What are people entitled to?

[lukertin]

If you pay taxes to help students get through college they will be able to get a good job and keep the system rolling.

How is spending $20-40k a year for 4-5 years to gain the right to work a job where a college education is useless helping anyone, again? With the exception of science, engineering, certain professional jobs which include duties like consulting, banking, accounting, management, etc., a college degree is absolutely f***ing useless.

[marharth]

If you pay taxes to help students get through college they will be able to get a good job and keep the system rolling.

How is spending $20-40k a year for 4-5 years to gain the right to work a job where a college education is useless helping anyone, again? With the exception of science, engineering, certain professional jobs which include duties like consulting, banking, accounting, management, etc., a college degree is absolutely f***ing useless.

A college degree is pretty much useless in the USA. That can be fixed.

[lukertin]

A college degree is pretty much useless in the USA. That can be fixed.

How?

[marharth]

A college degree is pretty much useless in the USA. That can be fixed.

How?

College degrees are useless because it is hard to get a job due to the economic trouble we are in. I don't think anyone can tell you for sure how to completely fix the economy, but I am almost certain it is possible.

[Jopo1980]

It is true that it´s hard to compare Finland with the US, us having only 5 million people versus the hundreds of millions in the US, but our economies are also of a different scale. The US is the wealthiest country in the world by GDP and is very high on the list by GDP per capita, so the US should have more than enough money to pay for the same programs that are enabled in smaller countries, such as Finland. So, it´s not a question of money, but probably of political will. The Democrats are trying to push for reforms which would provide for more welfare, but the Republicans are Hell bent on foiling these plans, because they view them as socialist. America already has institutions which can be viewed as socialistic, so it´s not a question of should America go socialist, you already are, but how much socialism should there be and the democrats are pushing for more and without a doubt they gain the votes of all those who are less fortunate in the American system.

 

The high taxes in Finland are meant to divide the wealth of the nation more equally, so there doesn´t develop a huge gap between the rich and the poor. On average, just about every job, except those of corporate CEOs, gets a comparably equal amount of pay, the labor unions have seen to that. Of course less educated jobs get less and more highly educated jobs get more, but the differences are not huge.

 

In the future education will be even more important as high-tech industries and other future employers will demand a very educated workforce, so it is in the governments best interest to promote education. One goal of the Finnish educational system is that of equal opportunity, so children from poorer families will have the same chances as those from richer homes. As I´ve said university education and all higher education are paid for by the state and the only hurdle you have to overcome in getting those benefits is the entrance examination. For each program and subject they take in a limited number of students per year and newly graduated high school students spend long times studying for entrance examinations to the schools they wish to go and those who do not get a place will either spend a year working and preparing for the next exam or they can study at the open university or other open education institutions. Personally I had to apply twice before I got a place in the university, but finally I got in.

 

The opportunity for education should NOT be about whether you can financially afford it, but whether you have the talents or merit to pass, so with hard work and studying you can get to the occupation of your dreams, without having to worry about whether you can afford it or not, or having to take gigantic loans from banks to finance your education. It is not fair if the parents have to mortgage their house to pay for the college education of their son/daughter and that in an uncertain time when it is not guaranteed that the child will get a job after graduation. So, in my opinion the government should fund the education and provide for the students, it´s a direct investment in the future of the nation, money better spent than that fighting a war.

[Beriallord]

If you pay taxes to help students get through college they will be able to get a good job and keep the system rolling.

How is spending $20-40k a year for 4-5 years to gain the right to work a job where a college education is useless helping anyone, again? With the exception of science, engineering, certain professional jobs which include duties like consulting, banking, accounting, management, etc., a college degree is absolutely f***ing useless.

A college degree is pretty much useless in the USA. That can be fixed.

 

I know several people who work in skilled trades and make more than most people with 4 year degrees. My cousin is a heating/air tech and he makes over 100k/year with his master license. He doesn't have to look for work. Work looks for him. He said he could make another 50-60k a year if he took emergency calls. Plumbers are pretty much the same. No matter how bad the economy is, people need their heating/air/plumbing and will be willing to pay whatever they need to pay to keep those working. You don't need to be incredibly smart to be an HVAC tech, I say anyone with an IQ of 100 that doesn't mind getting their hands dirty, and working as an apprentice/helper for 4-5 years could learn it.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Beriallord

[lukertin]

A college degree is pretty much useless in the USA. That can be fixed.

How?

College degrees are useless because it is hard to get a job due to the economic trouble we are in. I don't think anyone can tell you for sure how to completely fix the economy, but I am almost certain it is possible.

They were useless before the economy tanked.

[Beriallord]

Anything in the medical field is in demand right now, especially Nurses. You can't just go to college and take whatever you want and come out and expect to get a good paying job. If you take something like theater arts, you are basically screwed when you get out.

[csgators]

What are people entitled to?

 

Nothing.

[hoofhearted4]

we get free health care, free education, up to and including university level, I pay 100 euros per year of my university studies as a mandatory fee to the student union,

 

I hate to break this to you but it's not free (unless of course doctors and nurses are all volunteer workers in Finland??) Someone else is paying the bulk of the bill for you unless you are paying very high taxes yourself, which I doubt, since you're a student.

 

You keep comparing tiddly little social democrat welfare states with the USA too, if you can't see the problem comparing nations with 5 or so million people as opposed to 330 million then I won't bother wasting my breath further.

It doesn't matter if other people pay the bill. He has the ability to go to college and get a job, and help other people out later in life.

 

Unlike in America where taxes are low and universities are completely ridiculous. A lot of people can't get into college simply due to the insane costs. Later on they won't be able to get a good job or pay taxes due to this.

 

If you pay taxes to help students get through college they will be able to get a good job and keep the system rolling.

 

i agree with greywaste. its not a free education unless the teachers arent getting paid.

 

size has a huge factor in it. like he said, a country with 330 million people is going to have different tax rates and different uses of those taxes then a country with only 5 million people. if new york were a country, they could do what Finland does.

 

lastly, college has doesnt have as much to do with getting a job as ppl like to make it seem. its just an excuse. oh i didnt go to college, now i cant work.....my father was a high school drop out (has his GED though) and make as much or more money then a doctor. he grossed 150k+ last year, whereas someone in our family has her masters degree from college and works at a McDonalds. College may look good on some applications, but ill tell you, id hire someone with a work history over someone with a PhD any day....that said, im going to college....community college, which on that note, you dont need to go to the most expensive university to get a good education. ppl like to think that, and then they take out tons of loans to afford that college, so before they even enter the work force they are in debt, and in a lot of cases they cant get a job right out of college and then they are screwed....with community college, there are few to no loans (im paying in full for example, ~$1500 a semester after books) and even if i dont get a job in my field, im not in debt either.

 

people just need to be smart. but then again, i guess college is all about partying, getting drunk, and forgetting your term paper that was due last week.