To Learn About the Far Right, Start With the ‘Manosphere’

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

12 hours ago, Boris Farage said:

Is this aimed at me? I'm the last person on earth to claim victim-hood. I am a victim only of my own success. I am the very opposite of a victim, and I proudly wear the "non-victim" mantle.

No, at our mutual friend anon

[Ban Hammer 12,845]

15 hours ago, AnonIndia said:

The money for free college could come from cutting down military spending. The young kids aren't asking for free money to buy cars or do drugs. They are asking for money to make them more qualified to earn more and in turn pay more taxes. 

i'm not sure where in the constitution free college is mentioned.

[yuna628 9,530]

35 minutes ago, Ban Hammer said:

i'm not sure where in the constitution free college is mentioned.

It's not. My husband was the first person in his family to go to college, and almost stayed on to get his PhD before he came here. Contrary to what a lot of people think about the UK, college isn't free - and we've got loans that we'll be paying for years. But his education has served him well, and is valuable in ways he never thought about before arriving here. A good and meaningful education is valuable, but it certainly is incredibly expensive. We have one of the best art schools in the country. In my uncle's day it was barely a big expense to go - the skills he got there surprisingly made him an extremely wealthy man. When I was young I once dreamed to go there too... at the time I think it cost 40k a year. Scholarships were few and my parents certainly had no money to pay for me and I wouldn't expect it either. They never cared much about their kid's education.

 

My husband works for a great institution, teaching young adults and adults real trade skills from tech all the way to automotive to being a cop or firefighter. The biggest though is healthcare. It does cost money but it's certainly nothing massive. The nursing and police program is great. While I'd like to see them also offer art programs too, I understand the focus is all about more technical jobs. Colleges are an important function sometimes, especially when most kids leave school neither having solid skills in.. well, anything at all. But many, you must admit are ridiculously expensive while at the same time aren't providing degrees that are especially useful with a lot of overhead and bloated bureaucracy. Even at a smaller institution, he sees it every day. Entitled people in suits that don't actually have the skills to understand the jobs they have to do, how a college functions, or even utilizing basic reasoning skills but are paid 100s of thousands a year, while the rest doing the grunt work (jobs often made more difficult by the bureaucrats) are busting their butts to make a learning environment work. At a larger institution I hear this problem is even worse and the amount of waste is staggering considering how much these kids and parents pay out. I wish more kids and families would choose to see the value in trade schools over the fancy places. I also wish that schools would better prepare them for life ahead. But should college be free? No. Those teachers, classroom technologists, clerks working hard on behalf of your kids need a wage. They'd often like a much better wage than they do and more support from the upper levels than they get. But it is also very wrong that we should dictate to a college what degrees they offer. Natural economics will drive what degrees are particularly most useful, and though not as popular there is still a need for academics, teachers, artists, and writers. We can all admit there are some pretty dumb degrees.. but it is an individual's choice to actually pay to obtain it. It would be helpful if college were cheaper, but it certainly shouldn't be free.

[beloved_dingo 1,932]

As usual I feel like "free education" needs some middle ground in the discussion. 18-22 year olds shouldn't be saddled with tens of thousands in debt that begins accruing interest soon after graduation. Textbook costs in themselves are outrageous, though luckily there are ways to avoid that now (such as renting from Amazon). 

 

Also, not every 18 year old needs to be going off to a 4 year university to get their psychology degree or business degree or whatever, the job market is over-saturated with average people with average degrees all vying for the same positions. It's no longer the advantage it once was, which is why I also fully support encouraging more young people to pursue a trade, obtain an associate's degree, or get certifications so that the cost of education is lower but the job prospects are still good (and sometimes better). 

 

My sister-in-law in a good example, she has a 4 year degree and got a good job pretty much straight out of college but was $30k in debt due to student loans thanks to that degree. Then, 5 years later she went to nursing school and paid her way through. After being in nursing for the last few years, she now has a stay-at-home job that allows her to spend time with the kids and make more money than she ever has before. She wouldn't have gotten that job without the nursing degree + experience. She doesn't necessarily regret her time in college, but she also admits that she would've been much better off financially if she'd gone to nursing school to begin with. 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

16 hours ago, AnonIndia said:

Thank you for the service. Joining the military today is not wise now especially as the there is another regime change war against Iran on the horizon to defend a middle eastern ally. 

Joining the military has NEVER been wise.  It's a call to duty that has some extra benefits that not many civilian jobs offer.

 

Of course, when those extra bennies come with the risk of losing one's life, their value tends to pale.  Not everyone is cut out to sacrifice what the military demands.  But in the end, a college degree will be partially paid for. 

[Boiler 43,503]

23 minutes ago, ALFKAD said:

Joining the military has NEVER been wise.  It's a call to duty that has some extra benefits that not many civilian jobs offer.

 

Of course, when those extra bennies come with the risk of losing one's life, their value tends to pale.  Not everyone is cut out to sacrifice what the military demands.  But in the end, a college degree will be partially paid for. 

Military does not make the top 10 most dangerous jobs.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

17 hours ago, AnonIndia said:

My parent paid for mine too. It is good that you invested money into your kids' future. That is what every good parent does. I am just pointing out how for a lot of fellow millennial life is significantly harder than it was for their baby boomer ancestors. It is the truth. Not wanting to accept it is fine as well. 

Is it, though?

 

A dollar in 1980 is $3.09 today.

A dollar in 1950 was $3.42 in 1980.

A dollar in 1920 was $1.21 in 1950.

