Is College A Waste Of Time And Money?

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

Are you thinking of going to college?  If so, please consider that decision very carefully.  You probably have lots of people telling you that an "education" is the key to your future and that you will never be able to get a "good job" unless you go to college.  And it is true that those that go to college do earn more on average than those that do not.  However, there is also a downside. 

At most U.S. colleges, the quality of the education that you will receive is a joke, the goal of most colleges is to extract as much money from you and your parents as they possibly can, and there is a very good chance that there will not be a "good job" waiting for you once you graduate.  And unless you have someone that is willing to pay your tuition bills, you will probably be facing a lifetime of crippling student loan debt payments once you get out into the real world.  So is college a waste of time and money?  In the end, it really pays to listen to both sides of the debate.

Personally, I spent eight years at U.S. public universities, and I really enjoyed those times.

But would I trade my degrees today for the time and money that I spent to get them?

Absolutely.

Right now, Americans owe more than a trillion dollars on their student loans, and more than 124 billion dollars of that total is more than 90 days delinquent.

It is a student loan debt bubble unlike anything that we have ever seen before, and now even those that make their living from this system are urging reform.  For example, consider what a law professor at the University of Tennesseerecently wrote for the Wall Street Journal...

In the field of higher education, reality is outrunning parody. A recent feature on the satire website the Onion proclaimed, "30-Year-Old Has Earned $11 More Than He Would Have Without College Education." Allowing for tuition, interest on student loans, and four years of foregone income while in school, the fictional student "Patrick Moorhouse" wasn't much better off. His years of stress and study, the article japed, "have been more or less a financial wash."

"Patrick" shouldn't feel too bad. Many college graduates would be happy to be $11 ahead instead of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, behind. The credit-driven higher education bubble of the past several decades has left legions of students deep in debt without improving their job prospects. To make college a good value again, today's parents and students need to be skeptical, frugal and demanding.

When a lot of young Americans graduate from college and can't find a decent job, they are told that if they really want to "be successful" that what they really need is a graduate degree.

That means more years of education, and in most cases, even more debt.

But by the time many of these young achievers get through college and graduate school, the debt loads can be absolutely overwhelming...

The typical debt load of borrowers leaving school with a master's, medical, law or doctoral degree jumped an inflation-adjusted 43% between 2004 and 2012, according to a new report by the New America Foundation, a left-leaning Washington think tank. That translated into a median debt load—the point at which half of borrowers owed more and half owed less—of $57,600 in 2012.

The increases were sharper for those pursuing advanced degrees in the social sciences and humanities, versus professional degrees such as M.B.A.s or medical degrees that tend to yield greater long-term returns. The typical debt load of those earning a master's in education showed some of the largest increases, rising 66% to $50,879. It climbed 54% to $58,539 for those earning a master of arts.

In particular, many are questioning the value of a law school education these days.  Law schools are aggressively recruiting students even though they know that there are way, way too many lawyers already.  There is no way that the legal field can produce enough jobs for the huge flood of new law school graduates that are hitting the streets each year.

The criticism has become so harsh that even mainstream news outlets are writing about this.  For instance, the following comes from a recent CNN article...

For the past three years, the media has picked up the attacks with relish. The New York Times, in an article on a graduate with $250,000 in loans, put it this way: "Is Law School a Losing Game?" Referring to the graduate, the Times wrote, "His secret, if that's the right word, is to pretty much ignore all the calls and letters that he receives every day from the dozen or so creditors now hounding him for cash," writes the author.  Or consider this blunt headline from a recent Business Insider article: "'I Consider Law School A Waste Of My Life And An Extraordinary Waste Of Money.'" Even though the graduate profiled in the piece had a degree from a Top 20 law school, he's now bitterly mired in debt. "Because I went to law school, I don't see myself having a family, earning a comfortable wage, or having an enjoyable lifestyle," he writes. "I wouldn't wish my law school experience on my enemy."

In America today, approximately two-thirds of all college students graduate with student loan debt, and the average debt level has been steadily rising.  In fact, one study found that "70 percent of the class of 2013 is graduating with college-related debt – averaging $35,200 – including federal, state and private loans, as well as debt owed to family and accumulated through credit cards."

That would be bad enough if most of these students were getting decent jobs that enabled them to service that debt.

But unfortunately, that is often not the case.  It has been estimated that about half of all recent college graduates are working jobs that do not even require a college degree.

Could you imagine that?

Could you imagine investing four or five years and tens of thousands of dollars in a college degree and then working a job that does not even require a degree?

And the really sick thing is that the quality of the education that most college students are receiving is quite pathetic.

Recently, a film crew went down to American University and asked students some really basic questions about our country.  The results were absolutely stunning...

