Aaron Cleary: Before You Become A Doctor

One of Aaron Cleary's readers sent him a write up about what it takes to become a doctor in 'murca. No wonder there are so few good doctors out there. People like me who can keep appointment times and follow up aren't going to jump through those hoops.

When I went into delayed enlistment for the Navy in 1991, the military was hurting for doctors. Had I chosen that route, they would have put me through college and med school. I wasn't interested though. And I'm still glad I chose electronics instead.

The one military choice I regret is the Army has a flight program where they make you a warrant officer and send you to flight school to fly helicopters. The reason I didn't choose that one is because, well, it's the Army, and two, the Army can't guarantee you anything. The Navy will give you an mostly-inviolable contract. The Army could decide they need cooks or grunts and send you that direction no matter what the recruiter promised. When Ralph Nader was drafted during Korea, he was already a practicing lawyer. Did the Army make use of that? Hell, no. They gave him a spatula.

The Ivy League Is Really Knocking It Out Of The Park...

I can't think of a comment. Other than, this never happens at the University of Phoenix. I don't think I'll ever look at Harvard in the same light again. 

Is Homework Poor Time Management On The Part of the Teacher?

My children are homeschooled by my ex-wife, so I've never had to worry much about them having homework. But I've seen plenty of it on the part of my friends.

A guy I worked with several years ago claimed his son came home from school and occasionally had to stay up until 10 just working on homework.

It's been more than 20 years since I was in high school, but I doubt things have changed much since then. If anything, things have gotten worse.

The majority of teachers I had were not very good with time. In a 50 minute class, even a hard charging teacher might get 20-30 minutes of actual lesson time. After dealing with all the late comers, taking attendance and other administrative matters, there wasn't much time for actual lessons before it was time to wrap up before the bell rang signalling the end of class.

So do teachers assign homework because it's better for the student, or is it more because there's not enough time in class or they can't manage the available time?

I also wonder something. Is homework sending the wrong message to children? As an adult, if you bring work home and neglect your family and friends to get it done, you're a workaholic and there's something wrong with you. But it's OK to load students up with a bunch of crap that infringes on their personal time, only to tell them a few years later they need counseling if they continue the practice?

Law School Grade Bubble

Looks like law schools are starting to do every thing in the book to make sure their students stay competitive, except maybe make sure they're actually good at the subject material.

Just preparing them for what is largely an amoral, worthless profession. Even Harvard and Yale are getting in on the act.

Working To Death

I've asked a few times before: "When did the American Dream become debt slavery?"

Recently, I heard of an investment intern who literally worked himself to death. And that kind of even should leave most of us asking "Is it worth it?"

Return of Kings blogger "Western Cancer" (why can't people just use their own names? Anonymity is bullshit!) explores this briefly, and relates experiences from people he knew in college with dreams of power and money. He summarizes:

Whenever I pried I never got a straight answer as to why these people were willing to give up the wealth of their youth for the riches of the future. The girl never wanted to be a lawyer because she respected the law. The guy never wanted to be a doctor because he loved humanity and wanted to help all he could. They just wanted status and a salary.

That sounds about right.

Medicine and law are two fields that require an enormous commitment during your youth if you want the money and the power. I've never figured out what the benefit is to working 120 hours a week as an associate, or a medical intern forced to go days without sleep while working shifts. The only adequate explanation I've come across for this is "Well, the old guys had to go through it. We can't just let the young people coast, can we?"

Right, so does working 120 hours a week make you a better lawyer or going days without sleep make you a better doctor? If so, I'd love to hear how.  Whenever I go long periods without sleep, it usually makes me worse at what I do. Whenever I work excessive hours, it likewise makes me worse at what I do.

When I was younger, it might have been easier to sell me on the "work long hours and you too can have lots of money and power". As I approach 40, I don't get the point anymore. Work is what I do so I can do the things I want to do. It's not what I do so at some point in the future, maybe I'll be able to enjoy something.

I get that sometimes you have to make short term sacrifices for a long term payoff, but young people, if your chosen career is going to require you to make a ton of sacrifices for no other reason than "everybody else had to!", you should probably rethink it. Don't get too far in life before you find yourself asking "What's the point?"

