Intellectual education, informal and formal alike, are vital to critical thinking, understanding, and civilized human development. Yet, not every man and woman is passionate about history, mathematics, language, literature, science or overall academics. Informal intellectual educational development is a lifetime pursuit with no time limits for complete establishment and human development, as there is no maximum level in one lifetime that can be achieved. With all the positive results of education, quite truthfully it is a continuous pursuit that often cannot be relied upon to provide a protective roof and substance for a family unit. This is not to say that educational development should ever be abandoned, it should not. It should be a pursuit that each American adult continues to achieve more and more, as time permits, throughout their life until incapacity, passing everything they have learned down to their children. But, what determines the development and reinforcement of the structure of society? What develops the steady anchoring of one’s social worth and the economic security of an individual or family? Just as Booker T. Washington, the ex-slave American slave adamantly advocated, the answer falls under the category or technical skills. Booker T. Washington is one of many men throughout history that I suggest you study.
Let us look at the topic of technical skills in a precise manner. More and more in today’s public school systems and society at large, there are awkward expectations and emphasis placed on a college education and a degree. Why should the emphasis on a four year degree be considered a concern, worthy of more evaluation or incorrect as a sole (all or nothing) priority?
Many students, those who are fortunate enough to achieve a college degree today, are still unable to obtain quality careers in the face of growing technology, growing human population and consolidated ultra-capitalist means of production ownership. Constantly evolving technology is a very important area to consider because as technology increases, the requirement for human labor decreases. Revolutions in technological advancement have occurred many times throughout history, but there are two historic evolutions (based on technology) that can be studied and related to today’s technological stage of evolution and how it decreases skilled manual (human) labor. The first stage was under European feudalism with the technology of windmills at approximately the end of the 12th century, which reduced requirements for manual labor. By the end of the 14th century, serfdom was almost dead in France and by the start of the 15th century serfdom was dead in England. The second stage was the Industrial Revolution, and more importantly the ability to mass produce steel. The technologies of the Industrial Revolution began reaching the shores of the United States shortly after her creation and was followed, wave after wave, by increasing technological developments in industrial mass production (which drastically reduced the requirement of manual labor) and gave birth to industrial capitalism. As you should be automatically considering, the first century of the United States’ existence was driven by the domestic enslavement of black Americans (because importation of trans-Atlantic African slaves had been prohibited by the United States since 1807 in order to hurt Britain economically after the War of Independence and in the face of the War 1812). The technologies of the Industrial Revolution not only reduced the amount of required labor necessary for export profits, it made slavery an outdated mode of capitalist production. Therefore, in retrospect and for your further research, we can see the deterioration of feudalism and serfdom, and the abolition of American slavery occurring as a result of technological evolutionary stages human history. Just as the ramifications of industrial technology in the U.S. dwarfed the ramifications of wind technology in Europe, causing a more rapid evolution period resulting in abolition, the quickening of technology that we see today is also a major historical evolution under the burdensome weight of international ultra-capitalism because we once again see technological quickening which causes the historically seen reduction of required human skilled labor, this time even more massive than the ramifications from the Industrial Revolution or before,(against a greatly increased and continuously growing human population) in the modern so-called information age. As skilled labor is replaced by technology, the non-skilled customer service job becomes more abundant in the face of mass production and ultra-capitalism.
The cost of formal education degrees, which assist in career acquisition and family economic stability and advancement, come at a very high economic cost, which many working class and lower economic families are unable to support. It is a very difficult task to advance in the modern U.S. economic caste for individual or family, but it is possible. The price of a four year degree today is over one hundred thousand dollars for out of state colleges and close to forty thousand dollars for an in-state institution (approximate averages). Looking at projected costs for 18 years from the current year, the projections show the estimates at over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for out of state universities and over one hundred thousand dollars for in-state institutions. It is impossible to tell what the future holds. Girls, there are no silver spoons for you. When considering higher education and the heavy costs of formal higher education, two areas should be considered: Academic scholarships and financial loans.
Academic scholarships are few in number compared to the American masses and the fierce competition is not for those without dedication and discipline. In addition to the competition levels, who knows whom and which family ties run deepest in various communities and bureaucratic world of formal academia will often come into play. In order to even contend for academic scholarship, academic excellence is required. The term academic excellence is not an empty phrase, either. Watching youth competitors in the Olympics every few years has illustrated the possible levels of strength, endurance and discipline that our youth are capable of. Just as in any pursuit of excellence, the preparation, dedication and required work in order to be even considered is constant in construction and extends well in advance of, and well above, the normal expectations of current society (which places little emphasis on educational values for the youth today and encourages the freedom of movement and choice among the American youth). In my opinion, this is purposely encouraged through inorganic mass produced popular culture in order to keep the majority of the base population diverted from pursuit and to maintain the overall status quo of economic caste. Again, we arrive at an often debated issue within the working class/lower economic people concerning what levels of preparation should be applied to our youth: “Let them enjoy their childhood”; “You are being too hard on them.”; “Let them be a kid”; “We love Disney and Santa”.
