The Economy

[der affe]

Hmmm. What a strange twist this has all taken.

I can tell you that a masters in psychology is fairly useless though...

To a mechanic anyway...

Hmmm, or is it?

as does a fire science degree for a body tech ;)

[trashcop 80s 80s]

yeah.... no.

Why do so many people go back for post grad education? For the joy of learning and spending lots of money to do so? No, if you want to learn you could do it for free on your own. It is done to stay competitive, because a bachelors just doesn't hold the weight that it used to. Worthless might be harsh, but a four year degree does not give you the opportunity that it used to. Four people that I work with have bachelors and they are making $15hr. There are fields that do not apply this way so much such as engineering, which always has strong opportunities for its BSE people.

[Massive Lee]

There are plenty of manual workers in the US that are willing to take the jobs sent abroad. Yes we need chiefs (diplomed university graduates) but we also need the indians (manual workers). If this population doesn't work, they won't spend and will be a burden to the society.

[DCColegrove]

Hmmm. What a strange twist this has all taken.

I can tell you that a masters in psychology is fairly useless though...

To a mechanic anyway...

Hmmm, or is it?

[trashcop 80s 80s]

is it really? is it worthless because people get "degrees" in things like communications and philosophy? Or maybe because a bachelors doesn't entitle you instantly to a good job, that experience matters too? It used to be a free ticket but it doesn't work that way any more. that doesn't mean education is worthless..

Education is not worthless, but we are getting saturated with degree holding workers, and the jobs aren't always there to support them. It would be difficult to tell a person to spend four years in school, then go stand in an assembly line for 8 hours a day. Therefore we rely on China to support our cheap labor needs. Could our economy run with educated workers that only want to provide services, without any manual laborers, not likely, and those educated people are not going to want to do the work themselves.

[rwh11385]

We don't need too many people with degrees. A bachelor's degree is almost worthless as it is.

yeah.... no.

[nando]

We don't need too many people with degrees. A bachelor's degree is almost worthless as it is.

I meant only a percentage would not be in prison. Of couse plenty of them would still be fuckups, but by providing working opportunities, not entitlements, would help to put some people to use. Keep them from resorting to crime and becoming societal leeches.

is it really? is it worthless because people get "degrees" in things like communications and philosophy? Or maybe because a bachelors doesn't entitle you instantly to a good job, that experience matters too? It used to be a free ticket but it doesn't work that way any more. that doesn't mean education is worthless..

[der affe]

i don't know if it will make a difference or not, but with our economy being effected by the goings on in china, do you think the recent earthquake will have any effect on things good or bad. not immediate, i know, but in the near-ish future.

[trashcop 80s 80s]

or we could spend more on education instead of using 60% of our budget for entitlements. talk about screwing over the next generation! ;)

We don't need too many people with degrees. A bachelor's degree is almost worthless as it is.

I meant only a percentage would not be in prison. Of couse plenty of them would still be fuckups, but by providing working opportunities, not entitlements, would help to put some people to use. Keep them from resorting to crime and becoming societal leeches.

[StereoInstaller1]

rushing toiret

[nando]

or we could spend more on education instead of using 60% of our budget for entitlements. talk about screwing over the next generation! ;)

you raise a good point though - but I don't think lack of jobs is the only reason whe have such a high prison population. some of those people would be criminals if they had a job or not. It seems to make sense to put some of them to work though, rather than paying to have them get free shelter, food and cable TV (although that's not really true, it sure seems that way). The problem is, chinese labor is still cheaper.

[trashcop 80s 80s]

Do any of you guys honestly want to work in a sock factory, high paying or not? I don't think so. There's a reason why US industry has been moving more towards services, and it's not just because we're "losing" jobs to overseas markets - it's because fat fucking slob americans like you and me don't want to do manual labor any more, at any price. So we buy them cheap from China and sell things like finance and engineering instead, which are a better use of our talents than standing in a factory line for 12 hours a day stamping boxes.

We have almost 2 million people in prison in America. Maybe a percentage of them would not be there if they had more opportunity to work factory jobs making $10hr, instead of turning to drugs, crime. It may sound optomistic, but if there were more opportunity for uneducated laborers, which America has millions, we could reduce overall dependence on social programs, reduce crime, give some people a chance to provide for themselves. Not everyone is capable of providing high tech services or professional consulting type of work.

[nando]

Actually, yes they do. Buick's biggest market is China. Boeing sells lots of airplanes there too. China actually buys a lot of stuff we make. Not as much as we buy from them (that's why we have a trade deficit) but they're one of our biggest markets.

I also suspect made-in-USA goods are popular with the "rich" in china. one of the reasons buicks sell there - they are big and expensive to get, so they're seen as an exclusive product, even if they're no big deal here. remember how the Japanese used to buy old Levi's jeans like crazy? same idea..

[CorvallisBMW]

Does China buy US-made products? Nop.

Actually, yes they do. Buick's biggest market is China. Boeing sells lots of airplanes there too. China actually buys a lot of stuff we make. Not as much as we buy from them (that's why we have a trade deficit) but they're one of our biggest markets.

[mrsleeve]

One day, people will realize that the $1 saving they did by purchasing an asian-made product will cost $2 to the society. When one person buy a cheaper "foreign" product, he may save a few $$$, but he also sees a neighbour loose his job... Which starts costing the society. Does China buy US-made products? Nop. So why buy China-made ones?

this is How I feel as well