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"As for people who bash liberal arts degrees, many job postings simply require you to have a generic bachelors degree to check off on the application. It's much better to have even a English degree than just a high school diploma alone."
The problem with this line of thinking is that if you went to a public high school, your diploma was essentially 'free'. When you go to college, you're paying for it and your expectation should be to get a return on that investment.
If your goal was simply to get a BS degree so you could check off a box, why not get the easiest, cheapest degree online and save a crap ton of money.
People that get 'worthless' degrees (yes, many liberal arts degrees are worthless because there simply isn't the demand for those skills in the real world of salaries) shouldn't be surprised when that 'art appreciation' degree doesn't open many doors.
Well, you know what they say about degrees...
BS = bull ****
MS = more ****
PhD = piled high and deeper
It's not 'society's arbitrary hierarchy horse****'. It's simply supply and demand. There are many more strong backs out there than there are strong minds.
Not everyone can write code, manage finances, manage people, understand medicine, argue law, etc. etc. Many more can pick up heavy stuff or learn to do tasks that require little to no critical thinking or decision making.
Ridding yourself of a car, and its related expenses, can automatically "give you a raise in pay", but too many, on low incomes, absolutely insist upon a car being a need!
I make $13.50 an hour, at a nursing home, and it amazes me how those, who are even paid less than me, would rather eat Ramen noodles everyday, under-nourish their children, than give up that big, continual expense, their cars! They find it incomprehensible that I would stoop so low as take the bus to work, even though I own a well-maintained car!
There's also alternatives to a higher minimum wage, something that would reduce a major expense like monthly rent, changing the zoning laws, silencing the Nimby's, in cities like L.A. or Boston, who are right there to oppose any new low-rise or mid-rise housing in their neighborhoods.
I once read a quote from some old Lefty writer that said "The car is the enemy of the working class" And he was 100% right.
I *have* to have a car where I live or I can't get to my job that pays 12.00 an hour. They shut down the (crappy) little transit buses six years ago, it was one of the first things to go in a round of budget cuts. Lots of folks had to quit their minimum wage jobs when that happened. I see a lot of people on bicycles these days, at all times of the day and night, in all kinds of weather.
I wish I could give up my car, I hate the expense.
For many years I was stuck in menial low wage work and it was a miserable existence. I had little to no benefits, worked rotten hours like second and third shifts. The employers were usually shady and were always trying to fire you or were fraudulent with the payroll. I worked with convicts, drug addicts, and some of the most miserable people imaginable. I had to live in the bad areas of town and roommate with questionable people. I sometimes lived in the backseat of my car or in shady pay-by-the-week motels. I was basically just surviving day-to-day.
As for people who bash liberal arts degrees, many job postings simply require you to have a generic bachelors degree to check off on the application. It's much better to have even a English degree than just a high school diploma alone.
I always heard that you could get pretty much any kind of an office drone job with a BA in English. When I was in the commercial art field I worked with a lot of English majors who were office managers, copywriters, writers, graphic designers and so on....
People mock the lowly English major, but I think they have a lot more opportunities than a tech degree.
Making below $15 an hour sucks but it is the best many of us can do for now. In many areas in this country, $15 and hour jobs are hard to come by. Pathetic, isn't it? This country is on a race to the bottom I swear. Just be grateful you're doing better than thousands and thousands of others.
I live on the rural Plains. $15hr is considered big money.
Shoot, the local diesel repair shop is looking for a certified mechanic and are willing to start him out at $13.
Diesel mechanic!
I don't have any money to get additional degrees, and I already have a ton of student loan debt. I know that people here want to give me wonderful scorn and ask me why I didn't major in something my brain is incapable of doing, but whatever.
The thing is, I don't want to be a welder or a mechanic. I just wonder when we stopped being able to do with our lives what we really wanted to do with them.
Honestly, if I could wave a magic wand and make my debt go away, this situation would be 10000x easier. I feel completely cheated and lied to. All my college degree gave me was a pile of debt.
People's scorn is a nice cherry on top of the sundae. lol. I imagine a pile of negative money with people's disdain on top. Yum!
I know EXACTLY what you are going through. I had a nice career for 30 years, all gone now. I now work as a home health aide. Not exactly where I imagined I'd end up, but here I am. We all wish we had a crystal ball to see into the future, chit happens.
No one has the right to criticize you, they will probably end up in your boat once they hit their 50's. People in their 40's are losing their jobs due to age discrimination these days.
Actually, don't know how you are doing it. When my salary was $35k I could just about afford CT - even then, keeping to a very modest lifestyle so I could pay off my debts and create some savings - no premium TV channels, no Star$$s, once in a blue moon Chinese takeout, a 6 year old car, sack lunches at work, thermostat set at 58 in winter, no air conditioning. Wardrobe from Good Will. A low rent for my neighborhood, which was further reduced because I mowed the lawn and shoveled the snow myself. When I got laid off, I hung on as long as possible.....
It's CT. Astronomical rents, taxes, and utilities. Some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation.
But at $11/hour, I finally had to move out of that apartment into a room. It could be much, much worse. I could be living in a dangerous neighborhood, or with drug addicts - or in my car.
And to the poster in FL? I NEVER thought I would consider it, since I don't like big bugs or humidity or heat - but Florida is looking like a real possibility.
We really aren't spendthrifts.....
I always heard that you could get pretty much any kind of an office drone job with a BA in English. When I was in the commercial art field I worked with a lot of English majors who were office managers, copywriters, writers, graphic designers and so on....
People mock the lowly English major, but I think they have a lot more opportunities than a tech degree.
I majored in Interpersonal/Organizational Communication, which at its core, isn't too much different from English, I assume. It's just that so many of these office jobs, won't even hire people unless they have X years of experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maiarini
And to the poster in FL? I NEVER thought I would consider it, since I don't like big bugs or humidity or heat - but Florida is looking like a real possibility.
The thing with Florida is, yes, the living expenses are cheaper, but it's a state built around Tourism. Sure, of course, there are so many more industries, but unless you're in the hospitality industry, it's dog-eat-dog to get hired for those other positions, it seems like.
Currently I'm making about $14 and some change. Its not where I want to be currently but for right now it keeps the bills paid, a roof over my head, and food in my stomach. I've only been working at my current job for a year now so I don't feel too bad about it. I'm taking the next steps to elevate myself further so I wont despair. I'm back in school finishing my degree in Computer Science so hopefully by this time next year i'll be getting a salary and working a job I truly love working with computers. I'm staying positive, and im driven by the fact that I don't want to just scrape by. Ultimately I want to have enough money that I don't even have to work!
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