after 20 years working in their profession, the only way to be as well off by then as their parents are now is if they go without the "you deserve" commercial purchasing bombardment that will require every penny they earn and then some. Keynesian "debt as wealth" blew its wad long gone, and that doesn't make any consumer feel better. The JPMorgan style robber baron tactics are returning with a vengeance against debtors, compounding economic conflict as sovereign nations dissipate. The Republican line maintains that corporations are people, too. From the grave, Steinbeck's retreading the Grapes of Wrath. The globalist investment industry isn't satisfied repossessing a car or a house when they can have entire nations.

Example, former Prime Minister Majors is advising Britain to pull out of the EU or at least sever ties with the Euro. And he's the one who drew Britain into the Euro. Sour grapes, given that Britain is economically under Germany's thumb rather than visa versa, Majors would quit the game he started, take his marbles and go home. All's well that ends well.

297 The Machine Rages Against Itself

A very privileged protest: Wearing $300 jeans and from some of the most exclusive schools, the children of the one per cent out for a good time at Occupy Wall Street

I'm pretty sure the hardcore criminal element knows there's some easy pickins at the park.

298 GetADamnJobYouHippie.org Messages from the 52%

299 while I'm all in with the ridicule, I am a bit worried. Maybe it's because I just reread A Tale of Two Cities (by one of those dead white guys these self-pitying English majors no longer learn about), but frankly mobs scare me. Even if they start out as stupid patchouli-soaked hippie circle jerks, you add in enough union thugs, you get enough Obama demagoguery, and things can get out of hand quickly.

300

The facilities and equipment to teach Hydraulics 201 to a class of MechEng students costs a lot of money.  Teaching "Vampires in Literature and Cinema" at Madison is cheap for the school.

Posted by: fozzy at October 11, 2011 03:44 PM (FEzSe)

 

Yeah, and the idiots who are taking that and the Beatles 101 are going to wonder why they have $100,000 in student loan debt and can't find a job. Hey Count Dracula listening to Rubber Soul isn't going to pay the big bucks

301 Of course today, the kids have to realize that even after 20 years working in their profession, the only way to be as well off by then as their parents are now is if they go without the "you deserve" commercial purchasing bombardment that will require every penny they earn and then some.

This.  It's not just that these kids don't have as much money as they thought they'd have.  It's also that they're basing their expectations on a lifestyle their parents were only (temporarily) able to afford through borrowing.

302 Remember when your mom told you tattoos and body piercings make you unemployable? Maybe you shoulda listened.

303 What happened with Jesse Jackson and Stanford was deplorable. But it's not as if buckling when somebody cries "racism" is somehow unique to humanities departments (although in that case I think it was more a decision of the administration than any department). Was this the Condy Rice era? I forget. Corporations--even those run by conservatives--are prone to do the same thing from time to time. And remember that the Hoover Institute is still at Stanford--a bastion of some pretty conservative intellectuals who hold a whole bunch of those namby pamby graduate degrees in non-vocational fields.

304 So, the little asshole is in "Greek Classical Studies"?  Hasn't she noticed the total breakdown of the Greek economy because the entitlement culture sucked the lifeblood out of the country?

305 The generations who built and defended this country seem to be giving way to a society of pampered effetes whose idea of hardship is running out of juice for their iPods.  They spend their credit cards into thousands of dollars in the red, and theyÂ’re addicted to the instant gratification of getting everything NOW. They are convinced the world owes them a living and Big Government should give them a free education and welfare.  The Nanny State has dictated everything from where and when to smoke cigarettes, the socialist indoctrination in schools, eating habits, and how parents raise and discipline their children.

The entitlement culture runs the gamut from Francis Fox-PivenÂ’s ideology of violent revolution for ‘redistribution of wealthÂ’, to free internet access for ‘nappy-headed childrenÂ’ to illegal aliens, to the union thugs.

America has devolved into a society that no longer believes in the rugged individualism, courage, and self-determination that made us a once great nation. A large part of the population is comprised of an able-bodied but lazy segment of society that siphons off the public dole. Every developed country has them. ItÂ’s a perpetual welfare class that doesnÂ’t work because they donÂ’t have to. Many of them never have. They know how to manipulate the system and they pass it to their children like a fucking family heirloom. Speaking of children, some of the welfare queens are just as allergic to birth control as they are job hunting.

