Steve Breen for August 17, 2012

An unfair comparison. First of all, trade school is a post high school education, so that person is furthering his education appropriately. Second, despite the immorally high cost of college (as a parent paying for it right now), people with degrees on average still earn much more than those without. At least in the long run.

Yet, if you do nothing and produce nothing (or less) you make $20 million a year.In a bad year…

There are skilled trades where employers are begging for workers – machinist is one example. The question a high school graduate has to worry about is ‘Will those jobs go to some third world country?’ Sadly, most of the jobs being retained will be in the service fields, not in manufacturing.

I live in a manufacturing town. I have yet to meet a welder who earns $50,000 per year after 10 years of service let alone as a starting wage. Steve is either grossly overstating, or grossly out of touch with manufacturing pay scales.

cnc machinist is a better choice, but comprehensive, high tech welding is a good minor !

Second no yawner!!!Are you a different Harley filling in for the not so mighty Harleyquinn?Hmmnn…there ARE the usual grammatical errors…most noticeably, no comma after the sentence that begins w/the word “Shoot…”

Exactly…“education” is way over-rated, unless you grew up with a dysfunctional family. Liberal arts college is just a way to push off adulthood by four years. Woithless.

But to get the big money you have to be Union.And Unions are Socialist, anti-American, anti-business, pro- (safety) -regulation……Or so the GOP says.

Nothing wrong with being a welder, a plumber, a machinist…. They all deserve a good wage. Nothing wrong with the liberal arts path either. A complex society needs lots of different folks doing different things. But everyone who works should be able to have a decent living.

My son is already qualified for several “trades” that could pay over $100 K per year. He also turned down going for a PhD in physics, choosing instead a ‘tech school" degree working with animals (instead of people) that will pay well, but not as much as the other “career choices”. The REAL SECRET IS ; do a job that you love, and makes you happy, with enough money to “get by” with a decent living. Fixating on only making money, is VERY AMERICAN, but also why we’re so screwed up.

Mitt Romney: does nothing, produces nothing…

My liberal arts degree has been very good to me, money-wise.

BTW: Ryan has a liberal arts degree, B.A., and with his brown nosing from high school, through internships at Congress, he’s proven a L.A. degree CAN “pay off”.

Yup, those psyc, history, history, art, and music majors are all in high demand 30 years out.

The real loser is a society that equates earning more money with being well educated. An education whether formal or informal should be something that has intrinsic value. Otherwise we get professional politicians that don’t believe in evolution because"it’s just a theory."

Could Harley be skitzoid? Harley?—-Oh Harley!!! You usually so gnarly…

^‘tis true, my son was a “nuke”, BUT the same applies in MANY areas where folks “look down” on the folks who really do the job, and make things WORK! It also applied in Shepard’s “lowest bidder” comment before going up on that giant candle.

But there IS also a reason why “educators” and professors at universities tend to be “liberal”, It is that they are intelligent, and respect learning, and being open to new ideas and concepts, and are NOT locked into unfounded dogma, with closed minds. One of the most “intelligent” and learned, men I ever knew had only a third grade “formal” education, but he could talk about almost any subject, ran the best ranching operation in the state, and read omnivorously his entire life, seeking knowledge, for it’s own sake, as much as how he could improve “his” world. It was quite some time ago, and though he was “politically conservative” (as was his state, and “industry”) he still judged things based on facts, and challenged information that seemed false, or “wrong”, and THAT is the definition of “liberal”.

If you want a job, go to vocational school. If you want an education, go to college. THEN you can parlay that education into some kind of career to support yourself.

Ahhh yes. The old Reagan quote that allowed him to declare war on education. And you wonder “is our children learning?”

Yes, he should have.But he went ahead and made a 3rd grade error in a nationally broadcast speech.Actually he made lots of those errors over his political career, making me think that Dubya might be a nice guy to have a beer with, but I wouldn’t want him running a baseball team, let alone the nation.But what do I know? I’m a Democrat.

^“W” might indeed have been a great guy to have a beer with, but I wouldn’t have hired him to walk my dog, as he’d have dragged it back dead, just like he did our economy, and our troops with his petty war to get even for “daddy”.

I like the way you manage to take our abilities, and your inability, and try to make it appear to be something bad. Sorry you couldn’t make it.

You are a wise man.

Sounds like someone couldn’t get into college… so sorry.