When asked if they could name a SINGLE U.S. senator, the students blanked. Also, very few knew that each state has two senators. The guesses were all over the map, with some crediting each state with twelve, thirteen, and five senators.

I have posted the YouTube video below.  How in the world is it possible that college students in America cannot name a single U.S. senator?...

These are the leaders of tomorrow?

That is a frightening thought.

If parents only knew what their children were being taught at college, in most instances they would be absolutely horrified.

The following is a list of actual college courses that have been taught at U.S. colleges in recent years...

-"What If Harry Potter Is Real?"

-"Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame"

-"Philosophy And Star Trek"

-"Invented Languages: Klingon and Beyond"

-"Learning From YouTube"

-"How To Watch Television"

-"Sport For The Spectator"

-"Oh, Look, a Chicken!"

That last one is my favorite.

The truth is that many of these colleges don't really care if  your sons and daughters learn much at all.  They just want the money to keep rolling in.

And our college students are discovering that when they do graduate that they are woefully unprepared for life on the outside.  In fact, one survey found that70% of all college graduates wish that they had spent more time preparing for the "real world" while they were still in college.

In America today, there are more than 300,000 waitresses that have college degrees, and close to three out of every ten adults in the United States under the age of 35 are still living at home with Mom and Dad.

Our system of higher education is not working, and it is crippling an entire generation of Americans.

So what do you think?

Do you believe that college is a waste of time and money?

Credit to Zero Hedge

Why World War III Will Begin In Syria

It is possible to make a reasonable prediction about where World War III will break out based upon historical Russian military strategy. Putin is following a very predictable pattern that dates back to over a 100 years of Russian military history coupled with the present set of events.

The Present Situation

Russia is bleeding the Petrodollar dry by leading the BRIC nations in the purchase of Iranian oil for gold. The same situation is emerging in Europe as Russia is on the verge, either by invasion or by proxy control of Ukraine, of controlling a good portion of energy needs to Europe and being able to bypass the Petrodollar as a means of payment for Russian energy shipments into Europe. Further, Russia has just completed a deal which brings China into the Russian energy sphere of influence. This will eventually culminate in the weakening of NATO and the isolation of the United States both economically and militarily. What does Russia want and what will be its eventual goal? Some believe that Russia wants to occupy the United States and perhaps Putin eventually does, but it is not practical at this particular point of time. Economic attrition and military isolation are Putin’s best friends at this time. After all, the US is in possession of over 2,000 nuclear weapons and 72 nuclear armed submarines which are virtually undetectable. Despite the presence of these American deterrents, do not be lulled into a false sense of security, this cold war will soon turn hot.

Putin’s Military Strategy

Putin is pursuing a military strategy that most Americans have never heard of and even fewer understand and it has to do with Russia’s geographic makeup and this holds the key to Russian military strategy Although Russia possesses one of the largest land masses in the world, they possess an abhorrent lack of useable coastline. Historically, Russian economic growth has been severely impeded because of the lack of usable ports. Russia rues the day that they sold Alaska to the United States. It also helps to explain why Syria has jumped to the forefront of world affairs. Russia is sitting on vast energy deposits and they are threatening to expand their energy based and mineral world dominance by exploiting the newly discovered riches at the North Pole and they have invested significant resources in beefing up their Arctic fighting forces towards this end. Russia may be able to acquire vast mineral resources, but without significant ports from which to trade, the Russian economy will always run in second gear. One does not need to have access to Putin’s war plans to understand what is going on, one needs to only be a student of history in order to predict where this coming conflict is headed.

The Heartland Theory

British geographer and military historian, Sir Halford MacKinder, in 1904, wrote an article that changed how politicians and military men viewed the world. The theory that had so influenced nearly five generations of strategists was called simply, the Heartland Theory. Basically, Mackinder’s Heartland Theory views geo-political military history as a struggle between land-based and sea-based powers. Mackinder believed the world had become a “closed” system, with virtually no new lands left for the Europeans powers to discover, to conquer, and to fight over without creating chaos elsewhere. According to the theory, the common denominator for world conflict has been reduced to sea powers vs. land-based powers which would subsequently struggle for dominance of the world, and the ultimate victor would be in a position to set up a world empire. The determining factor in this struggle was physical geography; “Man and not nature initiates, but nature in large measure controls”.

From Mackinder’s perspective, Soviet Russia had to be contained within the heartland. Mackinder’s believed that whosoever controlled Eurasia, controlled the world, so long as the controller had access to useable ports. The problem for Russia is that they have so few usable ports thus impacting commerce and the movement of men and material in a time of war. So long as Russia could be prevented from being a major sea power, the forces of the United States and Western Europe were safe. However, if Russia should become a sea power in conjunction with its massive land-based power, Russia could rule the world. And now, through the release of Russian secret documents we are finding out that Stalin was willing to fight a war with the US over obtaining Alaska seaports as predicted by the Heartland Theory.