No one gave me a free meal ticket in life. I come from a working class family. My environment was far from prosperous. My mother raised 7 kids, mostly by herself. We all worked. My two older step sisters worked two part time jobs, and my mother worked to make ends meet.  At the age of  18, I joined the United States Army and served the country for a total of 30 years.

We believe in a helping hand, not a handout.

Parents are supposed to set an example of values, principles, and work ethic to help their kids have a better life than they did. The opportunities are there. You have to do something besides sit on your ass and complain about how unfair it is that the eeeeevil rich have so much money. Ordinary rational humans wouldnÂ’t want to destroy their countriesÂ’ economy and penalize wage-earners with more taxation.  But, thatÂ’s the goal of the class-warfare neo-Bolsheviks in the White House and the Democratic party.

Work ethic and personal responsibility for oneÂ’s lifestyle and actions start at home. When parents donÂ’t tell Big Government to mind its own fucking business and stick to doing its job of  following the Constitution, the result is what you see as the “Occupy Wall Street” circus.

306 These "poor" numbnuts are flashing a lot of toys and cash around that park. They might get a lesson that the predators don't really give a shit about how much the prey say they love the poor, they want them to hand it over

It's only a matter of time before the spoiled brats, nutjobs, and other detritus get bored and start getting on each others nerves. That ought to be rather interesting
 

307 A very privileged protest: Wearing $300 jeans and from some of the most exclusive schools, the children of the one per cent out for a good time at Occupy Wall Street

I'm pretty sure the hardcore criminal element knows there's some easy pickins at the park.

Posted by: kbdabear at October 11, 2011 04:00 PM (Y+DPZ)

 

So that article says that a lot of these spoiled nit wits are basically protesting their parents

308 My diaper is full.
I am the 99%.

309 They need a business card like the one that guy Ace featured. You know, the douche who took 25 years to develope the card that wouldn't fit in a rolodex!

310

There are more than 312 million people in this country and when they don't eat I don't feel hungry but when I go without food my tummy hurts. That's because I'm in the minority of people who are just that special.

I am the 0.00000032%.

Literally.

311 Some of the crazier ones are starting to make death threats against some of these 1 percenters

I don't think it occurred to these nutjobs that these 1 percenters can afford some very elite security staffed with guys who can take out 10 of them before they can blink.

312 Dear Idiot:

Why didn't you use your mega-supreme intelligentsia and get a TEMP job while going to college, to START paying YOUR student loan(s) and if it's in the field of your career, gather some experience while you're studying it?

Nope, no genius like you, dear Idiot could think something like that.

By the time I was out of college I had some experience to put in my résumé-and it worked wonders because as a temp I worked in almost every single work environment you could think of, so no surprises there.

313 Posted by: Ace's liver at October 11, 2011 03:41 PM (1+XRG)

Sure, compassion for the compassionate. I agree, let them grow up. In fact, leave them to grow up. I think, therefore I am. From that point, we all start our adult lives. You are absolutely correct that encouraging them to further rebellion with severe ridicule will only cost taxpayers even more. They grew up with "time out" and can deal with that, being ignored. They've been given too much attention as things go. Sum it up, and leave them to tend themselves as they insist.

That these kids chose to remain juveniles isn't my fault or your fault. Who is fooling whom swallowing lies, believing lies, spreading lies? How compassionate or at least fair minded are these OCCUPY protesters towards the work ethic, self sufficiency, or on a personal level, towards you or me? For starters, they're not cleaning up after themselves. And they must be held accountable for that, forced clean-up before they quit their OCCUPY sit-in. Bloomberg loves making mandates: they can't leave the premises without depositing four filled garbage bags in the proper receptacle in departure.

These kids enjoyed growing up during what seemed the most affluent period in American history. They have comparatively happy childhoods and college days to remember as the world falls down around them. It isn't as if they have nothing. It isn't as if they grew up in poverty or as a peasant and never had a chance to gain a credible education or be part of the college/university setting. It isn't as if they deserve more than they are finding available these days. Despite popular opinion, "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." When times are lean, make do with your best efforts. That's life.

