I never miss a Kuntsler post... and I am just out of my mind THRILLED to see him, and others, covering the student loan/debt fiasco.
If you are a young person about to embark on the college experience and the debt that goes with it (or the parent about to pay for it), I hope you will spend some time talking to 30ish college grads about their financial condition.
You will find that the professionals, while not perfectly happy, are able to make a living and to repay their student loans. Physicians, Engineers, Dentists, Lawyers, CPA's - these folks are still able to make a living and repay their loans. Most everybody else? They are bleeding from their lower orifices, unable to repay their loans, make a living, get married, support children and a family...
Look, if you are rich go study whatever yo like... its good to be the king. If your family is not rich, just keep in mind that NO prospective employer really needs whatever contribution your history/women's studies/journalism/art appreciation (sniker) might make to their organization. You might have an education... but you have no training. As in, you don't know how to do sh#!, so what use would you be to anyone in the mart of competitive commerce? Nobody at the colleges you are applying to is going to tell you (or your parents) this: That your average young person from an average family would be better off with the money than the non-professional sheepskin in most cases. No technical letters after your name? No makee livingee.
But they will want you to pay back the loans... with interest.
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I found this funny and accurate.
I watched in fascination a municipal road crew working this past week... every member of the crew was at least 50 pounds over weight. They weren't chubby... they were f***ing fat. The chinese fire drill that I witnessed to remove a fallen tree was something out of the Twilight Zone... and then it dawned on me: These people are the norm, not the exception. The People are now 12 sizes too big to do any form of manual labor. I tried to imagine these guys working all day on the assembly line at the GM plant that was the major employer in my hometown (before they closed it up). Could these guys stand all day and work? Could they even sit all day and work? NAFC. There is no point in trying to bring manufacturing back to this country (not that we could in any event)... Americans are in no condition to work, have sex, coach little league, or walk up a flight of steps. Worse, we have come to accept this condition as normal.
And what's the big topic? HEALTHCARE! WTF could we be talking about? The American people do not appear to me to be terribly concerned with their health. What is it that we want?
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Don't miss this video of Mike Wallace's famous interview with Ayn Rand.
6 comments:
Watched Ayn Rand interveiw, never saw anything like it before. This should be required in every highschool to be watched and debated. I think, though maybe uncomfortable by many at first, we could see a real change in our country and future for the good. I wonder if we would except the initial pain of such a change though.The sense of entitlement is strong for now.
Bob
Enjoyed this article. Glad to see your still writing. I spent about 8hrs shoveling manure and mulch last week and it about did me in. I consider myself in pretty good shape--but the repetitive nature of shoveling was a bit much for the old forearms after a winter of only formal exercise. Every spring I'm reminded of all the small muscles and tendons that only old school labor seems to really work hard. I can't imagine being fat and doing hard labor. A sedentary culture and work environment certainly has many unintended consequences. I'm still glad they have chainsaws though, I cut a couple trees down with an axe--wow talk about a cardio workout. The old lumberjacks must have been beasts.
All the best to you and your family.
Meiyo-
I would miss my chainsaw almost as much as my freezers!
After doing a number of experiments with wood cutting sans a chainsaw the last few Winters I have come to the conclusion that most of the overweight people you mentioned would die of cold within a month. That and every thing burnable would be dismantled within a week.
I believe the stimulus fantasy has finally run it's course but we will see.
I'll go from heat prostration, not cold, but that's because I'm in Arizona. I did have some fun removing a dead pecan tree from my mom's place recently. My son and I used a large bow saw to cut the trunk into fireplace sized chunks, I used a ten pound maul for splitting and on the branches. I'm not so good with an axe, but am not bad with the other hand tools of a logger.
The trick is to get a good axe and keep it sharp. Use stones NOT a grinder; slow and steady sharpens the axe whereas fast turns it to worthless junk. I really like the Fiskars axe, it's good for a couple of trees between sharpenings and is reasonably priced. A better one will run you well north of $100.00
On the saws make sure the teeth are designed right and are slightly ofset to make the edge wider than the back of the blade or it will get stuck. Then use the right kind of blade the one with nothing but triangle shaped teeth for dry or hardwoods the one with when gaps between the teeth and the occasional curved tooth for green or soft woods.
There is some technique to it but the only way to learn that is to do it. If my fat lazy @%#; can do it just about any one can.
Best,
Dan
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