The only way to change that kind of game is to not play it. Don't go into medicine. Don't go into law. Don't go into investment banking. As the old f*cks start dying off, then come back and say "I'll do it, but I'm going home at the end of a reasonable workday. I won't just shuffle papers for 10 years in the hopes of a payoff later. I won't go days without sleep as an intern. You figure it out if you want me in your career field."

Seriously, what is the point to that kind of money and power? I would much rather spend my time at backyard parties like one I went to last night than at some kind of high society cocktail party.

The "One Size Fits All" American Dream

For those of us in "America", we've spent our lives hearing about the so called "American Dream". It's coated up in pretty words like "freedom" and "liberty", but then starts to devolve into things like "own a house" or "have a college degree".

Then things like marriage, family, expensive vacations, large TVs, and expensive cable packages got added to it. Also, public schools, and an expansive, intrusive, and expensive social safety net.

And having to send our children to college.

When did our "American Dream" get wrapped up in debt slavery?

Now the "American Dream" includes having our private parts molested at the airport in the name of "safety" and "terrorism". And not being able to travel with toothpaste and water bottles.I'm not entirely sure about the toothpaste thing, since I refuse to fly under the current system. But I heard a foreign woman had a water bottle confiscated. She was confused as hell because other countries let you bring water on the plane.

Aaron Clarey points out how the "American Dream" seems to be designed for a certain class of citizen who is a good cubicle wage slave:

Remember kids, home ownership and the American dream isn't for you.  It's only for older people and good little corporate cogs who did what they were told.

Whatever it used to be, it is no longer. Don't take your personal future plans from advertisers, media personalities, and parrots. Chart your own course. 

Worthless Degree Awareness Month 3: Feelings

A female Environmental Engineering student wrote to Vox Day. Vox answered.

My favorite part:

Now I'm going to teach you a hard, but very important lesson.  You see, I don't care you how feel.  I really don't.  More importantly, neither does anyone else.  Only about 200 people on a planet of 7 billion actually care about your feelings, and that's if you're lucky.  The sooner you grasp this lesson, the better off you will be.  And since almost no one gives a damn what you do, say, think, or feel, appealing to your feelings when you encounter differences of opinion is not only illogical, but useless.

Feelings are tyrannical. Not only are they tyrannical to the person ruled by them, they are tyrannical to everybody the person ruled by feelings can inflict those feelings upon. Bravo, Vox. This is the approach we need to take. "You make me FEEL bad". "I don't give a ____".

I believe feelings are there for a reason. But they are not to rule us. The mark of a mature adult is to be able to take the feelings and view them against reality. "I feel that nobody likes me". Is that accurate? Or is it just late on Friday night and you have no plans?

My soon to be ex is ruled by feelings that exerted tyranny over me. She said "The moment I decided to divorce you, I felt a sense of peace and knew it was the right thing to do". I'm not trying to pick on my ex, but this is a good example. Let's try that in another context:

"I know tax evasion is wrong, but the moment I decided to do it, I felt a sense of peace and knew it was the right thing to do". It doesn't work, does it?

By the way, Environmental Engineering is a worthless degree. Jobs in those fields usually go to Mechanical and Electrical Engineers.

There probably wouldn't be worthless degrees if people's feelings couldn't be so easily manipulated.

Buy Worthless. It could save you money and years of heartache and broken dreams. Plus, it's a darn good read.

Worthless Degree Awareness Month 2: 20 Worthless College Classes

I'm participating in Aaron Cleary's "Worthless Degree Awareness Month".

Here are 20 worthless college classes you can take at campuses this semester (or the next one). What if Harry Potter Were Real? People will actually pay for that, when you can do it for the cost of beer or weed or magic mushrooms. There's another one about Lady Gaga, which certainly will prepare you for a well paying career in a STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). That was sarcasm, in case it didn't come across as well as I'd hoped.

Captain Capitalism- Worthless Degree Awareness Month

Aaron Cleary is declaring June "Worthless Degree Awareness Month".

It may sound funny, but it really is no laughing matter.  The single worst thing we do to our young kids is cripple them financially for the rest of their lives by telling them to waste 4-8 years of their youth and anywhere between $50,000-$150,000 on worthless degrees.  It's on par with the housing bubble and this time it is without own control to stop it.

I concur. I'm on record for what I think about the majority of "raising awareness" campaigns, most of which apparently are made up by people with worthless degrees.