314 Posted by: tinkerbelle at October 11, 2011 02:45 PM (Oo90s)

Who is this company that hires people to train as engineers? I'm getting tired of construction, labor and factory work and wouldn't mind better pay.

315

"I'm a college student incurring thousands of dollars of debt to have the degree I need to protect our planet from the environmental destruction allowed by our corporate owned government. I won't make money with my career. I am the 99%."

 

So she's admitting that she's wasting her time and money but she's sooooooo noble because she's going to save the planet with her shitty worthless degree in Al Gore Bullshit

 

 

316 Remember when your mom told you tattoos and body piercings make you unemployable? Maybe you shoulda listened.

heh

317

Here's another genius:

 

"I'm scared to look for a job because of my lack of experience and my bipolar disorder, and the fact that I'm transgender. I'm the 99%"

 

No dummy it's not a fact that you're transgendered. You decided to grow your hair long and have piercings all over your ugly face. It also admits that it's living off of its parents money. These people are pathetic

318 278 Their definition of 'appreciation" varied but almost always included letting them do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and don't bug them about doing stuff they don't want to do.
_________

Oddly enough, that's pretty much my work ethic. However, what I want to do is usually close enough to what I'm supposed to be doing that I don't get in trouble.

I also don't think I'm brilliant or special; I continue to be amazed that folks would be silly enough to pay me for what I do...

319 Posted by: TheQuietMan at October 11, 2011 04:29 PM (1Jaio)

Too funny. She should be blaming algore himself for not giving her a job, house and car.

320 Dunno, perhaps a degree in 'Classical Studies' might be your first clue that the "job prospect" may be fewer than say an Engineering degree. Then again I wouldn't want you to task your little brain....Not sure if the girl in this picture is attractive but she always has options; right now her body is probably a hell of a lot more valuable than that fancy degree.

321 I'm scared to look for a job because of my lack of experience and my bipolar disorder, and the fact that I'm transgender. I'm the 99%

Hmmm.  I have to believe there's a bit of trolling going on here, though it's hard to tell as some of these people are beyond parody.

322 Learn by observing;

What don't you see much of at OWS?

Asian kids

323 Um, what the HELL is Mz. 32% doing spending $505 a month on a car and insurance for? Clearly someone who got duped into a nicer car than she should have, and financed it to boot. My cheapskate dad taught me early on to pay cash, and buy used, from a private seller if possible so you don't pay tax. We own two 2005 cars, and our monthly insurance works out to less than $100 a month for both. That's a $400/mo. tailwind right there.

My guess is this chick's driving, or even leasing, a new Jetta.

Where the hell were these peoples' parents when it came to teaching about finances?

324 These kids enjoyed growing up during what seemed the most affluent period in American history. They have comparatively happy childhoods and college days to remember as the world falls down around them.

That's hardly a point in the "plus" column.  Happiness is a function of how much life exceeds your expectations.  You're a lot better off thinking life will suck and being pleasantly surprised than the reverse.

325 I got a degree in philosophy and for some reason I'm shoveling shit at 4 AM at my dad's farm in Paradise

Why won't the buggy repair shop hire me? I have a killer resume!

326 Where the hell were these peoples' parents when it came to teaching about finances?

These are poor people who don't realize they're poor.

327 Hmmm.  I have to believe there's a bit of trolling going on here, though it's hard to tell as some of these people are beyond parody.

Posted by: Ace's liver at October 11, 2011 04:42 PM (1+XRG)

 

The picture of the person is a waifish looking thing with a pierced nose, ears and eyebrow. I guessing that it's pathetically legit

328 These people are pathetic.

These protesters are pathetically apathetic.

During the early 1970s in the pop culture of "being aware" protests, apathy was an unforgivable sin. Hence, the O'D interview attack on Cain for being 18 years old and studiously working hard through school rather than protesting the Vietnam War with Jane Fonda or arming criminals like Angela Davis, or killing people and bombing America with the SDS and Weather Underground like Bill Ayers and his wife, or "volunteering" for military service like John Kerry or Algore college grads guaranteed officer entry status. Hell, whoever said that the civil service is valueless for not supporting the military missions? Oops, except for O'D himself? OK, ok. Congress has yet to recognize the invaluable services of the Merchant Marines during the 20th Century world wars, granting the handful of survivors today "veteran" benefits.

