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No - its more than that. Its a method for increasing the perceived risk around “investing” in student loans as a commoditized product. If the threat of losing that investment seems even slightly possible, it will not be worth it, and it will destroy the profit that is made from student loans. Without the profit motive around student loans the investor class will no longer give a shit whether school is free or not. All they care about is being able to make money off it, whether it constitutes somebody else’s grief or not. Take that away, opposition to free schooling will melt away.
This is what we need around healthcare in the US. We need a spoiler. Something that makes the prospect of profiting off of healthcare seem unlikely, or reasonably risky. Once there is no profit to be made from people being sick, opposition to public healthcare will melt away, in fact they would drop it like a hot potato. Then we could finally concentrate and making people well.
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I attended his alma mater, University of Maryland. They have built a statue and brought a ton of archival material devoted to him.
One of my professors, happened to be one who had Henson as his students. On his final exams he wrote:
“Decades ago, I told a student named Jim Henson that he should stop playing with puppets and look for a real career. I have been wrong before”
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Gerry Anderson
Buffalo Bob Smith
Burr Tillstrom
Do ventriloquists count?
Then I would throw in Senor Wences and Edgar Bergen
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I agree that in both situations, people are making money off of things that they contribute little to, and raising the price needlessly.
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That should be paid for too.
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This is dangerously close to victim blaming, not to mention provably false - difficulty in finding jobs is a known issue, and it’s not just because you didn’t try hard enough.
Your argument seems to be that one should have a guaranteed job offer before starting down a career path, and/or that higher education should only allot spots in courses where a provable job exists. AFAIK this isn’t done anywhere because obvious.
You want to debate a system where only certain disciplines and courses are deserving of load forgiveness? Fine. But it’s not the fault of people who enter academia in good faith hoping to gain employment (and knowledge!) on the other side.
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Correlation doesn’t equal causation, but you knew that.
People with real skills (trades, engineering, etc) are generally more employable than those without. My girlfriend’s roommate is getting a graduate degree in Medieval literature. I kind of want to tell her to save time and just go apply at Starbucks now.
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Agree completely. It’s like trying to correctly predict which avenues of science should be funded. We have no idea where the next breakthrough will be that will benefit everyone. “Of what use is a newborn babe, etc.”
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Edit: Change Sheri to Shari. Oops.
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Of course that’s not my argument. But it doesn’t take a lot of looking to figure out which directions of study are more likely to end up with an actual job. You want to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge, I’m all for it. But not everyone can expect to make a living doing that.
Or like someone without medical training removing body parts because they don’t understand their function.
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Senor Wences! I forgot about that one. Special recognition for having incredibly low production costs, as well. Some lipstick, a little wig and googly eyes and he was good to go.
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[quote=“Mangochin, post:63, topic:104836”]
One of my professors, happened to be one who had Henson as his students. On his final exams he wrote:
“Decades ago, I told a student named Jim Henson that he should stop playing with puppets and look for a real career. I have been wrong before”
[/quote] When i was going to a university for a different career years ago i was deeply unhappy, depressed, isolated and did not know what to do with my life. While i was failing all my courses i threw myself into drawing, learning photoshop, and doing some graphic design stuff for fun and i poured a lot of time and effort into it. I didn’t have money to get my own computer or even internet at home so i used the university’s facilities. One day some engineering students recognized me from being there so often and talking among themselves they said “Oh it’s the guy that does those drawing” in a dismissive fashion. I cannot tell you how crushing that was or how upset it made me.
The people who look down or dismiss those with an interest or passion for creative endeavors are likely blind to the many things in their lives provided to them by the very types that they dismiss. I would have a few choice words to say to people like that but i would rather not incur the wrath of forum admins.
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And I still remember the black and white TV commercials Henson when I was a kid.
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You’re far more amicable than I am, being willing to engage a bad faith actor.
That said, you can throw in Frank Oz, Shari Lewis and even Jeff Dunham for good measure… On a stick.
Jinx.
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Those engineers should have realized that creativity is part of their jobs too – if they’re going to be good at it.
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So, again - what’s your recommendation? Not give loan forgiveness to loans that some governing body decides “are more likely to end up with an actual job”?
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