America's Diploma Addication

Yeah, this is meant to be humorous, but like all satire, it's rooted in reality.


I'm pretty sure the education bubble is going to pop soon. I don't believe it's sustainable.

Like any product, you can put a price tag on education. That whole "You can't put a price tag on education" is a marketing slogan, like Nike's "Just do it!" When it comes to any marketing slogan, you need to take your needs into account. Forget theirs. Don't fall for an emotionally charged slogan.

I went about $25,000 into debt in student loans on my degree in Information Technology. I gasp when I read about people going $50,000 to $90,000 in debt in student loans for education, social work, and philosophy degrees. Business Administration (bachelors, not the Master's level MBA).

Stop falling for it. Your parents and teachers probably don't know what they're talking about. Like most other things that come out of their mouths, they're just parroting what they hear around them because it sounds smart. Chances are, they haven't even given any thought to the words they're repeating. They hear it from their friends, they heard it from their teachers, they hear it from the talking heads on TV... Yes, they love you (probably) yes, they (probably) want the best for you, but no, they don't know what they're talking about. But their approach to advising you on your future borders on a cargo cult mentality.

Don't get a worthless degree. Get knowledge and experience that will help you succeed in life. Talk to people who have actually succeeded in the fields you're interested in.

Thanks to Captain Capitalism for pointing this out.

Secular Sacraments: Childrens' College Fund

Most of my friends have a college fund for their children. I don't. I try hard not to roll my eyes when the talk about their college funds. They also like to ask me why I don't have one. OK.

• It makes you wonder how I paid for college. I used student loans and my GI Bill. In fact, many of my friends did the same thing.
• Neither my dad nor I were ready for college at 18. It would have been a galactic waste of money. My dad got an associates' after he retired from the Air Force. I got my Bachelor's degree when I was 33, 9 years after I left the Navy. I won't factor my brother into things, but he was in his mid-30's when he started taking college seriously. I think we've established a family history of not going to college right out of high school. My grandfather on my dad's side did not go to college. I don't know my mother's side very well, but I think my grandfather on that side was a union worker. They were from Pittsburg, so I guess if he didn't run a sandwich shop, union steel worker or union railroad worker were the only jobs available. Last time I saw him I was 16. 
• I personally think there is an education bubble going on at present. It is likely to pop before my 8 year old is ready for college. Already, alternatives to college are popping up. Open source textbooks are coming available. What we currently know as the college experience *could* change in the next decade. 
• I'm hearing a lot of rumblings that our government, in one effort to continue operating at record levels of spending and debt, will probably nationalize our retirement accounts like Argentina and some other nations have done. You really think the 529 plans won't end up in their sites?
• I've had one financial calamity after another for the last several years. I can barely put away for retirement, much less college, assuming things won't drastically change in the next 10 years.
• Finally, my mom drilled it into my head that we appreciate things more if we have to pay for them or earn them ourselves. College to me seems like too large an item or decision to just hand to an 18 year old on a silver platter. That's how we end up with so many unemployed philosophy or psychology graduates.

When the time comes, I will encourage my children to follow the path that helps them accomplish their goals the best, be it college, trade school, fast food, military, or just spending a few years trying to figure out where they fit in. I will not "tell" them what path to follow. I'll give them a few guiding principles:

1. Whatever you do, it will be ethical.
2. Whatever you do, it will be productive. No starving artists.
3. You will support yourself and any family you produce.
4. You will educate yourself. Read x amount of books per year. Learn new skills. Keep growing.

Never let your schooling interfere with your learning. While I do believe in many cases, a college degree is valuable, I don't believe in a "one size fits all". I don't believe "just get a degree; any degree; it'll open doors!" No, it wont. There is no skeleton key of success. Figure out who you are and what you want to do, then pursue what you need to get there. 

I will also make sure my children read "Worthless", if I have to tie them down and read it to them.

Grades Are "Feeling" Based In Public Schools

My wife and I homeschool our children. We have a lot of reasons for this, one of which being the poor quality of the public schools in our area. Another being, as we both reflect on our own experience with public schools, we realize we don't want that for our own children.

Most other parents I know seem to view placing their children in public schools as some kind of secular sacrement. I see a system that might as well be designed to fail. It's based on a 19th century Prussian (German) model with an added Industrial Age factory thrown in. It has not been updated.