Stalin’s Secret Plans to Invade Alaska In 1951

In 1999, at a conference held at Yale University, previously-secret Russian documents revealed that Russian Dictator Joseph Stalin had undergone extensive planning in preparation to invade North America as early as 1951. The event was one of a series of programs sponsored by the Washington D.C.-based Cold War International History Project (CWIHP), which monitors new documents pertaining to the Cold War. The Yale conference centered on Stalin’s relationship with the United States. These documents, from the Cold War, revealed that Stalin had a definitive plan to attack Alaska in 1951-52 and had undergone major military preparations in anticipation of the invasion. Russia has always considered itself to be landlocked and this served as the major motivation for Russia’s planned incursion which would have given Russia access to good sea ports. Stalin subsequently died and the plans were abandoned, at least temporarily, mostly due to American dominance in nuclear weapons. In 2014, we see the importance of Heartland Theory in guiding Russian foreign policy with regard to Syria and to some degree, China. The Chinese-Russian energy deal allows Russia access to Chinese ports. Russia is steadfast in its protection of Syria because of the Russian need to use the ports of Tartus and Aleppo. And it is highly likely that once the energy pipelines in Ukraine are secured by Putin, Europe will soon be making seaport concessions to Russia in exchange for Russian based energy shipments. At the beginning of the crisis in Crimea, the first objective of the Russian military was to secure the naval base in Sevastopol. The Russians desire the fleet to grow in support a new Mediterranean task force created by Russia last year as move to counter an increase US naval presence in the Mediterranean. If Ukraine had been allowed to be wooed by Western banksters to join the European Union, Russia’s most important naval force would have been effectively neutered because of the potential loss of Sevastopol as a naval base. The G7 nations may view Putin’s actions in Crimea as being offensive, Putin, no doubt, views the action as a matter of military survival. Again, the Heartland Theory comes into play. The Heartland Theory also came into play during last year’s Syrian crisis as Putin threatened to nuke the United States if it invaded Syria in violation of international law. Syria is critical to the Russians on a number of fronts including the prevalence of Syria’s warm water ports. Syria’s importance to Russia can be condensed to five essential factors: 1. Russia has a naval installation in Syria. The base is vitally important because it is Russia’s last foreign military base outside of the former Soviet Union. Putin is playing a bit of a slight of hand approach by stating they are closing the facility. However, the Russians are maintaining navy technicians and to service their permanent flotilla in the area. 2. Russia utilizes the port at Aleppo and Tartus to facilitate is sea trade. 3. Fortifying Syria provides protection for Iran who is undermining the Petrodollar by selling its oil for gold. This allows Putin to be engaged in an economic war against the dollar the Federal Reserve. 4. Syria is a military satellite of Russia as Assad continues to buy a high quantity of  Russian military exports, which aids the Russian economy.

America’s Options

Control of Ukraine and its gas shipments through the country are the key to swinging the balance of power on the planet. If Ukraine comes under the complete control of the Russians, energy blackmail and the eventual disintegration of NATO will occur. If Russia moves to take over Ukraine, what options does the United States have? It is not likely that at this point in time that NATO has the ability to keep Russia out of Ukraine. Where is Russia most vulnerable? The clear answer is in Syria. Syria has both economic and military significance to Russia. If Syria were to fall to the United States, the military and economic loss would be catastrophic, not the least, would be the loss of Syrian ports. Russia’s prudent course of action would be to continue to erode the US economy by its relentless attacks upon the Federal Reserve and the Petrodollar. However I do not foresee the Federal Reserve banksters are going to continue to let this happen as the dollar erodes. Subsequently, when Ukraine falls, Syria and possibly Iran will be attacked by the United States. The provocation will likely be a false flag event within the United States in which the Syrians are falsely implicated. Remember the Heartland Theory, it also predict the second front of the coming World War III. Along these lines, Putin will attack Alaska if the United States attacks Syria. This is how a cold war can turn hot in a hurry. If you do not believe me, just ask the Polish as they have begun mobilizing for war. DHS just began a martial law lock down drill yesterday which will last for nearly a month. Ask yourself, what do these people know that you do not? Again, I want to caution people to stock up on supplies. If a false flag event does occur, your ability to resupply could be seriously imperiled.
Credit to Common Sense

What Happens When Teachers, Delivery People And Fast Food Workers Don’t Care Anymore…

One of the big problems in America today is that a lot of people simply do not seem to care about what they are doing anymore.  The level of sloth, laziness and apathy that we are witnessing in this country is absolutely mind-numbing.  Of course this is not true of everyone.  There are still many Americans that are extremely hard working.  But overall, it really appears that people are not taking as much pride in their work as they once did.  Some of the examples that I am about to show you are quite funny.  Others are more than just a little bit disturbing.  But they all have a common theme.  Americans from all walks of life are simply giving up.  Whether they are teachers, delivery people or fast food workers, the truth is that there are a whole lot of people out there that seem to have mentally checked out.