 

Inflation goes up.  People still make it, and some even pay for their own college.  If they so choose, that is.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

46 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Military does not make the top 10 most dangerous jobs.

Never claimed that it did.  Might not even compare to walking on the streets in Chicago or Detroit.  But not very many jobs come with the dubious "perk" of getting shot on a semi-regular basis.

 

The "free" college that our veterans get is actually paid for.

Edited August 15, 2019 by ALFKAD

[Boiler 43,503]

Pretty sure nobody I know who was in the Military has ever been shot at.

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,316]

17 hours ago, Boris Farage said:

Because the Constitution allows for a military. But the Constitution (wisely) does not entitle you to an education just because it's too expensive. And for good reason. You won't die or be enslaved or be oppressed by a foreign nation without an education. But you bloody sure will without a military.

 

Pshaw. Do you know what creates wealth? Wealth. Education does not create wealth, it's simply one of many tools that can be used to acquire it. Bill Gates dropped out of university. Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, the list goes on. Their lack of education didn't stop them from creating wealth. They created wealth by first creating it for themselves.

An excellent example of what I've been saying. If you want it bad enough, there are ways.

Not only that there is a much greater demand for skilled trades than most 4 year degrees. Most Tech schools are heavily subsidized. I went back for free at age 40 and picked up several networking certifications.

 

I have no sympathy for the little snowflake who sits on their entitled spoiled read and cries because the gubmert will not pay for 4 year worthless art History degree.

 

The guy that does my AC work makes over 100K a year.

 

A young 26 year old kid who works with me and really works a lot harder than me has already made 110K this year and drives a bmw I8

 

 

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,316]

14 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Pretty sure nobody I know who was in the Military has ever been shot at.

I know somebody on this Forum that was in the Military and has been shot at.

 

I think maybe you were joking ???

[Boiler 43,503]

My Mother and Grandmother were bombed, but they were not in the Military.

 

I have a few friends who were in the Navy and Air Force, I was in the CCF.

 

Now I think of it must have been people I knew who were in WW2, my Dad was too young. Now back then he was Conscripted but nothing active.

[laylalex 7,249]

15 minutes ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

I have no sympathy for the little snowflake who sits on their entitled spoiled read and cries because the gubmert will not pay for 4 year worthless art History degree.

 

Sorry, I have a BA in Art History and I would hardly call it worthless. It proved an excellent foundation for critical thinking in the fields I have worked in over the years. It's not simply a nice party trick of being able to browse through coffee table books and know whether a painting's by a student of Fra Filippo Lippi or Botticelli in a moment's glance. I gained an understanding of the greater history, geography, politics and economies of Western Europe. Arts degrees get a lot of flack for being "worthless" but they simply aren't. Of course, it really depends on where a student is going  to school -- I went to a top university, so my degree's worth is tied to where it came from, in addition to what field it was in.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

17 hours ago, AnonIndia said:

Wealth does not create wealth. Labor creates wealth. Wealth can only create more wealth in the form of usury which is wicked and seen as anti-human in all major global religions. You think US military is so big because it has to defend itself against uncontrolled immigration and not for pointless middle east wars? Trump wanted to use the military to defend the southern border against uncontrolled immigration and the US Secretary of Defense at that time James Mattis, shut Trump down by saying focusing military on the border will reduce combat effectiveness for a potential regime change war against Syria and Iran! It is clearly evident what the US military's focus is on and it is not postured against China or even Russia. It is for having wasteful regime change wars for dubious so called 'allies' costing trillions in the middle east and fueling the military industrial complex. As for the case against Elizabeth Holmes, she is a blatant liar peddling science fiction. It was scientifically impossible for many of the tests to be carried out based on the statements she made. I have background in the medical field. It is scientifically impossible to conduct fasting and normal blood glucose level tests in one go as she claimed her machine was able to do cuz the very nature of the test requires you to give your blood sample twice! First when you have faster for 12 hours and the second sample a few hours you have had a meal . 

If labor creates wealth, then why do ALL of the 1% in the world enjoy such lavish lifestyles off passive income?  They earn more thru investments, and are taxed less, than the masses.  They make what, 5-15 thousand times what the average wage earner in America does, and work not at all.

 

If you really want to have your eyes opened to true wealth, research the gap between the top 2% & 1%.  It's nearly unfathomable. 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

9 minutes ago, laylalex said:

Sorry, I have a BA in Art History and I would hardly call it worthless. It proved an excellent foundation for critical thinking in the fields I have worked in over the years. It's not simply a nice party trick of being able to browse through coffee table books and know whether a painting's by a student of Fra Filippo Lippi or Botticelli in a moment's glance. I gained an understanding of the greater history, geography, politics and economies of Western Europe. Arts degrees get a lot of flack for being "worthless" but they simply aren't. Of course, it really depends on where a student is going  to school -- I went to a top university, so my degree's worth is tied to where it came from, in addition to what field it was in.

Critical thinking does not come from any particular degree, IMO.  That's something one either employs,  or chooses not to.

 

You're probably not gonna want to hear this, but unless your degree is being used to earn income, it's not worth more than your good feelings which come from "attending a top university".  Not that there is anything wrong with being proud of your alma mater,  but it doesn't amount to much if you just talk about it.  Doesn't pay theBill's, by any means.

 

I'm a fairly critical thinker, and learned SO MUCH more about history and geography by living and visiting various places in the world.  I also learned a lot about how Western Europe was responsible for ruining millions of lives thru their aggressive slave trade.   Deplorable.