329 My guess is this chick's driving, or even leasing, a new Jetta.

Where the hell were these peoples' parents when it came to teaching about finances?
Posted by: jakeman at October 11, 2011 04:46 PM

No way! She's gotta be driving a top of the line Prius with options up the wazoo

330 325 gross

331 I studied Classics. Then I worked for 30 years, and retired eight years ago on my investments. I have two close friends who were Classics majors: one heads a department at a very nice private college in western New York, and the other is a priest with a bright professional future. Each of us, in different ways, used his education, every day.

It's a poor captain who blames his Major.

332 Where the hell were these peoples' parents when it came to teaching about finances?

In debt over their eye balls, sending their kids to do the same. After all, they "deserve" whatever they want for the taking. Hm.

333 Ah, kbdabear, methinks that's a better call from a status-whore perspective, but I think she whined about her gas costs too.

334 Hence, the O'D interview attack on Cain for being 18 years old and studiously working hard through school rather than protesting the Vietnam War with Jane Fonda or arming criminals like Angela Davis, or killing people and bombing America with the SDS and Weather Underground like Bill Ayers and his wife, or "volunteering" for military service like John Kerry or Algore college grads guaranteed officer entry status.

Jane Fonda = wealthy actress married to wealthy director at the time, daughter of a wealthy actor

Bill Ayers = son of Commonwealth Edison CEO Thomas Ayers

John Kerry = son of a career diplomat and Forbes relative, born with a silver spoon up his ass

Algore = son of powerful US Senator Albert Gore Sr

They had some pretty comfy backstopping there

335 338 Ah, kbdabear, methinks that's a better call from a status-whore perspective, but I think she whined about her gas costs too.
Posted by: jakeman at October 11, 2011 04:53 PM

The Prius only gets great mileage if driven mainly in stop and go city driving. It still has to be gassed up when driving between protests and her local mall to get her nails done

336 You're a lot better off thinking life will suck and being pleasantly surprised than the reverse.

Posted by: Ace's liver at October 11, 2011 04:46 PM (1+XRG)

Exactly. I agree.

Their eyes are opening. They whine that life sucks getting started and in the foreseeable future. So IF they are pleasantly surprised, tralala. 

Still, its an ingrate who swears better to never have had a thing, than to have enjoyed over 20 years of happiness and plenty, to claim they have no responsibility in personal hygiene or earning their way through life by the sweat of their brow.

337 Posted by: kbdabear at October 11, 2011 04:55 PM (Y+DPZ)

Indeed.

338 These candidates tonight need to powwow and agree to NOT discuss OCCUPY beyond a consensus statement.

They've GOT to show some Fred Thompson "then I won't show my hand" guts because the "moderators" are going to harangue on OCCUPY as if that's "the economy".

Take a political lawyer's advice. Answer the question they should have asked instead of the question they ask.

339 What do you mean their college degrees do not scream, "job opportunity"? They are now and always will be cannon fodder for Burger King. duh.

340 295 I'm a university professor in a humanities field, and frankly I think it's unfortunate that so many in the conservative movement take such a negative view of anything that isn't vocational training. William F. Buckley, Victor Davis Hanson, and many other conservative luminaries (including me in my own modest way) are able to make the contributions we do precisely because of the educational path we took. I understand the impression out there that all we do in the humanities is churn out Marxist drones and navel-gazing narcissists. Some profs (but probably fewer than you think) do just that and attract a lot of attention for it, but there's a lot more to the story that isn't told, unfortunately, even in the conservative media. Critical thinking, a broad knowledge of the intellectual history of mankind, the ability to construct and frame arguments--these are very important skills. And frankly, it isn't even true that somebody with an advanced degree in classics is only going to find a fast-food job. A job in academia, which so many of them assume they're going to get, is unlikely for most, but journalism, law, and many other such fields are natural next steps for somebody with those degrees. As for the fine arts or popular art, conservatives routinely howl about the left-wing bent in such fields. At the same time they barely if at all support conservative artists, filmmakers, and etc., they look down their noses at acquiring the training to do actually do these things well. Can you do them without training? Yes. As you can do many vocational jobs without university degrees. But working as hard as possible and learning as much as you can about you want to do as a career will only make you better--I for one that consider that totally consistent with conservative values. In addition to conservative engineers, bankers, business-owners, etc., I think there should also be conservative professors, film-directors, painters, poets, philosophers, historians, and intellectuals of all kinds.

