Hey, what about "Occupy State U.?"

I have blogged about the inaccuracy of "99 percent" and about the atrocious business practice of higher education. Before blogging those, I tweeted a few days ago that:

I don't want students to #OccupyWallStreet,. I want them to occupy college public spaces and protest about how they are getting screwed

So, naturally, it didn't surprise me one bit when I read the following:

The 99 Percenters who fell into the college loan trap are not evil or stupid to want someone to blame when the mantra they’ve heard since kindergarten—get A’s, stay involved, get a degree—ends up being useless (or in the case of those deep in debt with no tangible skills, worse than useless). But where the protestors get it wrong is that they’re occupying Wall Street instead of the real culprit—State U.

The same piece adds:

The sad truth is that a college education is oversold. There are too many graduates with too many degrees chasing too few jobs. More than half of the fastest growing jobs—contrary to popular belief—are not in fields requiring a 4-year degree. And none of the fastest growing sectors require an unspecified degree in liberal studies or the arts—they require specific skills like nursing, engineering, or plumbing.
A college education, just like an investment made by Wall Street stockbrokers, is a risk. Students, like the investors, have a responsibility to themselves ignore the hype and read the fine print before gambling their time or money. And colleges should stop marketing junk bond-level degrees as blue-chip investments.

None of those arguments is new in this blog.  The plight of students saddens me a lot.  I am angry and frustrated to see the system giving them a Hobson's Choice when it comes to college.  I am utterly disappointed that the pursuit of knowledge and intellectual activities have been reduced to such levels of ponzi schemes.

I will end this post with the following lines:

I don't expect the kids to understand basic economics any better than their leftist profs, who are about as well-schooled in economics as the anti-capitalist crazies who have been occupying Cesar Chavez park a couple blocks from my office. These university folks are using our kids as pawns for their greed.