Yes yes! What sort of business?
Alan - On Thu, 20 Aug 2009, Yvonne Martinsson wrote: > Ahhh! someone who knows what it's like to have a degree that is a bit > too much, probably. I too have a degree, a PhD, and since I got it > I've been mostly unemployed, except for a semester teaching English > grammar which is not my field. Employers tell me that my education is > a luxury they cannot afford, so here I am trying to build a business > of my own instead, which isn't easy these days. > > So the question is, why get an education? Except for the benefits of > personal development, how do you survive afterwards? And isn't it > strange strange that society invests in your long-term education and > then don't want to profit from it, or it at least take advantage of > your knowledge? Fortunately, there is the internet so your knowledge > isn't lost, but maybe everything else as how are you going to pay the > rent? > > Yvonne > http://freewheelin.nu > > > 18 aug 2009 kl. 18.16 skrev james morris: > >> >> why a degree might be a waste of time and money >> =============================================== >> in improving employment prospects >> ================================= >> >> james morris eighteenth of august two thousand and nine >> ------------ ------------------------------------------ >> >> >> >> sour grapes >> =========== >> >> i studied fine art at university and graduated at the age >> of 26. before my degree i never had a permanant job. i had >> summer work on farms in my immediate vicinity from the age >> of 13. i got work from recruitment agencies after >> a-levels. i also studied computers prior to the art >> degree. >> >> since graduating, eight years ago, i have had one >> permanant job. it was in a factory operating moulding >> machines. unfortunately, they required me to operate a >> machine i disliked much much more than the other machines >> so i refused to operate it. they sacked me for gross >> misconduct. looking back i was niave to think the fact i >> could already operate over half the machines, and in >> practical terms knew the basics of setting them, was >> enough to protect my job. >> >> so i went back to the agencies and now, in these present >> times of 'financial crisis' i would place myself somewhere >> below the bottom wrung of the ladder. i don't know where i >> will be working from day to day. i might get called up >> anywhere between five in the morning or half ten at night. >> sometimes i need to start immediately, other times for the >> following day. if i was paid any less for the work i do, >> it would by law be illegal. >> >> >> serial killer >> ============= >> >> the other week i worked at three different companies in as >> many days. then i watched a tv programme about a serial >> killer. the psychologiest mentioned, when talking about >> the profiles of serial killers, that they often drift from >> job to job. so let's be clear here, i'm no serial killer. >> >> >> something else >> ============== >> >> i keep coming across articles in the tabloids about people >> out of work. sometimes they have been through higher >> education, or are studying at degree level. the last >> article i read trumpeted about how many jobs were out >> there waiting to be filled. they were all in supermarkets >> or fast food chains. >> >> some of the people complained they could not afford to >> live on the benefits paid to them. admittedly, from the >> sound of it, they had all done much more than me to find a >> job. but i'm working and they're not. i went to an agency >> and they did not. although the work the agency provides me >> pays only the minimum nation wage, and i'm rarely working >> more than four days a week, it is still more money than >> i'd have by claiming benefits. >> >> so why don't people who have been out work for months, who >> complain about struggling on benefits, just go straight to >> an agency? because they don't want to start work at 6am? >> because they don't want to do manual labour? because they >> don't want to work on the factory floor or in a >> wharehouse? because it's not enough money? or just for >> fear that they'll end up stuck there? >> >> possibly they fear their lack of experience in low paid >> manual labour/factory/wharehouse work would be a >> disadvantage? don't be silly, for in this line of work, >> it's no more a disadvantage than only having the most >> basic grasp of english. >> >> >> waste of time degrees >> ===================== >> >> one of the people mentioned in the tabloid article was >> studying 'creative music technology'. how many jobs out >> there are there where such an education would be a real >> practical advantage? how many students were enrolled on >> that course? how many universtities provide that same >> course? how many other similar courses does each >> university provide? do the maths and then look for the >> jobs. that is, how many jobs would specifically require a >> 'creative music technology' graduate? >> >> oh yes i know, what you study is irrelevant, it shows >> employers you have at minimum, a nearly half functioning >> brain. >> >> >> the education conspiracy >> ======================== >> >> don't fool yourself into believing universities are places >> of learning. like any institution in these modern times >> anything that they claim to be is just a front for making >> money. universities are about making money for the people >> who own them (whoever they may be), and if that gets in >> the way of genuine real world education, so be it. >> >> well they are a business and not a charity ok. >> >> so how can we get more young misguided people onto our >> books and paying us wads of cash? ah ha, let's give them >> what they want: fun degrees that pretend to be educational >> but are really just playing in the sand. go on mr, play >> with the computer and make some noises. ooh, wee, that's >> good! excellent! have yourself a first! >> >> you want to study art? yes? come right in, you'll get by >> with a fully disfunctional brain, and to be honest, >> that'll probably be a distinct advantage. creative >> writing? yes, come along. fire breathing and juggling, >> yeah sure we can do that! battlestar galactica studies? >> coming soon! >> >> and of course the fact that universites are really about >> making money for their owners, et al, really is the >> propagating factor of these stupid-arsed courses of study. >> when one university sees another doing these dumbed down >> courses designed for popular appeal, they fear potential >> students will smell the sweetness and go over to the >> competition, so they have to implement these crappy >> worthless courses also. and as everybody knows, a bit of >> competition is healthy. >> >> >> >> right on >> ======== >> >> unfortunately for the poor unsuspecting students barely >> out of their nappies, how well you do in the employment >> market (excuse me while i vomit) is more about who you >> know and how much shit you can talk or how much confidence >> you exude or how much brown nosing you're capable of. the >> government may claim to desire to provide better >> oppurtunites for the working class youth, but unless these >> youth lack even the slightest hint of self doubt they'll >> get nowhere. i mean if they're like me and were utterly >> unconfident and getting a degree was something to get me >> the hell out of the imprisonment of living with my parents >> in a 'idylic village' in the middle of nowhere... it won't >> improve your job prospects, but you probably will find it >> worthwhile in terms of your personal >> development/recovery/induction into the social world... >> >> >> >> end motes >> ========= >> >> i hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as i've enjoyed >> writing it as fast as i can and without a spell checker. >> such is the attitude of a factory working open source >> software developping website designing disillusioned art >> graduate. >> >> don't let your new found identity as a 'human resource' >> get you down. >> >> x x x >> >> >> end notes >> ========= >> >> don't get me wrong, if i was not owing thirteen thousand >> pounds (and counting) to the student loans company i would >> not feel the slightest pang of regret for studying fine >> art at degree level. maybe if i had gone from school >> straight into employment i might have progressed further >> along the career ladder and learnt practical skills >> valuable to the employment market (eurrgh). i probably >> would still be interested in the things i am interested >> in. but perhaps the attitudes within the workforce i would >> have encountered, instead of those at colleges and then >> university, would have made me an entirely different >> person. i don't fucking know, it's too late to change it >> now. there's no turning back. >> _______________________________________________ >> NetBehaviour mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > > | current internet text file: http://www.alansondheim.org/qf.txt | Alan Sondheim Mail archive: http://sondheim.rupamsunyata.org/ | Webpage (directory) at http://www.alansondheim.org | [email protected], [email protected], tel US 718-813-3285 ! http://www.facebook.com/alan.sondheim _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