Jamila, I have often had people politely express these sentiments to me when I explaining that a B+ grade is unacceptable when it comes to systemized grades. I justify these expectations (which build you for the future) with the following considerations: 1) Are children in third world nation-states and areas engaged in land conflicts and extreme poverty enjoying their childhood years? 2) Will the United States always be a prosperous nation? 3) Only true education of your intellectual gifts, the ability to think critically, and the in-depth understanding of the world and its systems will prepare you to be a productive contributor to society and a strong family leader in your own right. It isn’t all about money, as you will discover, but money is a sub-structure which dictates the society structure which you and your future family will live under. What that economic system will look like in the United States in fifty to one hundred years, I am unable to say.
In the pursuit of excellence, if you have given your identified goals the utmost effort and discipline and still fall short, you may still stand straight with head held high and humbly stand equal with any man or woman. In the case that a goal is not reached, you will find that if your best effort (and only you know that level of effort) is applied in the process, you will find yourself in the near vicinity of the goal and the experience obtained during that pursuit can be applied to future goals. A basic saying that I have heard more than once is “Shoot for the moon, if you miss you will still be among the stars”. Pretty cliché saying, but the meaning is valid in life application.
The second possible area of economic buying-power for higher formal education is student (economic) loans. The more I research these loans, the more I am convinced that, if utilized carefully and correctly, federal student loans (and as a last result private) could be a tool for the economic burden of formal higher educational pursuit. Currently, as I write these letters, it appears that federal educational loans come with interest rates anywhere between 3.40% and 7.90%. I ran a loose cost analysis of a four-year in-state institution degree against a 3.40% student loan interest rate (based on a 20 year loan term) and loosely arrived an approximate $200.00 a month loan payment. Remember, the prices will go up over the next 10 to 20 years as you and your sister grow up. I stress to you now the importance of researching, understanding and careful planning for the use of any such loans. One of the most important things to keep in mind is that you will be required to maintain certain GPA (grade point average) levels or your funding will be taken from you (and you will still be required to pay back the loan amounts that you have signed for and utilized previously to having your funding disabled). Ensure that peers, either those from silver spoon families or those with no discipline; do not distract you from your academic pursuits. The individuals who are so excited to have you divert from your educational responsibilities for social extravagance and frivolous parties will not be standing next to you when your economic student loan funding is taken away from you.
In closing out this discussion on the economic challenges of higher formal education, do not rush into this pursuit without proper planning and understanding, without complete focus and discipline, and maturity. Formal education will still be in existence when you are ready, and economically suited, to pursue it and excel within it. You will only get only one opportunity and then you will have to climb out of debt and bureaucratic red tape for a non-guaranteed second opportunity.
We now return to the subject of technical/vocational skills and their importance in the overall reinforcement of society structure, social worth and economic security. The key questions for accessing a technical skill (or career) are:
Technical skills, in support of educational and economic anchoring, are skills and/or a profession that are mandatory for a society to exist. The demand for such skills will either always be in existence, in some manner or form, or will be replaced by new technologies and/or methods (or laws) in society. It is important when considering technical skills to distinguish between which are solely profit-driven, which are declining requirements in society and which are increasing requirements. What areas of society are mandatory for a society? It will be in this category that you will find the most secure labor for economic stability. This question is worth more contemplation than time will allow in these written discussions, but we can cover some of the areas as they relate to the society I am writing under. Some of the following society areas and technical skill categories that come to mind: Mortuary affairs, automotive repair, construction (in all forms), Aviation and travel (airport employment), shipping industry, culinary fields, heavy equipment operators (from forklifts and excavators to compactors and cranes), electrical wiring, water or oil pipe construction and repairs, drilling, welding, health care, sanitation services, water treatment, agriculture, military (which will train you in technical skills), mining, lumber, law enforcement (which we will speak on in-depth in a later letter).
Technical skills can often be unattractive, dangerous and void of glamor, but most often are true necessities of society. I encourage you to study the society of your early adulthood closely and attempt to identify vital labor requirements and vital technical skills that are required to uphold society. I hope that I will see that society with you, my daughters, but in human uncertainty I write you these letters now.
Remember that as the capitalist economy fluctuates or declines, so fluctuates and declines non-skilled customer service jobs.
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