One of the most damaging things that has happened to our society over
the past century is the decay of the working class. More importantly,
the decay of working class pride has been catastrophic.
It’s popular to date the decline of western
civilisation to the 1960s (and it’s fashionable in some conservative
circles to blame it all on the Baby Boomers). In fact, like so many of
the disasters that have afflicted us, this one started in the early
1950s.
The collapse of manufacturing industry has of course
made a huge contribution to the destruction of the working class. The
destruction of working class pride however has other roots. The first
contributing cause was the obsession with higher education that started
after the Second World War.
By the late 1950s the absurd idea was
already taking root that everybody should have a university education.
This is of course arrant nonsense. Universities are useful for people
who want to be doctors or engineers or physicists. Most degrees outside
these areas are essentially hobby degrees, with no usefulness in the
real world. For most people university is a waste of time and money and
simply gives people ridiculously unrealistic expectations. What
proportion of the population actually needs a university degree? My
guess would be around five percent.
Most professions use to be on- the- job training. Now,
ReplyDeleteeverything is about money. A vet tech use to be on- the-
job training, now one has to go to school. Same with
CNA's; nurses too. A rip off. All about the money.
AB Tech in Asheville was small and one learned a trade.
Not any more. It's a sprawling mass of something called a 'college'.
Can't learn it any better than with OJT like the Army.
Delete