Why is the "it's the location, not a labor market issue" an argument? My location is my labor market. If you don't have a job, how exactly do you move somewhere else for a different job market? Moving costs and renting an apartment are pretty tough when you have no money.

Quote from: Sandtrap on February 25, 2016, 12:12:29 PM

Why should knowledge have an imaginary, meaningless, and completely fictitious price put on it?

Supply and demand; it's how efficient markets function. The degree to which other people value the skills you're willing to trade is the only real measure of value we can ascertain. It's all about revealed preferences, after all.

Supply and demand doesn't need a physically meaningless number value that's relative to what we assign it.

If there was a TV sitting in a shop right now, and it didn't cost any money for me to go in there and bring it back home with me, you can bet that I'd look for the swankiest fucking TV I could get my hands on. You can bet that other people, would look for the best TV they could get their hands on.

So at that point, there's your demand. How do fulfill the supply aspect then? If everybody has access to basically free shit, then who would want to work, apart from people who enjoyed their job?

The same reason people work now. They've got that carrot dangling over them that allows them access to the things they want. All you have to do is shift the carrot. Rather than work for that value that lets you access the things you want, you work for the system that allows you access to the things you want.

At that point everything still functions as it does now, with a few exceptions. Consumption rate goes up then, since more people have access to things they want, which, would create more demand, wouldn't it?

It's forecasted that by 2020, 65% of jobs will require an associate's or bachelor's degree. At that same time, approximately 45% will have a degree.

So I'm not at all persuaded by the claim that there are no good jobs available for people without degrees, but it's clear that the necessity for one is increasing faster than the nine of college grads.

Quote from: Verbatim on February 24, 2016, 11:19:40 PM

Quote from: Assassin 11D7 on February 24, 2016, 11:16:41 PM

No, because we have no use for a society of over-educated people. Education costs money, for society to run most efficiently it shouldn't waste money on things that aren't needed.

We have no use for uneducated people, either.

Please tell me--in your mind, what is the correct amount of uneducated people to have?

Depends how much manual labour we intend to do.

This statement rubbed me the wrong way.

I don't like the idea of considering anyone involved in manual labor as just a stupid, uneducated bum that only exists to do the jobs that "Smart people" are too busy or intelligent to perform on their own.

Quote from: Connor on February 25, 2016, 04:17:31 PM

I don't like the idea of considering anyone involved in manual labor as just a stupid, uneducated bum that only exists to do the jobs that "Smart people" are too busy or intelligent to perform on their own.

I've done manual labor.

You literally described about two thirds of the people I worked with.

Don't like calling them bums though. They work hard, and if you try to slack off they'll let you know you're a bitch.

It isn't fair to describe them as "Stupid." They likely weren't given the same opportunities that other, more successful people had in terms of education.

There really are guys out there who can't handle anything more than manual labor.

I remain unconvinced about this. I think that there are ways to make virtually anyone understand something if they put enough effort into it. I think that dismissing someone as "Stupid" and giving up on assuming their capacity to learn complicated ideas is a toxic mentality. Not everyone is going to be an Isaac Newton or Einstein, but I think much more often than not that a person typically considered "Dumb" is more intelligent than they're given credit for, it's a matter of effort and nurturing of curiosity.

It's forecasted that by 2020, 65% of jobs will require an associate's or bachelor's degree. At that same time, approximately 45% will have a degree.

So I'm not at all persuaded by the claim that there are no good jobs available for people without degrees, but it's clear that the necessity for one is increasing faster than the nine of college grads.

Well then, looks like I may join the ranks of the underclass in the near future. 

Quote from: Connor on February 25, 2016, 04:46:47 PM

Quote from: Chief Among Sinners on February 25, 2016, 04:33:06 PM

There really are guys out there who can't handle anything more than manual labor.

I remain unconvinced about this. I think that there are ways to make virtually anyone understand something if they put enough effort into it. I think that dismissing someone as "Stupid" and giving up on assuming their capacity to learn complicated ideas is a toxic mentality. Not everyone is going to be an Isaac Newton or Einstein, but I think much more often than not that a person typically considered "Dumb" is more intelligent than they're given credit for, it's a matter of effort and nurturing of curiosity.

Some of them are dumb. But for the majority, would calling them simply "less educated" be fair enough? Because it is true if they didn't go to college.

I don't generally believe in calling people "Dumb" for the reason I said before, unless they've got some legitimate mental handicap that prevents them from thinking about things that are complicated. "Less educated" is fine, but even then, I hate talking about shit like this because I feel like it belittles them.