“Education” is a term used rather freely these days. It is almost as sacrosanct as Motherhood, Apple Pie and The Flag. It seems as if every one has an opinion about it, touts its many virtues, but has no clear understanding of what the term means.
I recall when I first entered university, a very astute professor who stood before our first class of the semester and announced he wanted to put what was meant by “education” in its proper context. With that, he simply stated, “before any of you buy into the notion that you are somehow special, just remember this. If you take a jackass and send him to college, all you end up with is an educated jackass. Where you take that pearl of wisdom is a serious responsibility and something that should impart to you a certain degree of humility. You will not only be a better student while you are here, but you will be an infinitely better person when you leave us.”
When they are in their best campaign mode, politicians tend to throw the term “education” around, as if it will impart a certain virtue to all the empty promises they peddle. They seem to believe that it will somehow cloak them with the same aura as that of the vestal virgin. At the end of it all, it can mean just about anything a person wants it to mean, with little or no common understanding of what the point of it all was meant to be.
From my particular point of view, I see education as having a multiplicity of meanings, depending on the aptitude and interests of those being “educated.”
The pinnacle of education is generally seen as the end product of a “college” education. College is perceived as the beginning and end all of the process by which we become treasured members of society. However, its one great flaw is to presume that “education” is a generic concept that applies to everyone exposed to it, and that they have the capacity to assimilate it to the point they really are anointed by the experience. I can only conclude that is the meaning as understood by every political personality when he/she promises a “college” education for everyone.
Recently, this notion was shattered by a news segment on television. It reminded me that there are, indeed, many different experiences subsumed under the label of “education.” It took place during an interview of one of the contractors involved in the construction of a new bridge from Oakland to San Francisco. The reporter, to his eternal credit, was concerned about the use of foreign labor against the backdrop of massive unemployment in this country. The offending country was, of course, China. The question that was raised was why modular portions of the bridge were being sub-contracted out to China. Good question! The answer was sobering. The reason given was, “because there are so few qualified welders left in the United States that, in order to garner that particular skill, the contractor had no alternative but to outsource that skill to China.
It never occurred to me that, because our industrial base has been so decimated by the avarice and greed of Corporate America, and its wholesale outsourcing that is so vital to their insatiable quest for yet more money, that may well be the root cause of this particular problem. Could it be that this is the result of an ingrained contempt by American business for vocational pursuits that might have anything to do with labor unions? Could this have diminished opportunities for American workers to serve a proper on-the-job apprenticeship under the tutelage of accomplished and certified journeymen? Therein lies a classic case of an opportunity for vocational “education” that is no longer available to those seeking a career within the broader economic context of our society. We have not only “outsourced” the skills, but we have dealt a mortal blow to opportunities for the vocational education necessary to develop and produce those skills. How does that provide opportunities for those seeking to enter the skilled job market?
The Europeans have always had a much healthier perspective on vocational pursuits and the requirements an aspirant has to fulfill before being permitted to work within any of their valued and respected vocations. I think the United States has lost sight of the relative importance that segment has within our educational system, and the means for acquiring the knowledge and skills that qualifies one to be a respected member of our vocational labor force so essential to our economy.
College may be very well suited to people who have an aptitude for more academic and intellectual pursuits. God knows we need those minds in order to have a balanced and healthy society, and to push forward the frontiers of knowledge. But not everyone is suited to go to college. For any of us who may have been reminded (as I have many times throughout the course of my life) about how inept we college types can be when faced with a vocational challenge, it gives pause for reflection on just how valuable those vocational skills are. I shudder to think of how many times my ass has been saved because of someone who could logically analyze a problem and fix it with his hands! I can attest that, without that help, I would have been dead in the water more times than I can recall. Some of those instances come to mind from a variety of predicaments I found myself in, one of which is particularly poignant and amusing.
One such occasion was when I put corn husks down the garbage disposal. When I tried to operate the disposal, it froze tighter than a drum. I labored for what seemed like hours to remove all of the debris, but it still would not work. The only option left was for me to call a plumber. When he arrived, he surveyed the problem, pressed a red “reset” button on the back and “voila,” it worked. When presented with his bill I argued that, surely, he was not going to charge me the full fee for a house call simply for pressing a red button. He politely reminded me that he was not charging me for having pressed the red button, but for the knowledge he had that there was a red button to be pressed that would solve the problem which, of course, was knowledge I did not have. That assault on my advanced degree from a great university proved to be a cardinal lesson in humility and gratitude; one which I have never forgot. There are indeed legions of skilled laborers who may lack the formal education I am fortunate to have acquired, but every one of them has a knowledge and skill that I can only envy. I could not have progressed in life without that battery of vocational knowledge and the skills I relied on to help me.
I see the opportunity for vocational studies as one of the biggest gaps in our educational system, and one which has been a major factor in the erosion and loss of so much of our industrial base. If we are to truly have equal opportunities within the population in order for this country to provide the means for earning an honest and decent standard of living, this is a part of what we call “education” that must be revisited and revalued.
“Education” encompasses many different aspects of learning and the mastery of knowledge. For one to claim to be seriously educated presupposes a certain amount of discipline and a serious commitment to what may be a long history of study.
