Obama tells kids to work hard…what a concept!
Ok, I couldn’t help the sarcasm in the title. But after all the hysterics about “indoctrination” that the far-right had about the Obama “back-to-school” speech, there was little, if anything controversial about it. Who could possibly disagree with the notion that staying in school and working hard are good things? Hopefully no one. Who could argue that all that hard work will pay off in the end? Well…I could.
Lest this sound like a radical diatribe against “elitist” America, please let me clarify. I actually am a Ph.D. with a higher degrees in molecular biology, genetics, microbiology and immunology. I’ve taught at the undergraduate level and have my name on several publications. I certainly don’t dispute that education and working hard are “good things.” What I have a problem with is the mistaken notion that the hard work, money and time spent on an education will pay off in the end. I would answer that question with the modifiers such as “maybe” “hopefully” and “possibly.” Note that I omit “probably” and “likely.”
You see, drawing such sweeping conclusions about how “education” always pays off is an exercise in hubris for the academic. Tell that to the unemployed IT specialists, the computer programers that were laid off through out-sourcing. Tell that to the scientist at the bench who with their Ph.D. is laboring 70 hours per week for about $30k in compensation. In the current world - education doesn’t always “pay.” In fact it can be a huge liability in terms of time spent out of the work force and accrued debt. There are far too many well -educated and very dedicated Ph.D.’s out there working odd jobs and serving people at restaurants for this to be true.
The problem with Obama’s speech is that it was built on a premise that died with advent of the “trickle down” economics in the Reagan era. In such a world he who holds the gold, makes the rules. The result is that precious little “trickles down” to the creative and inventive among us. Most of it stays in the board room with the CEO.
Of course this drives us right into the heart of the trickle-down mess. The final result has been a rising gap between rich and poor with a small group of middle class dangling off the side of a cliff. The abyss is unrelenting poverty. Make no mistake: if things don’t change then MOST Americans are headed off the cliff.
People are not that complicated. They are operating out of a need for self-preservation. The best and brightest can do many things. What they are choosing to do is a direct reflection of this income gap. If a scientist is making less than $40k after 8 years of post-graduate training while a MBA is offering $250k a year after two years of training - where do you think the talent will go?
