Fireside Chat: Stay Out of the University

Nomads are raised to manage alone and are burdened with low expectations. Artists are raised to cooperate with others and are burdened with high expectations.[1]

I have decided that the past decade of academic pursuit was pointless, to put it bluntly. When I say this, it is sincere: I tried. I tried to see the benefit of Foodways in creating the modern world. I tried to see the significance of learning about the origins of Oral History, the creation of Modern Germany, and the importance of Southern Foodways, in particular. I tried to tame my anger at the lack of the classics in higher education and believed there would be some point behind it all. But, in the end, I've come to realize that something is wrong here. Instead of studying practical history and discerning moral lessons, all I ended up getting was a monotonous stream of consciousness approach to higher education. Instead of learning the moral, logical, and ethical practices taken throughout time, leading to the ultimate standard held today, I was bombarded by "nuance" (which is a word that academics adore using when they have no idea what they're talking about). Instead of ideas initially created in the classics, I was met with ipso facto Postmodernism. As the aphorism would say, "facts without theory are trivia; theory without facts is bullshit." Did I end up getting disabled, literally losing my life for about a minute, for this?

            Any man who wants to DO something with his life should heed this warning: stay out of the universities! There is a reason that men make up the minority of university students, and it is the same reason that it will never be fixed. This is because the postmodernists, the feminists, and the atheists own the institution. When you tell men, even the damaged men who grew up without fathers, that there is no such thing as an organized truth, that all sex can be considered rape, and that God does not exist, you'll be faced with a couple of questions. First, isn't the statement that there is no organized truth, by definition, an organized truth? If all sex can be considered rape, how is the human race supposed to survive as a species? When you tell men who've had to look to God as their father, why would they accept your premise that God does not exist? Boys who have been demonized do not react well towards being demonized as men. There are only two options available to them: accept the academic's premise or never become involved in the university in the first place.

            The out-of-fashion sales pitch heard by men is the same spiel I heard as a boy: you can get an excellent job with a college degree. According to a 2013 survey, only 27 percent of graduates work within their chosen major,[2] and another study shows that 45 percent of 2020 graduates are still looking for work.[3] Nearly 30 percent of all bachelor's degrees are outside the hard sciences, while the top 5 highest-demand jobs require 18 months or less at a trade school.[4] The economy needs home health aides, nursing assistants, construction workers, physical therapy aides, and medical technologists.[5] Instead, the most common degree is Business.[6] It may also be a double-edged sword should one get a graduates degree because the top 40% of earners hold 60% of the debt due to their Graduates degree.[7] It should also be noted that most technical degrees are Associates degrees that makeup only 7 percent of the total college debt.[8]

            Jay B. Nash said that "to learn will someday be placed above teaching."[9] Nash's hope was achieved in the trade schools, but it was never realized in the halls of Academia. Nash aspired for a world where education will leave an individual to achieve all they would desire, reaching success and obtaining social approval.[10] But, unfortunately, academics is merely a Ponzi scheme, where there are not enough Ph.D. slots for the graduates to fill. In addition, graduate school employees serve as cheap labor for most teaching.[11] On the other hand, teachers in trades are required to work in their field for up to ten years and require only a teaching certificate from an accredited technical school.[12]

            Men who want to do something with their lives, and make decent money doing it, should not look for self-actualization within the university. All of us have been filled with the bile of how university gives us the ability to glean a great-paying profession, and for the STEM field, perhaps that's true. However, the endeavor will lead only to large student loan debts for the humanities in particular. Maybe one day, Nash's hope will be realized in the university. But, for now, there are some 30 million jobs in the United States that pay an average of $55,000 per year that doesn't require a bachelor's degree.[13] Any man worth his salt should take advantage or be the next Ph.D. barista at the local coffee shop.

[1] William Strauss and Neil Howe, The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy, (New York: Three River Press, 1997), 77.

[2] Defang Zhang, “More college grads land jobs outside their majors — and that’s a good thing, experts say,” Madison Commons, November 12, 2019, https://madisoncommons.org/2019/11/12/more-college-grads-land-jobs-outside-their-majors-and-thats-a-good-thing-experts-say/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20it%20is%20a,closely%20related%20to%20their%20majors.

[3]  Alanna Quillen, “With Millions of Job Openings, Why Are College Grads Still Struggling to Find Work?,”  NBCDFW, July 15, 2021, https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/with-millions-of-job-openings-why-are-college-grads-still-struggling-to-find-work/2681757/

[4] Gili Malinsky, “These 15 jobs will be in high demand over the next 5 years—some with salaries topping $80,000,” Jul 20 2020,  https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/20/jobs-growing-in-high-demand-over-next-5-years-some-pay-more-than-80000-in-salary.html

[5] Ibid.

[6] See note 3.

[7] Kristen Kuchar, “Who Owes the Most Student Loan Debt?”, March 30, 2021, https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/who-owes-the-most-student-loan-debt

[8] Ibid.

[9]  Jay Nash, Spectatoritis, ed. Christopher Fennell (Independant Publishing, 2021), 177.

[10] Ibid, 206.

[11] Michael W Kraus Ph.D., “Is Graduate School a Ponzi Scheme?”, January 19, 2012https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/under-the-influence/201201/is-graduate-school-ponzi-scheme

[12] Vocational Teaching Certification and Certificate Programs (learn.org)

[13] The Good Jobs Project | Good Jobs That Pay without a BA (goodjobsdata.org)