Every
day we hear the claim that if everyone had
a better education everyone would have better
jobs and we'd be better off. It is true that
many people would be more productive if they
had a better education. But what is not true
is the notion that most people can have great
jobs.
Doing
what?
Ask
yourself this simple question. In your real
life whom do you do you physically do business
with?
A
newspaper boy delivers my paper every morning.
If I buy a breakfast I deal with cooks, bus
boys, waiters and the like. At the bank I deal
with tellers and guards. A barber may give
me a shave. Almost anything I buy will involve
cashiers, sales clerks and maybe people for
shipping.
A
postman delivers my mail. When I call people
I may need to deal with operators, secretaries
and credit card customer service agents. If
anything goes wrong at the house I'll call
a serviceman.
Almost
every day I deal with over 100 people who,
in the foolish language of our day, have “dead
end jobs”. I may deal with two or three “real
professionals” every week.
I
do not doubt that the production and distribution
of goods is made much greater by a good supply
of engineers and consultants. But it is ludicrous
to suggest that most people can have such jobs.
The
great majority of jobs always have and always
will require little formal education. It is
rotten that most people in those jobs are made
to feel like failures and victims. Suppose
we anted up trillions of dollars and sent them
all too graduate school.
I'd
still be doing most of my business with a newspaper
boy, waiters, cooks, tellers, guards, barbers,
operators, secretaries (OK administrative assistants),
cashiers, sales clerks, cleaning people, and
people who work for a living.
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