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Formal Education Does Not Make a Vibrant Nation

Domenick J. Maglio, Ph.D. Neo-Traditionalist

From the beginning America’s vitality was not produced by the formal education of its citizens. The greatness of America has come from the freedom to seek opportunity without regulation and restriction by the government.

As recently as the 1960s renowned scientists, engineers, lawyers, corporate managers and financiers started at the bottom and competed hard to reach the top of their field. Our professionals were self-made men in a competitive, free enterprise system. They were not modern lapdog students jumping through the hoops of an idealistic professor often with limited practical experience. These professionals of the past might have had a high school diploma or even less but rarely had more formal education.

These self-made men gained their expertise in on-the-job training. Their superiors gave them difficult assignments that pushed them beyond their academic scope of knowledge. They had to learn technical skills one way or another. This motivated them to learn self-reliance in order to survive. It was a form of apprenticeship.

The boss told them to “get it done” and when they did they would climb the ladder a little higher. If they failed they were either demoted or replaced. The energy of the workforce came from understanding the world of hard knocks. There was no safety net for the lazy and the incompetent, they were weeded out. Failure had serious and almost certain harsh consequences. It kept everyone on his toes. Failure was not the end; it was a lesson to do better next time.

The successful, aggressive workers jumped at every new challenge. The reward was just as intense as was the failure. Each major accomplishment brought another promotion eventually reaching the status of a full fledged professional. This title meant the person was viewed as competent in every aspect of the position.

The American dream is no longer reached through the work ethic, competition and merit, rather just by entering the front door of a university. This entitlement mentality is robbing graduates of the enthusiasm and dedication to be successful.

Today young people, who are willing to delay entering the adult world, will sacrifice their parent’s money or bet with their future earnings by taking out loans to live an “ivory tower” existence. This decision of even ill prepared students to suspend taking on the responsibility of being an adult is supposed to assure success.

In America higher education has reached its highest enrollment and at the same time is charging the highest tuition. The marketing of higher education hinges on a carefree lifestyle that eventually ends in the union card needed to enter a profession. Higher education regulates who will be able to hang a shingle professing the readiness to perform.

The problem with this magic formula is that it is not working for too many students. Their unrealistic expectations of starting at the top means the requirement of being able to do the job is the least of their concerns. Too many students do not have the will to learn the business reality and the art of their profession.

Presently America has 25% too many doctoral degrees for our economy to absorb. Twenty per cent of all college graduates are either unemployed or hold jobs that do not require their degrees.

There are many countries with high rates of university graduates such as Russia, Costa Rica, Argentina and Greece who have no actual positions for these graduates to fill. Graduates of many countries educational systems have been facing the fact that a degree on a resume does not provide a professional position.

The myth of obtaining a job is seen in the increase of people attending higher education during this economic downturn. Pell Grants this year are projected to have an $18 billion short fall. This is placing a large strain on our economic recovery.

The university’s ill-conceived, mediocre preparation and falsehood of insuring a position for every student is not questioned. Many of these students become disillusioned, angry adults who blame the capitalist system rather than the university hype or themselves.

A vibrant economy takes an innovative workforce. The employees have to be self-reliant thinkers not followers. These self-initiating people create more opportunities for people who share their dream. These entrepreneurs who have faced failure and have overcome are better than students who have happily and lazily wasted years pursuing a lie.

Americans have to realize that hibernating in college is not the best route to business and professional competency. Our economy should not be based on preparing our professionals in a false, idealized version of professional business. The world of doing, not expecting, has made the USA an economic dynamo. Let us remember that becoming a professional is much more than obtaining a degree.

Dr. Maglio is the author of Invasion Within and Essential Parenting. He is a psychotherapist and the owner/director of Wider Horizons School. Visit: drmaglio.com.