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June 4, 2012
"That bit between childhood and death has been chewed away at both ends...."
We invented something called “adolescence” that now extendsnot merely through the teenage years but through a desultory half decade of Whatever Studies at Complacency U up till you’re 26 and no longer eligible for coverage on your parents’ health-insurance policy. At the other end of the spectrum, we introduced something called “retirement” that, in the space of two generations, has led to the presumption that able-bodied citizens are entitled to spend the last couple of decades, or one-third of their adult lives, as a long holiday weekend. -- Twilight of the West - Mark Steyn
Posted by gerardvanderleun at June 4, 2012 2:17 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
True, for those who attend university instead of entering the trades. The country is beginning to come to grips with the unacknowledged drawback to the idealistic notion of making higher education available to all--the possibility that instead of advancing the condition of American citizens, we've merely vastly increased that part of the population who despise their fellow Americans, are incurable snobs, and who are despised in return.
I hold out hope that the education bubble will pop, since nothing will be so satisfying as seeing the more obnoxious parts of American academia knocked down a peg. Captain Capitalism has an interesting notion about pegging public subsidy for higher education to economic return on the investment.
I think the retirement age is going to more easily align itself with the increased lifespan, particularly lengthening productive lifespan. We ought to change laws relating to retirement to reflect that.
Posted by: Mike James at June 4, 2012 4:11 PM
Oh dear, I seem to have bollixed the hell out of your comments, Gerard. Apologies.
Posted by: Mike James at June 4, 2012 4:14 PM
No problem. Fixed.
Posted by: vanderleun at June 4, 2012 4:42 PM
Too damn right. I have thought for years that the headlong rush into college degrees for all, paid for by loans, was a terrible mistake.
If the State is going to pay for anyone's degree at all (and that is a somewhat different discussion) it ought to be paying only for degrees the holders of which are in short supply - such as engineering and the hard sciences, which are also more expensive because of such factors as lab practicals.
You want a degree in wimmin's studies or sociology or some such, get a fracking job and go to night classes or Open University (in the UK) or something.
Posted by: Fletcher Christian at June 5, 2012 11:50 PM
Too damn right. I have thought for years that the headlong rush into college degrees for all, paid for by loans, was a terrible mistake.
If the State is going to pay for anyone's degree at all (and that is a somewhat different discussion) it ought to be paying only for degrees the holders of which are in short supply - such as engineering and the hard sciences, which are also more expensive because of such factors as lab practicals.
You want a degree in wimmin's studies or sociology or some such, get a fracking job and go to night classes or Open University (in the UK) or something.
Posted by: Fletcher Christian at June 5, 2012 11:56 PM