For example, take a close look at the midterm exam posted below.  Does anything stand out to you?...

If you can't read the writing in the red box, this is what it says...

"In all honesty, I am already bored with this topic. It is far less interesting than I had hoped and I really don't want to finish this essay. I'm fairly sure you don't really read these so I'm just going to put enough words down to make it seem like I wrote a lot while I kill time. Wanna hear some words that rhyme with time? Crime, dime, mime, (haha mimes are funny), chime, lime. Aw dude you know what has lime in it? Sprite, it like lemon lime. I could really go for one of those about now, but not sierra mist, that just isn't the same. It tries too hard to be sprite but it just cant pull it off. It should just try to be itself and stop trying to measure up to other sodas."

To be fair, there is a tremendous amount of debate about this photo on the Internet.  Some people insist that no teacher would ever be so careless and that this picture must have been photoshopped.  Others that have studied this photo insist that there is no sign of alteration and that it is 100% authentic.

I will let you come to your own conclusion.

What is undeniable, on the other hand, is that there are a lot of delivery people out there that simply do not seem to care anymore.

For example, in the YouTube video that I have posted below, you can watch a postal worker drive her truck on to someone's lawn.  She is so lazy that she doesn't even have the energy to take a few steps and place the package at the customer's door...

And in this next YouTube video, another postal worker does not even get out of his truck.  He just carelessly tosses a package (which could contain something very expensive) toward the customer's home...

What would cause someone to act like that?

What has caused so many Americans to no longer take any pride in their work?

Another place where this can be seen frequently is at fast food restaurants.

For instance, the photo that I have posted below of a Wendy's employee gulping down soft serve ice cream with his mouth under the Frosty dispenser went viral on the Internet a while back...

I don't know about you, but to me that is absolutely disgusting.  Needless to say, that worker quickly lost his job.

And of course there is no shortage of other fast food horror stories out there.

The following is one of my favorite examples...

Tony Hill, a pastor in Baltimore, Maryland, once got a deep-fried mouse along with his chicken at Popeye's. The old "I found a rat in my fried chicken!" urban legend is decades old - this particular story was given a little credence, however, by the fact that local health authorities confirmed that the Popeye's in question had a rodent problem.

These days even the criminals are getting lazy.

The following story is very tragic.  Violent crime in America is on the rise, and as the economy continues to get worse people are going to steal just about anything that is not bolted down.

In the little town of Denison, Iowa, a couple of thugs recently shot and killed an elderly couple while they were attempting to steal some scrap metal...

A Denison man told investigators that he and another man shot two people, then set fire to a trailer with the victims inside, according to court documents.

Jayden Chapman said he and Michael D. Schenk shot Marvin Huelsing, 80, and Alice Huisenga, 81, on Monday, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in Crawford County District Court.

This is the kind of thing that we are going to see a lot more frequently in the years ahead.

Those thugs thought that they would get away with murder by burning the victims inside their own trailer, but they foolishly left behind a receipt from the Wal-Mart where they had just been shopping at the scene of the crime...

A pickup truck more than 200 yards north of the trailer also was burned. Near it, investigators found on the ground a receipt from the Denison Walmart with a debit-card number from a food-stamp card. Authorities determined the card was assigned to Schenck.

In this case, justice was served by the slothfulness of the American people, and I hope that those murderers are given the highest penalty allowed by law.

But in general, slothfulness is a terrible thing.  And it isn't just a few people that are being slothful.  This is a national disease.  I like how Jim Quinn put it in his recent article...

The government controlled public education system has flourished beyond all expectations of your owners. We’ve become a nation of techno-narcissistic, math challenged, reality TV distracted, welfare entitled, materialistic, gluttonous, indebted consumers of Chinese slave labor produced crap.

But even though so many of us are aware of what is happening to us, we just can't seem to break out of it as a nation.

It really does seem like most people are walking around in a fog these days.

Maybe the fact that 70 million Americans are on mind-altering drugs has something to do with it.

I don't know.

But unless Americans start taking more pride in their work again and start living their lives with meaning and purpose, it is going to be very difficult to envision a positive future for this country.

Credit to Economic Collapse

How The Globalist's Will Murder The U.S. Dollar

Financial War, Russian Shooting War, Phony Fed Stress Test…..

Media Covers Up Turks Planning False Flag to Start Syria War

Madrid students strike back against education austerity cuts