>I would not want my son to go to college....I rather he pick
>up a trade...carpenter, plumbing, bricklayer...something of
>that sort. Just cant image at 21-25 being in so much
>debt...cant find a job...no direction. With a trade..he
>will always have this skill and can teach it to
>others...like other brotha and sistas in the community.

In large metro areas, more than likely one needs to be a member of a union in order to get skilled labor jobs like those you described above. i heard it's mad racism in these unions in philly metro. barbering is another cool trade but your financial potential is greatly limited if you only do the trade thing. of course if you flipped the trade with a MBA and a general contractors license you'd be doing it...but that;s a big if and also he'd have to go down the route you told him not to....formalized education. you just want tha industrialized (thanks Booker T.)

And far as being 21-25 with no job and no direction...that's your kids fault. All my jobs that I have got have been in terrible ecoonomic situations and under hiring freezes. how did i get my gigs??? by being supreme. crem de la creme. only limitedly tooting my own horn here but that's what the folks told me after they hired me. i've had positions created just so i could work at places. why??? because i showed that i was solicitous about my field. i don't do this as a job, i do thhis because i care. and as far as no direction...that's where the parents come into play. or at that age they are adults. don't you think they need to be taking the brunt of their own misfortune? not saying they can't ask for assitance/guidance but they ain't got no one to blame cept themselves. i'm tired of folks crying that their are no jobs but it don't seem like the classifieds are any smaller to me. some think jobs are beneath them. shit, i worked at cap'n D's, wal-mart and a perfume sweatshop in alabama before i gogt on good.


>some people believe going to college is the solution but how
>when most of today's youth are at least in $20,000 debt. My
>ex is a physician, wont even begin to tell you how much debt
>he has inquired...and you figure he wont be finish paying
>for it until he's retirement age....how do you enjoy life,
>when you have to pay back loans for most of it. Not to
>mention the parents that front it for you...and after such
>and such years...nuthin to show for it..but a piece a paper
>worth such and such dolla's

u never heard the sayin it takes money to make money? first off not everyone needs to spend $20K+ on a college education nor take out loans to do so. second off, i know that if i wouldn't have taken out loans i wouldn't have had the grades to get me the jobs that i ahd outside of school so quickly. i'm not saying that i never would've gotten them because i'm sure i wouldve but i'm saying that it would've taken longer. actually my position now i know i wouldn't have gotten because i'm fallin way short now as i NEED a PhD/ScD to work here and I only got a BS. It pays to know top notch faculty of prestigous schools. but if i aint have my BS he wouldn't even be able to make a case for me to work here. And in actuality much of the mundane shit i do on a daily basis I learned in ugrad. of course i coulda learned this shit on my own but that sheet of paper that says Michael Anthony Rambo - Bachelo of Science Mathematics Cum Laude verifies that I jumped through a good number of hoops. Now some schools believe that their hoops are higher or more valuable than others but that's another post.

Yeah, some may spend $120K to get become a MD. But MDs median salary are also a lot higher than folks that don't have to pay for as much in schooling. Say a plumber. Yeah some plumbers make $120K per annum but how many? Yeah some MDs make $400K per annum, yeah but how many? Way more than plumbers makin $120K I can tell you. There are many Radiologists, Oncologists, Ob/Gyns, and Cardiologists making over $500K per annum. I work with many of them.

Is college/formailzed secondary educationt he say all end all?
No.
Does it teach you a lot of shit in a short period of time?
Yes.
Is it worth it?
Yes.
Are my kids going?
Yes, at least for 2 years.
I mean I wouldn't mind if my kids said fuck this shit and bounced to Peru learned spanish, started a day school and tourism business and taught the local under privilaged youth while at the same time pimping the gringos that wanna come down for relaxation. but not many folks do that so it's a pipe dream of mine.