So What Part of ‘Stupid’ Did You Miss? « The Burning Platform

So What Part of ‘Stupid’ Did You Miss? « The Burning Platform



Guest Post by Karl Denninger



Sigh…



Stephanie Ritter, a 26-year-old Florida State University alum, has listed her diploma on eBay for the staggering sum to cover the ‘actual cost’ of attending the school.



Now $40,000 in debt and living in Southern California, Stephanie is fed up with being unable to find a job in her field, despite having a Bachelor’s degree – so she’s come up with a drastic solution to pay off her loans and ‘validate my use of time between 2007-2011’.



She took $40,000 in debt to study…. theater.



Seriously.  Theater.



What did she think she was going to do with that degree that was worth the money?



This, in the end, is the problem — universities and other “higher educational” institutions, including High Schools for that matter, that push people to get a degree — any degree.  What’s missing from that discussion is any sort of honest examination of the degree itself and what it does for your earnings potential.



An utterly huge percentage of “degrees” today are worth exactly zero.  Most humanities degrees are in this realm; “sociology”, “woman’s studies”, “african-american studies” and similar “fields” are simply worth zero.



So where did she get this idea from?  Let me guess: Her parents and/or High School?



Here’s my suggestion: If you encourage someone — or fail to warn them, having a position of authority (such as a parent, high school counselor or similar) in regard to such a person who is not yet an adult to go chase such a “dream” while going into debt, you should be forced to cover it with your retirement funds so you get to go live in a refrigerator box under a freeway overpass.



And if you don’t have it?  Then said student should eat you.