(no subject)
I'm almost through with Barzun's The House of Intellect, in which he says a lot about the effects our national policy/philosophy on education has on the state of intellect. What I'm thinking is this: cut-throat capitalism with only a limited and bloated welfare system leaves it to well meaning but uninformed and thus apologetically confused private associations and individuals to help the helpless, which they attempt to do by promoting universal indiscriminate access to ineffective programs and policies which ultimately damn the benefit of the masses. If the government could tend to the physical needs of all to a degree satisfactory to most, advanced education would no longer be necessary to any other than the deserving and enthusiastic, which would ultimately be, I believe, to the benefit of all. The majority of those currently enrolled in higher education neither want nor deserve to be there, despite the numerous advantages and opportunities forced upon them, and their presence only serves to hinder and obfuscate the initial purpose of higher education. They're hardly to be blamed for this however, as some sort of degree is necessary for most occupations, and all such is necessary.
I know innumerable people in college and going into college who are straight up not ready to be there. They don't possess the articulation, the reason, or the analytic abilities to do anything but get by. Getting by will suffice to get them their degrees, but at a cost to the value of the degree.
Maybe I'm just bitter at the mind numbing isolation from any conversation worth having that has been my summer. I occasionally forget that the world is full of people who do or are about to look much better on paper than I will, who cannot construct an argument or comment intelligently on anything outside of their field (sometimes on anything at all), and who have no respect whatsoever for people who can. When such people are again brought to my attention, I tend to get sort of put out, and these sorts of people have been in my face constantly since I've been home. People who believe that they're entitled to attention and respect they have done nothing to demonstrate they deserve, a belief fostered by the culture of absolute equality in every respect cheaply possible in which they sit.
Maybe I just need to get some sleep. Being broke and unable to afford cigarettes isn't helping anything, either.
I know innumerable people in college and going into college who are straight up not ready to be there. They don't possess the articulation, the reason, or the analytic abilities to do anything but get by. Getting by will suffice to get them their degrees, but at a cost to the value of the degree.
Maybe I'm just bitter at the mind numbing isolation from any conversation worth having that has been my summer. I occasionally forget that the world is full of people who do or are about to look much better on paper than I will, who cannot construct an argument or comment intelligently on anything outside of their field (sometimes on anything at all), and who have no respect whatsoever for people who can. When such people are again brought to my attention, I tend to get sort of put out, and these sorts of people have been in my face constantly since I've been home. People who believe that they're entitled to attention and respect they have done nothing to demonstrate they deserve, a belief fostered by the culture of absolute equality in every respect cheaply possible in which they sit.
Maybe I just need to get some sleep. Being broke and unable to afford cigarettes isn't helping anything, either.