Daily Inspiration 11-24-18

"Formal education 
will make you a living; 

self-education 
will make you a fortune." 

-- Jim Rohn 

[Classic post from 10-21-14]

There's a movie that just came out on DVD titled, The Ivory Tower. It is about how college in this country has become a serious problem in that there is well over a trillion dollars in student loan debt and what a burden it is on the students and also the country and how one used to be able to work part-time jobs and put themselves through college and now the costs have risen so high and so fast that it is nearly impossible today.

I have long thought that college can be wonderful if someone wants to be there and they are there to absorb all they can, and at the same time, it is equally responsible and acceptable to do something other than college.

Earlier in my life, people would state that you make so much more money with a college degree and yet I've known people with college degrees who are poor. It is said to open up opportunities not open to others, and I have found that to be a falsehood. It is true that it is pushed from the top down and the bottom up as the minimum requirement for success in the world, and that is bunk too.

I work a little in a disadvantaged youth program and in that program they are all also encouraged to go to college. Most will not.

Here's a quote from the movie, The Ivory Tower by Michael Roth, President of Wesleyan University: "Many intellectuals are saying that it would be better if some people don't go to college at all. I think that's an assault on democracy and it's an attempt to keep people in their place and reinforce social inequality." So, according to him, college is the ultimate equalizer, and of course, all colleges are equal as well, right? An assault on democracy? Really? . . . Interesting.

I'm not against college. That would be silly. I'm not against people being in debt. That is certainly their choice. They must have signed the papers at some point and spent the money. I'm not against the need for more education, or so-called higher education. I'm not against people who have college degrees and multiple degrees.

The movie tends to paint a picture of a national problem larger than health care and is expounding on the problems and how they came to be. I am with the movie on the point of the reality of where a college education is now, but I am not much of an advocate of focusing on problems.

I am for the idea that college can be a choice and not going to college can be an equally good choice. I am for the idea of education and including higher education, whatever that is. I am for the idea of life-long learning. I am for the idea of self-education. I am for the idea that all people are equal in their opportunity of education in this country, regardless of how disadvantaged they may think they are. Education is a choice. It is still a choice. We are all in full control of our own choices.

There has never been an opportunity for education as exists in today's world. We still have free libraries. We have free Internet education sessions--even college-level courses online. These choices did not exist even 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago, or even 25 years ago. And. here's the best news: They exist NOW.


If You Think About It, It Really Is A Brave New World. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by listening to your inner knowing. You already know the answer, just allow it to come forth.