I read a lot of articles about public schools. One theme I've been hearing a lot lately is how teachers favor girls because they're easier to deal with, and how grades are often based on those feelings:

So all this hand-wringing about boys’ performance is misplaced, and I think the rest of us are beginning to figure it out. It isn’t really that the boys are performing poorly; it’s the schools that are lousy, and grades reflect little more than how teachers “feel” about their students.

I'm not sure why people assume the schools are doing any kind of "good" job. Perhaps they're doing an "adequate" job.

I graduated high school more than 20 years ago now. My former high school has not achieved notoriety as a test bed for microchipping and electronic monitoring of students. When I was in school, I did have a few teachers I thought tried, and did a decent job. I had others who frequently muttered statements like "I hate kids!" I wish I'd had the presence of mind to reply "Then why the hell are you a teacher? Why should we be held hostage to YOUR poor career choices?"

We also spent a large part of standardized test years being taught how to "take" the test. My junior year, in my English and Math classes, we didn't get to a single non-test lesson until after the test in November.  

40 Alternatives To College

I am all for education. But I'm convinced what passes for higher education is going to undergo a massive change. I also don't believe in "one size fits all". I don't believe everybody should go to college (especially right out of high school before you've had time to figure yourself out). Nor do I believe college is essential for success in every case.

Now, I believe entirely in learning, and I believe we should all engage in it. You should dedicate some time each week to learning something new or to refining knowledge you already have.

I came across a book on Amazon called "40 Alternatives to College". At only 99 cents for the Kindle version, it's probably worthy of a read. Also is Aaron Cleary's "Worthless", which I reviewed here. 

Peter Shiff- What Did You Major In?

Peter Shiff walked around New Orleans nightlife asking people if they went to college, what they majored in, how much student loan debt they have, and of course, what they do for a living.


This has been interesting to me since I read Aaron Cleary's "Worthless" and started following his blog.

The majority of people polled were "liberal arts" graduates (not the classical liberal arts, but stuff like religious studies, business administration, and funeral services). I was surprised to see a few engineering graduates in there, but they had a small sample size and I think they are easily explained. I doubt New Orleans is any kind of engineering capitol. It is entirely possible to have a valid college degree and still be unemployed because you live in the wrong place.

When I was laid off in 2010, I wasn't finding decent work in New Jersey, so I became a geographic bachelor and work in Virginia, where there are plentiful jobs. I've been down here 2 years, and I changed jobs once. Even though the hiring manager chose me, the slackers in HR took months to get me onboarded. I started making a list of every place in the country I knew somebody I could stay with for a few months and was about to begin looking for work in those areas when HR FINALLY came through. Aaron Cleary relentlessly bashes HR, and I do not disagree with him. In every job I've had, HR (or personnel as it used to be called) has been a black hole of inefficiency.

Anyway, if you don't want to be unemployed, you need to be where the jobs are. If there are no adequate jobs in your area, MOVE. Or get a bartending job. It's your life. But if you're looking at getting a modern "liberal arts" degree, ask yourself if it's worth having between $20k-100k of student loan debt to drive a bicycle taxi.

Can You Earn Credit For Free, Online Education?

I am all for education, at least, I'm all for learning. I love to learn. What passes for our education system will likely have to change in the near future though. It is unsustainable.

I'm excited about the prospect of some of the free online learning services I've come across. I haven't taken many of them, but I've subscribed to several podcasts that do provide education in some topics I'm interested in.

Now there is apparently an effort to provide credit for some of these online learning services like Coursera, which I recently wrote about.

I'll be keeping an eye on where this goes. 

Why Go 100k Into Student Loan Debt When You Can Learn For Free?

I keep meaning to write a review of Aaron Cleary's book "Worthless". I believe it should be required reading for anybody looking at going to college. Making it required reading would be tough though. I have several friends with children getting ready for college. I always recommend this book (the Kindle version is $5). Isn't $5 a very minor expense when you're looking at enslaving the next 10 years of your life to Sallie Mae, causing you to defer marriage and family and all the things you could enjoy about life? But my suggestion is always ignored. And child after child goes on to study ministry or finance or art or music.



In Worthless, Aaron Cleary analyzes the trend of a vast majority of COLLEGE GRADUATES being unemployed or under employed. On his blog, he links to articles about people with $80,000 in student loan debt who cannot find work.