It's common practice in America for folks with no insurance to use the ER as their regular practitioner. Never mind the fact that there are no- and low-cost clinics that are there for that purpose. And as garamet said, these visits take up time and resources that many hospitals just do not have.
Someone, somewhere decided that a college education was A GOOD THING(tm) and, therefore, everyone must have one. So, they (read: the state) made lots and lots of money available for people to borrow, figuring this would enable them to get an education, and, if extra money drove tuition costs higher, that would be okay, too, since the state operates many colleges and universities. Couple this with two common, corrosive beliefs young people often have--first, that they can be/do anything they want simply by virtue of wanting it; second, that adulthood can be deferred while one attends college--and you have a recipe for a bunch of entitled whiners holding college degrees with little to no practical value and saddled with a huge debt for obtaining them.
The U.S. chose the most costly way possible to do what other countries have done - i.e., provide their citizens with education that not only benefits them, but the nation as a whole - cheaply and successfully for decades, and with less than optimal results. Kind of like how we pay exponentially more for healthcare - with far less optimal results - than any other developed nation. "America - We Do Things the Hard Way!"
Except what you posted is a complete fabrication. The push for universal college started in the 50s (in response to the Soviets doing it), at the time it was almost fully subsidized by the state. It was only 25-35 years later that the state started cutting support for college replacing it with tuition hikes which were then covered by loans. So your timeline is all jacked up. Also, your idea that the problem is just kids getting worthless degrees and expecting good jobs is destroyed by comparing employment and compensation rates within the same field. Chemical Engineers today paid (borrowed) an order of magnitude or more for their degrees than earlier generations, have a much harder time getting jobs, and get paid much less. So yeah, yet again, all you've got is your ideology.
And what percentage of Americans attended college in those days? Don't you get that a "push for universal college" is, by definition, an attempt to create MORE rather than FEWER workers for ambitious, well-paying jobs? Incidentally, copying the Soviets in economic matters? That should've been the first clue... What you miss is that all the cheap money for college created a huge increase in demand, and this drove prices up. Loans aren't plentiful and cheap because tuition is high. Tuition is high because loans are plentiful and cheap. What timeline? I said nothing about when anything happened. Earth to Anc: TIMES CHANGE. Jobs that paid a lot a generation ago don't necessarily pay the same today. Go see how much money you can make programming in FORTRAN or editing videos. When someone chooses a college degree program in pursuit of a career, they REALLY need to see if there is demand for that skill. The kind of changes you're bellyaching about didn't happen overnight, and they didn't happen over the four years it takes to get a bachelor's degree. They've been A LONG TIME coming. While the borrowed part might be true (and you and I agree this is bad, but disagree on the cause), the "paid much less" part is not: $65,000 for a new graduate is hardly chump change. And 13 percent unemployment for new graduates, while not stellar, is hardly a catastrophe. The economy currently sucks. It has sucked before and it will suck again. Deal with it. Well, that and reality.
I just cut the nuts out of fifty or so calves, I still have the blood under my fingernails. I won't see any money out them until March or so. I'm about to plant a couple thousand acres of wheat and canola, no income on that until June. My daughter ate dirt last weekend while eating grapes off the vine. I was stung twice by wasps this morning. Fuck that guy.
And just for future ref, Anc...30 years from now, when you and rest of GenY are busting your asses paying taxes for my Social Security, don't blame me. Remember that I was willing to reform it, but was chastised for my "selfishness." I worked hard to pay it for today's recipients, you'll work harder to pay it for tomorrow's. That's another "generational gift" you're going to be handed courtesy of Big Government.
If you think a lil cow blood under your nails is a big deal, well shit... Enjoy your hyperbaric chamber, Bubble Boy.
I work with some of the smartest and most dedicated 18- to 23-year-olds you could ever hope to meet. Where older generations could walk into the local factory at age 18 and feel like they had a secure, comfortable income for life, these kids KNOW that none of that will be handed to them and that they alone are responsible for getting the (far more complicated than in the past) skills they will need to earn a living. They pretty much assume Social Security will not be there for them and that their retirement will depend on what they are able to set up for themselves. I feel privileged to know them, and anyone who thinks they're lazy and self-entitled is full of shit. They're probably the most self-sufficient generation since the Depression.
I'm sure everyone has different experiences with the younger generation. Personally, I've found the bulk of those folks I've known and worked with have been lazy entitlement whores.