Posted by: Paul at October 11, 2011 03:47 PM (VNK+k)

the problem is the quality of education these kids get today. As I stated in my earlier post, I got a Liberal Arts degree.  But I was required to read 15-20 hours a week and I had to write MY OWN papers, 2-3 a semester.  If you turned in a paper late, you got a zero.  Students got expelled from college for cheating.  If you missed too many classes, your professors failed you.

The standards were much different 20 years ago than the are today.  I didn't have a hard time finding a job with my psychology degree in 1992, which was during a recession.  Granted, not as bad as the one today, but there are entry level jobs available and plenty of "college degree" applicants.  I know this because I work in HR Management and I have my recruiters come to my with stacks of applicants/resumes and not one really qualified for a management training position.  Kids today CAN NOT write worth crap. 

A college degree today is just a repeat of high school.  The value of the degree has gone down because the standards of universities has decreased.  The reason why conservatives favor the science degrees is because they are still the ones with some level of rigor and demand.  You normally can't sleep your way through those classes and have to actually put in the time to learn stuff.  A Humanities degree does not provide the same benefits, because the expectations of the students do not exist (except in the Classics, which I have already mentioned why I am a fan of). 

15 years ago, people with a History, English, Sociology, etc. degrees did not have a difficult time finding a well paying job.  But 15 years ago, you had to actually put in more effort than writing a tuition check to get your degree.  Universities had core requirements that all students had to learn to ensure they had some practical/transferable knowledge.  That doesn't exist anymore...they have a buffet to choose from of classes.  These classes are meaningless and have no value at all, and students are given no guidance as to what will be of value once they are out of college.  They are told to indulge their every desire.  That indulgence isn't working out so well now.

341 Does anyone else think that these holders of less-than-desirable  degrees have just made themselves even less employable?

It's tough getting hired with no skills.  It's tougher getting hired with no skills and a bad attitude.

342 Why don't all you sorry 'I deserve' fuckers just lay down and die....more stuff for me!!!

343

I can sympathize with this movement, and with the girl in the post. The problem is that these people do not know enough about the subject while they truly beleive they have a tight grasp on it.

It truly is a wierd situation......and very embarrassing. I really am embarrassed for these people. At this point the only thing sure to happend is things will get much worse. These peolpe wanted their cake and eat it too with  the Progressive Movements demanding the expansion of government, the refusal to budge on spending, the need to over-regulate across the board....and now they are starting to get worried....and somehow this is the rich guys fault? Maybe it is a little, but these people need to wake up and understand that this isn't about "Economic Civil Rights,"....our Freedom, Economic System, and Sovreignty are at stake.......and they play a major role in F'n in all up!

344

I declare a tie for Thread Winner!!
#19 and #166

What a hoot. Thanks guys.

345 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

346 Since when are college grads part of any 99%?

347 Employers are missing out by passing up Classics majors.  I have hired Classics majors for positions in Engineering, Finance, Accounting, Project Management, Risk Management, IT, and Operation Manager positions.  These kids aren't afraid of hard work and they are used to a heavy work load. 


Just thought I would share.

Posted by: tinkerbelle at October 11, 2011 01:54 PM (Oo90s)

Classics might be hard.

Classical Studies is not hard.

'X Studies' is X without the studying.

348 I'm a university professor in a humanities field, and frankly I think it's unfortunate that so many in the conservative movement take such a negative view of anything that isn't vocational training. William F. Buckley, Victor Davis Hanson, and many other conservative luminaries (including me in my own modest way) are able to make the contributions we do precisely because of the educational path we took. I understand the impression out there that all we do in the humanities is churn out Marxist drones and navel-gazing narcissists.

Posted by: Paul at October 11, 2011 03:47 PM (VNK+k)

You surrendered your universities to the barbarians. It is a little late to be trying to get sympathy.

349 162
I know why kids today are so dumb.