There are three classic disciplines that are regarded as the pinnacles of achievement that only an “educated” person can rightfully claim in order to be considered a bonafide intellectual. They are those leading to (a) a Doctorate in Philosophy, (b) a Doctorate in Theology, and (c) a Doctorate in Law. The course of history has seen other disciplines lay claim to titles associated with that same level of achievement, none of which can honestly claim to have mastered the same level of intellectual prowess or the same degree of commitment as what is to be found among any of those three. To be sure, there has been a certain amount of bastardization of theology and law, but the purity of the knowledge base remains and is mastered by few.
As religion has become more secularized, the commitment to theological standards and the integrity of guiding principles have been compromised. As a consequence, religion has, in many cases, lost its standing as a moral compass. It has given license to a broad and varied interpretation of what is regarded as right vs. what is regarded as wrong. Fortunes have been built on peddling “faith and religion” to those who want a fast spiritual cleansing and instant wealth. One need only scratch the surface to see the vast storehouse of hypocrisy marketed as the “will of God.” The birth of the Tea Party and the zealots it has spawned says it all. As a member of the cloth once said to a rather self-absorbed parishioner, “I am less interested in how you talk your faith than I am in how you live it.” Well said.
The discipline reserved for the study and understanding of what is known as “Law” is, at its zenith, far from what has come to be regarded as the contemporary meaning of the term. The various meanings that now carry a market-based price tag can be found among the various political parties, the institutions of government, prestigious law firms, storefront lawyers and bail bondsmen. One can readily see quite a spectrum, with little or no relevance to what was originally meant by “law.” Ah, the lure of the almighty dollar vs. the purity of the profession!
If we are to restore integrity and respect for what we label “college” and “universities,” we need to pause and re-examine what is taught in those institutions with some effort to discern the difference between knowledge, mastery and training.
I happen to believe that the bedrock of our higher educational system is most completely embodied in the system of state universities and colleges, community colleges, and vocational schools. That is the system within which lies the greatest opportunities for an education that will best prepare the future custodians of our society. They are supported by the people and are, generally, more affordable.
There are, of course, those paragons of higher academia that are supported by private funds (rich people) and their progeny. There are provisions for the common folk to enter those hallowed halls on scholarships, but the bulk of those seeking a higher education are from the privileged among us. They not only learn marketable skills and disciplines, but they further assimilate and hone the value systems that cast an aura of certainty over their divine right to exploit the human condition in order to support their wealth and their station in life. An added bonus is being immune from conscription into one of the branches of the armed forces and the attendant dangers of being mortally wounded in the “defense of their country.” Oh, I almost forgot that all came about by the nation adopting an “all voluntary military.” Clearly, it is a class issue and a choice those from the bottom 99 percent choose to exercise. The fact that those counted among the “Hallowed Halls of Ivy,” sit on billions of dollars in endowment funds and that the preponderance of their student body comes from the secluded bastions of the super rich is purely coincidental. It is simply a matter of choice, freely exercised.
The most vile of all those holding themselves out as institutions of higher learning are counted among the “private colleges and universities” that develop and market “degrees,” at inflated prices. The underlying motive is to provide exorbitant returns to their investors who founded those rather sullied examples of academia, leading to the burdening responsibility carried by their students who are saddled with mountains of debt in the form of student loans they can no longer afford to pay. Seems an appropriate place to insert the word “greed,” doesn’t it? Moreover, the value of those so-called degrees is not worth the cost of the paper on which they are printed. The standing of the academic staff is, at best, dubious among the ranks of those who have a rightful claim to that distinction. Interestingly, politicians are the chief recipients of the financial largess for use in their quest for election or re-election. Does that really surprise anyone?
I have a particular contempt for all those who fall into what I call the “dot com techies.” To presume they are educated is an affront to the term. I see them as little more than highly skilled in the marketing and use of computerized systems and electronic gadgetry that serve as the basis for every conceivable kind of exploitation within the marketplace. They are plastic, empty and totally devoid of any compassion for the human condition. I find them superficial and arrogant. They have founded and operate some of the most exploitative business enterprises in our system of business and commerce. They have a sense of self-entitlement and what appears to be an inherent right to exploit those who work for them in their unending quest for affluence by the few at the expense of the many. At best, they “play boss,” but know little if anything about “being boss.” They are frauds that, at the end of the day, wouldn’t make a pimple on the ass of anyone who could reasonably consider himself/herself as a member in good standing of a real vocation. They are more fluff than substance.
Yes, I am an ardent supporter of real education that has legitimate standings in our society. But, although vitally important, I do not believe the health of our future rests, completely, on a foundation of scientific and technical disciplines. If we do not attend to a fundamental need to become thinking, feeling and compassionate human beings, there is no hope for our future. Those who seek out studies in the liberal arts are the real custodians of all that sets us apart from the predators who now seem to control every aspect of our lives. It is the Bill Moyers of this world who contribute so much toward the body of knowledge that feeds the finer aspects of the who and what we are as civilized people; not the Bill Gates.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 9, 2012
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