by Jack » Wed 23 Aug 2006, 00:45:48
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('azreal60', 'T')he really stupid thing about it is this. Why the heck would you not include college or at least job training in a job that will actually get them off welfare in with things that qualify for getting welfare. I mean, that's just dumb. You do want less people on the welfare rolls right? If they want to help you out by taking themselves off by getting training in a job that actualy pays more than 6.25 an hour, why the heck wouldn't you help them do that?
On the one hand, the conventional wisdom is that those with a 4 year degree have an earnings advantage over those without. That said, one must question the details of the aforementioned conventional wisdom. I've no doubt that a software engineer from MIT makes good money. But does someone with a 4 year degree in art from padiscadiddle U. have an earnings advantage over a good auto mechanic? I question that.
We must also recognize that college is not for everyone. Furthermore, since it is a private good, one must ask how much society is expected to donate to this goal. The various legislatures seem to believe they are at capacity presently.
Now, as to the poor - there is really no need to remain at $6.25 per hour, even if one does not have a college education. An OK waiter (or waitress) in a so-so eatery can make over $20K per year. If you don't believe it, talk to them. Better waiters, at better places, make considerably more. Nothing is needed but a high school education.
And there are many more such things available.
Really, I think we'd be better off if we deemphasized college for the masses.