Because back in the day we were partying hard with all the bimbos at college who were too f*ckin stupid to get any other degree than one in education.

Yeah, they're teaching our kids.

If you think the ed majors are stupid, you should see their professors.

350 #295

Paul, you've really missed the point. (And the ENTER key occasionally. They're called paragraphs, man. Use them.)

How many of those famous conservative figures went into hock up to their eyebrows to go to school? VDH grew up on a farm and knew first hand what real labor was. William F. Buckley was born to a quite wealthy family and debt was never a factor in his educational choices.

Something went direly wrong sometime in the late 60s and a sense of entitlement took root and grew like a cancer. In my father's generation, a large contingent of young only looked seriously at college after fighting a war and qualifying for the GI Bill. But their children somehow wanted to enjoy the same benefit without giving up a few years of their lives to low paying and potentially deadly national service. This only got worse with the grandchildren.

When I was growing up it was generally understood, or at least I thought it was, that unless your family was able to manage the cost, you needed to start saving up money in high school to pay your own way through higher education. This  often meant settling for a school of lesser repute or studying an entirely practical vocation to assure the ability to earn better and save towards your true education goal. Going into the sort of debt level associated with buying a home was unheard of back then. Student loans existed but the amounts were tiny by comparison to today's number.

I'd never say a humanities degree was worthless but at the level of mean survival it isn't much of a factor. Starting your adult life without a definite career role and a mound of debt is simply a very bad choice.

351 at 48 I just started a classics degree.Its by no means an easy degree. I just don't demand I get some high paying job out of it. Its the basis of a University and a proper (my opinion ) humanities degree. We wouldn't be in this cultural death spiral if more people knew about true origins of our society.

352 You really make it seem so uderstandable with your presentation but I find this topic before really hard to understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me.

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355
As the article says ....I really enjoy your blog. Intelligent and to the point.

356 I hope you never stop!  This is one of the best blogs Ive ever read.  Youve got some mad skill here, man.  I just hope that you dont lose your style because youre definitely one of the coolest bloggers out there.  Please keep it up because the internet needs someone like you spreading the word.

357 Bull puckey.

I say let the current tenured professorship in all our public American universities opt to take one for the team and resign from their teaching positions. (what the hell, this goes for all the untenured and other associate professor positions too - don't worry none, comrade professorski, Obama and the Dems will enact infinite unemployment benefits provisions, just for you. I promise ...)

This will open up massive job opportunities for all of these poor, benighted souls who CHOSE to get a job-worthless college degreee, and then stayed with these majors for year after year until actually graduating with them. Because everybody knows that it wasn't important to take potential job prospects into account when choosing your major.

Because, like, unicorns are real, and all .....

358 356 at 48 I just started a classics degree.Its by no means an easy degree. I just don't demand I get some high paying job out of it. Its the basis of a University and a proper (my opinion ) humanities degree. We wouldn't be in this cultural death spiral if more people knew about true origins of our society.

Posted by: j connell at October 11, 2011 08:02 PM (xWUtx)

Make sure you take at least 15, preferably 18 hours of Math.  THIS IS A MUST.  Listen to what people on here are saying about the jobs skills needed today and take the advice.  Actually, if you can, minor in math.  Throw in some logic classes too - take 2-3 classes.

You need to minor/double major in one of the sciences such as Engineering, Computer Science, Chemistry, Biology, etc.  Stay far away from stupid "hobby" classes.  They are a waste of time and money.  Use your electives to take Philosophy and Economics.

These classes will kick your tooshie, but it will pay off in the end. 

359 I, uh, for what it's worth, just went back to school (and I am highly focused on what will get me a job afterward) and I am taking a Greek Mythology class for one of my "hey this is probably the easiest A in random humanities credits I can take".

My professor has made several remarks about how completely useless a Classical Studies major is.  When she points out that she is employed it's in the context of "and then hell froze over" and jokes that her father still asks when she'll get a real job.

Honestly, taking classical studies as a major would be a whole lot of fun, but I don't know what she's telling her grad students because she's telling us, jokingly, that it's one of those completely useless majors and there are no jobs.   Does her job depend on how many students she attracts to graduate studies in the department?  I have no idea.  Does she seriously advise them to do something, anything, else?  I have no idea.

