The Educational Caste System

in education •  7 years ago  (edited)

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A lot has been said about the current state of education, how bad it is or how things need to be changed. Not being part of its official milieu anymore, whenever I hear people mentioning anything about education it's mainly about how much debt they're in because of all the student loans they took on so they could participate in the whole "getting an education". The prices, as well as the general attendance of so-called higher education have been increasingly drastically in the last quarter century, this is of course basic economics caused by supply and demand.

Another fundamental economic occurrence is the law of diminishing returns; and to me it's obvious how the value of degrees have become subject to this as more funds and more students are continually loaded in. It's a classic case-study of this law in action, yet it seems to go totally beyond daily observations. Economics doesn't just apply to the factors of production but also to the common dealings present in culture. Perhaps as a society, there's a religious like faith in education in itself, which is something not be questioned and if if it should be for any reason, it's about the planning for more resources and rearranging the system of how schooling will function.

This underlying dogma toward education is very likely caused by the prevalence of schooling. We are a schooled society; it's nothing new, it's been like this for years as the Prussian system has become the norm throughout the world along with training getting confused for the idea of an education as I've discussed before. Being schooled, and living in a society where the majority of it's members went through this indoctrination to some level, there are deep consequences which may not be visible to the average person.

The main problem I see with education as I come to see it, is how much schooling has become the primary vehicle or rather, the accepted place where one is to become educated. With this mode of thinking being so widespread, the authority of school is established with it's monopoly on accreditation, which inherently creates a hierarchal caste-system and a discrimination policy ranking individuals based on their degrees or any other educational achievements. Those who have gone the courageous informal route of autodidacts are not taken seriously and often denied professional positions due to their lack of certifications. A schooled society wants to quantify everything; regardless if such things like education, which in reality can't be quantified just like any other true value—whose putting a number on beauty, manners, or love?

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Really enjoyed reading this, as with all your other posts.

Fortunately money trumps all this, if you can figure out how to make money you don't need an education. The so called highly educated people are the ones who, more often than not, find themselves working in some capacity for people who didn't finish college, dropped out, or never went at all.

It's because it's those people that have the creativity necessary to think independently, and make decisions that go against the grain. At this point education is just a production line for worker drones, and you never get rich by working.

P.S. Have you ever heard of the Early Retirement Extreme blog? I think it might be really up your street.

http://earlyretirementextreme.com

Thanks for reading!

Fortunately money trumps all this, if you can figure out how to make money you don't need an education. The so called highly educated people are the ones who, more often than not, find themselves working in some capacity for people who didn't finish college, dropped out, or never went at all.

It's because it's those people that have the creativity necessary to think independently, and make decisions that go against the grain. At this point education is just a production line for worker drones, and you never get rich by working.

Exactly, education is well suited for people who just want to follow. It's based on the Prussian model which like you say a production line for worker drones.

P.S. Have you ever heard of the Early Retirement Extreme blog? I think it might be really up your street.

Yes, I have the book it's been a while since I read it but my overwhelming gist out of the book is to save as much as possible, keep expenses low, and you can be independently wealthy relatively young. Seems like common sense but as they say, thats not really common; either way, I'm definitely on that road.

With this mode of thinking being so widespread, the authority of school is established with it's monopoly on accreditation, which inherently creates a hierarchal caste-system and a discrimination policy ranking individuals based on their degrees or any other educational achievements. Those who have gone the courageous informal route of autodidacts are not taken seriously and often denied professional positions due to their lack of certifications.

That is very true. My grandfather on the maternal side, he was not studied, he had only completed primary school, due to the few economic resources his family had, so from a very early age he had to find work, and since his adolescence he worked in an airline as mechanical assistant, and with the passage of time they gave him a higher position, however, although he worked there for 40 years, there was always a young novice who had no practical knowledge, but who did have a university degree, to which they ascended to higher positions immediately. That would be understandable if my grandfather were an unresponsive or incompetent worker, but that was not the case, in many cases, they delegated all responsibility to him, but they never promoted him. As my grandfather, it happens in many other companies, including, also happens when talking about any topic, many times people take as valid what is said by someone with an academic title, even if that is false, however, if someone without formal education says something truly valid, often not appreciated, simply because it does not possess the "license" granted by these institutions of formal education.

Thats crazy about your grandfather. Goes to show how much schooling has screwed up how we view work, ability, and knowledge. This is massive discrimination that nobody really talks about, this caste system is too powerful for any acknowledgment.

As my grandfather, it happens in many other companies, including, also happens when talking about any topic, many times people take as valid what is said by someone with an academic title, even if that is false, however, if someone without formal education says something truly valid, often not appreciated, simply because it does not possess the "license" granted by these institutions of formal education.

Yes, this is also very true and sad frankly. People are so conditioned that only information from an authority is valid; there is no thinking taking place when this happens.

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Your article is excellent, and it really has been pleasant to have read it, however, a part of it I have not understood it at all (maybe it has to do with what is a bit more difficult for me because I do not speak English and use an automatic translator) .

Another fundamental economic occurrence is the law of diminishing returns; and to me it's obvious how the value of degrees have become subject to this as more funds and more students are continually loaded in. It's a classic case-study of this law in action, yet it seems to go totally beyond daily observations. Economics does not just apply to the factors of production but also to the common dealings present in culture.

Could you do this a little simpler for me? please explain me as if I were 10 years old.

By the way, I'd like to make a suggestion. Using HTML you can format your Steemit posts much more efficiently. Using the tag "div class =" text-justify "you could justify the text, and using the tag" a href = "you could replace the links inside HTML blocks (within which Markdown is not recognized, although within Markdown it is recognized HTML) I could clarify the procedure a bit more if you need help, thanks in advance.

Hey thanks for reading.

Could you do this a little simpler for me? please explain me as if I were 10 years old.

I'll try.

"The law of diminishing returns" is simply a rule in economics that states the more you keeping putting into something, the less value something becomes as it becomes overly done. In my example I was talking about college degrees; there has been so much money put into education and more students going to college than any other time that value of a degree has decreased. You can apply this principle in many other areas if you can notice them.

From what I'm understanding has a lot to do with the existing level of competence / offer of something. Is that correct?

Yes, the existing level of competence for a degree has decreased.

Ok. I would like to tell you that I have already done the translation of this article for the alternative medium that I mentioned:

https://tequenodigital.com/2018/01/21/sobre-el-sistema-educativo-de-castas-superfluousman/

Nice, I can read Spanish and it looks pretty good! thanks