Originally Posted by bigrobwoot
Who's fault is it that they never got an education? For the record, I'm saying high school education, while you may be referring to college education. Arguing my point, it is their fault that they didn't get an education. It is free to get, and against the law not to get, an education right now. Yet, there are still plenty of people not going. Also, it is their own fault for getting pregnant at 16. All of us are smart enough not to. We learned in middle school how to not get pregnant.
Ignorance is no excuse for not being better. I "didn't know" how to go to college, because neither one of my parents went. I'm figuring it out. Same with my girlfriend. She is probably a better example. Her single mom with 4 kids is working 2-3 jobs at a time to provide for her kids. All of her kids realized that they wanted better than that for themselves, so they are all educating themselves. If you look at your parents at their dead end jobs and don't realize you want better than that, it is not my responsibility to pay for you just because I did want to be better than my parents. Everyone has an opportunity to do well in this country, but not the right to do well in this country. What you do with that opportunity is entirely up to you.
College is not the only answer, nor is it the answer for everyone. I have friends that I went to high school with for whom college is just not the way to go. They aren't as booksmart as me, and I don't mean that in any demeaning way. They are much better at construction/flooring than I am, so that is what they do. Not everyone is good at the same thing, which is how it is supposed to work. If everyone was as good a mechanic as Cory, he wouldn't have a job, because everyone would fix their own problems in 15 minutes with a banana peel, some duct tape, and a tire iron. That's how the system works. You find what you are good at, find a way to get paid for it, and buy the things important to you.
And you're right, Scott. I haven't met anyone that wants better but can't get it. The only limitations they have on bettering themselves are self-imposed. I've met plenty of f-ups, in fact I'm related to a bunch of them, but not one of them is incapable of improving their situation. Unmotivated to do so, yes, but not incapable.
|