And to be honest about her... it sounds like she's busted her butt, written two books I know of (possibly more), and it's obvious that she earned her PhD.  But she's got *the* job in Classical Studies already, and  it's not as though she's an old crone and going to die soon to open that up to a new hire.

360 I suppose that's a round about way of saying that the young lady with the written out "I am a Classical Studies Major" thing, has to be a complete and utter moron (but not the good kind) to now suddenly realize that there are NO JOBS for someone who's great accomplishment is understanding the symbolism of "heroic" tiny packages on nude pictures of Greek gods.

361 Two degrees, one a PhD. Both in Chemistry. Got paid to go to graduate school. Home and cars paid off. Pop was a general contractor before retiring. Made me and my brother dig ditches and pound nails growing up along with the guys whose PhD's were in Russian Literature. My brother is an engineer. See a pattern here 99%ers?

362 William F. Buckley, Victor Davis Hanson, and many other conservative luminaries (including me in my own modest way) are able to make the contributions we do precisely because of the educational path we took. I understand the impression out there that all we do in the humanities is churn out Marxist drones and navel-gazing narcissists. Some profs (but probably fewer than you think) do just that and attract a lot of attention for it, but there's a lot more to the story that isn't told, unfortunately, even in the conservative media. Critical thinking, a broad knowledge of the intellectual history of mankind, the ability to construct and frame arguments--these are very important skills Thank you. I am an English Ed major, but I also have an Information Systems degree, and am taking a TEFL course to open up other opportunities. Also, I consider myself as having several important duties: - Preserving the classics against the anti-"dead white male" malefactors who seek to deprecate them out of the public consciousness; - Teaching critical thinking skills, to protect them against the various media evildoers who seek to impose illogical narratives; - Deprogram the patterns of speech and writing that will only hurt them later (see "textanese" and ebonics). - Enable the future "hard" scientists and engineers to express their work to the public, speaking "the poetry of reality" as Richard Dawkins put it. - Serve as an insurgent against the ones who do believe the lies and try to inculcate the students with them, creating the "Marxist drones". Go ahead and tell me this is easy work.

363 And yet... you can bet that the GOP candidate will look straight into the camera next year and wax over the need to get everybody's mediocre kids into college. He will do it repeatedly.

364 You know what the most secure degree was you could get before the 2008 crash? The one that pretty much guaranteed you a job? An education degree. A LOT of the unemployed people on the 99% have education degrees. So it's not just the "useless" philosophy majors. I only got a job because my parents were wealthy enough to pay for six extra grad-level math courses. That way, when NONE of the middle/high schools (public OR private, in 3 counties--I spent most of the summer just looking for a job) were hiring, I could still qualify for a job at a 2-year college. Were it not for that, I too would be unemployed. When your parents have to be rich JUST FOR YOU TO SURVIVE, something is fundamentally wrong with the system.

365 http://tinyurl.com/6bzlhew Yeah, "I want to GET A JOB and CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY" sounds like "Gimme, gimme, gimme" to me. He even says he will settle for a lousy, $10k/year foodservice job at McDonald's. (The poverty line is $24k/year.) http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/post/11381078171 What's that, little girl? You want food to eat so you don't starve? Clearly you need to pull up your bootstraps and get a job at 6 years old! http://tinyurl.com/5ux36bx Clearly, our teachers are overpaid--why, $35,000/year, and having to pay out-of-pocket for any hands-on activities, markers, or worksheet resources you use to do your job, is mansion money! Having to pay for the copy paper you NEED TO USE TO WORK is but a trifle when you're a wealthy public servant, amirite?* Yes, clearly these are all a bunch of drug-addled hippies who don't want to do any sort of useful work or contribute to society in any way. 9__9 Grow up and pay attention to what's going on around you, you selfish pricks. PEOPLE ARE DYING because of the selfishness of the wealthiest Americans. *Internet spelling used to accentuate the sarcasm of this paragraph. Not that you people seem to understand what sarcasm means.

366 Also, what is so hard about automatic line breaks? If I'd known I'd have to type < br > I would have, but when you don't even allow me to edit my own posts, it's kinda hard to go back and do that. My previous post was intended to be about 5 or 6 short paragraphs.