The topic: Wages and, both indirectly and directly, education.
No, I'm not going to talk about what's happening in LA. All I'll say is is that I'm pretty happy about that, and I anticipate a snow-ball effect in the near future in other major cities.
Why do I feel this way? I'll explain, but before I do I want to say this: This is a super important topic. I know that this is just some blog written by some guy, but if you're going to read this at all, then please take what I'm about to say seriously. Research some things on your own if you wish...in fact, I implore you to if you care about this stuff as much as I do. Whether you disagree or agree, the topic deserves a multitude of conversations across the nation. I digress...
I've seen countless arguments about the wage increases that are taking effect across a few parts of the country. The majority of those people disagreeing, the ones that received at least a bachelors degree from XYZ Universities, are complaining in ways like, "Well, what was the point of that education I have," or, "Hey, can I have a big raise, too?!" and so on and so forth.
The problem with these arguments is that these people are ignoring a few key, and very real, problems.
For one, the educational system is completely broken. They should know this--the people disagreeing--but they don't. Remember when we were young and our parents were telling us how important it is to receive higher education to better our lives and/or our chances of progressing in life? I sure do, and unbeknownst to them, because they sincerely didn't know the system could get this bad, they were lying to us. Ok, so, that's not lying, but the point is: They were wrong. Moreover, we, us millenials, didn't do a great job at adapting to the trends. Even when we noticed that tuition was rising to astronomical values we continued going to 4 year Universities to get that "much-needed" education. (Not that it mattered much anyway unless you went to Stanford, Harvard, Notre Dame, or other well-known colleges.) I'm sure many of us have seen this cartoon by now, which is a pretty decent representation of what has been going on for quite some time.
Secondly, businesses are making the problem worse by paying us less. Once we get that loan-filled sack of educational knowledge, it is expected that we receive a job sufficient enough to pay back the system while living off of our own means. BERMP! Wrong again. Just when you thought you did everything you were supposed to, you find out that none of that even mattered. And now you're struggling to make ends meet even WITH a "decent paying" job. And that's if you're living with your parents. Good luck if you think you can live on your own without stressing yourself out to death in the process off of these wages. No wonder everyone is marrying before they're actually ready to really commit to someone. The benefits of extra income outweigh the potentail downfalls of a broken marriage down the line for some. Before I mentioned that, you could already hear the money leaving your wallets, and I didn't even mention food, travel expenses, car insurance, car repairs, or any of that stuff, yet. Oh, and best of luck having children!
Thirdly, if you are going to get your bachelors, then you might as well pony-up the dough to get your masters. Sorry to tell you, but getting your masters is the new college degree. Take it from someone who just got their masters in a "lucrative accounting field." The issue with having an extended learning degree is that businesses know they'll have to pay you more. Which means what? That's right, they'll pass you over for cheaper labor. So the system, in this way, can be even MORE broken depending upon the company you interview with, etc. Now, I did get a job after I received my masters, but I'm working at the place I interned at for 2 years. I'll admit that I'm super proud of my accomplishment, and am quite thrilled with the opportunity and happy to be working in a new environment, but take it from me: All I earned was a full-time job. Not a full-time job with more of a salary bump for the avg masters grad. Just a full-time job. (I actually make less than the average income a college graduate is supposed to make in my position. And yes, I did try to negotiate salary.)
See the problem, yet? No? That's OK, I have more...
"It's not what you know; it's who you know."
This is a saying that goes around the corporate world. You've probably heard it before. It seems like such a beacon of hope in the desolate land that our country is becoming. The first few times I heard it, I definitely felt that way, but after really dissecting the phrase I realized that, man, it's really quite terrible, isn't it? I mean, if you know important people that can help you get up in life, then of course you're giggling to yourself with confidence, but what if you're someone who doesn't know anyone. Perhaps you're the type of person who isn't great at networking. Or maybe you work in a business atmosphere where the culture is so terrible that making connections is near impossible. The point is that if this phrase is true, then why are we going to school at all? We could just put a bunch of mumbo jumbo on our resumes--which I know there's a few street-smart people out there that do this anyway--know some important people, and get a leg-up on everyone else. This phrase more than anything I've menetioned to this point is the main reason I'm 100% OK with the minimum wage increases. This phrase admits to everyone that the system is completely busted. I don't even have to go any further in explaining it than that, do I? It's right there in bold print. And it makes all of the sense.
So, how do we fix this mess?
1. I don't have all of the answers, but I am a huge advocate of doing something over nothing to see how things play out. Hopefully a wage increase works the way it should by funneling money out of big businesses and into homes throughout the country. Businesses hoard way too much money. They have full departments that have the sole purpose of saving as much tax expense as possible, and a lot of those companies are really good at it, which means money never funnels back into the country for other people to use. This wage increase is basically a tax that corporations HAVE TO PAY. In that aspect, I think it's pretty brilliant. Yes, small businesses might have trouble getting traction, but as much as that does suck, they're not helping many people. We need to fix the big problems before we fix the small ones.
2. There are colleges that are getting the hint that their tuition prices are getting ridiculous, so they've created plans where students with parents of certain wage pools pay little to no tuition for their schools. Stanford started doing this. Georgetown started doing this, and others! They realize that if we--the students going to their schools--have money, then they can pay money. If they DON'T have money, then they can't pay money. The more students that are in debt, with the potential of defaulting, the worse our economy is, because then our banks go back to drowning like they were in the housing collapse of 2008/2009.
3. Lastly, knowledge should still equal power. If knowing Bob equals power, then, man, that's...that's a problem.
Ultimately, we, as a country, need to find the means to an end, because the current system just isn't working. And those disagreeing really need to stop blaming the people asking for a higher wage increase. They ARE NOT the problem.
- PatInTheHat
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