I applaud the kids you work with for that, however where I go to school is pretty much the opposite. I would say at least 75 percent of them can't do anything on their own. they pretty much assume that everything will be handed to them and everything will be done for them. They feel that they should be given credit just for trying no matter what if they fail or pass. They act like they deserve a do over because the first time was a practice.
Generation X'er checking in. Haha I got in before it turned to shit. Sucks to be you. Supersize those fries, chop chop! kthxtata.
Wait. Generation Y stopped social security reform? If we have that much power why haven't we started death panels for baby boomers. I mean, since we're talking delusions and all.
Didn't say GenY stopped reform, just that, for all their concerns about their well-being today, they're not doing much to address their well-being tomorrow. But that's okay. They can whine about that, too.
But it's a baby with a fever. Alternate Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen every two hours as needed. If it gets above 101, try a cool bath. If it gets to 104, go straight to the ER. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. If you don't have the cash, they'll bill you. That's "Basic Parenting 098." Even then, every Pediatrician's office I've ever dealt with does have an answering service for after hours issues. It'll put you in touch with an LPN or RN and if need be, they'll pass you along to the MD. Or: This guy is a blogger, right? http://bit.ly/14ksveI
See, when I walked in to that factory thinking that at 18, the idea was shot down within 2 years as the plant shut down to move to first Tennessee, and then Mexico. That secure future myth had already started drying up by the time I turned 20. Likewise the warnings that social security would be a story of years gone by. I gotta wonder if the high tuition/student debt isn't just the next step after sub prime mortgages? What better way to keep half the country in debt than to start them off the cost of a house in the hole to a bank?
Learn welding, HVAC, plumbing, electric, mechanics, excavating, surveying, carpentry, .. something to build and maintain the infrastructure for all the over-educated welfare babies..
See, the thing is all schools push on most kids is "Go to college and get an education." And learning for the sake of learning is a wonderful thing--but it's not for everyone. Nor do most people even want to sit through four years of classes that have fuck all to do with whatever job that most of them eventually take. And there's the mentality that anything lower on the vocational pole than community college is a one-way ticket to loserdom, and that's just stupid too. If a kid on the fence about college right out of high school goes into any of those trades, he could be qualified in less than a year tops, and start making enough income to pay his way through down the road if and when he finally did become ready. In that instance, the worst case scenario is the kid makes enough money to cover rent in the house.
worse. It's designed to be obsolete by the time you're "done". So ya gotta go buy a new one within five years.
No, no, no. Again your timing is off. You're going from Student Loan Money to Rising Tuition, where in reality it is 'Cutting Subsidies lead to higher tuition leads to more student loans. Yes you did. You did it in this very reply and you did it in your initial post. :headinsand: A programmer at graduation is a programmer at graduation. And a programmer makes less today on graduation and has a higher unemployment rate than in the past. Almost EVERY degree in every field earns less. With few exeptions it is across the board. So, once again, it isn't just a case of kids picking Medieval French Literature and not being able to get a job but people choosing careers that are supposed to earn them money and not being to get a job for years and then when they do getting paid less than earlier generations. Are you kidding me? 30 years ago my father didn't have to send off resumes, the recruiters took them at the school. And that was with a relatively 'soft' engineering degree (Industrial Engineering). And he made more starting off (taking in inflation). 13% unemployment for a 'hard' engineering degree like Chemical Engineering is UNHEARD OF for proceeding generations. This is not unique to Chemical Engineering. Pick almost any field and todays graduates (Millennials) have MUCH higher unemployment and earn much less. And thanks to preceeding generations cutting subsidies for higher ed (subsidies they themselves enjoyed) our generation has a fuckton of debt to pay for said degree. Yeah, and who was in power to make it suck? Was it Millennial or Boomers and Xers? Y'ALL DROVE THE ECONOMY OFF THE CLIFF. Then you sit back knowing the new guys are the first to be fired, that you've saddled them with crushing debt and sit back and smile and say 'sucks to be you, deal with it. Oh and it's your fault, pansy.' You, gul, and UA can stick your heads in the sand all you want but facts are facts. Millennials have more college debt than any preceding generation. Millennials have higher unemployment at graduation than any generation going back to the Boomers. Millennials have lower starting salaries than any generation going back to the Boomers. These are structural issues created by preceding generations.
