Wall Street Protesters Prove Most Academic Degrees Worthless Today

What will it take for parents to finally realize that it's a waste of time and money to save for their children's college education? Occupy Wall Street protesters over the nation are looking for forgiveness of their nearly one trillion dollars in student loan debt yet most of them can't find a job. Interviews with those protesters seem to illustrate that many don't even have basic skills to express a cohesive thought. I wrote a column recently comparing the 2011 protesters to the 1960's anti-Vietnam war crowd but while those earlier ones were afraid of going to war, the Occupy Wall Streeters are afraid of having to work for a living.

College costs continue to spiral upward and a recent CBS News reported that, "The College Board reports roughly 56 percent of bachelor's degree recipients at public four-year schools last year graduated with debt, averaging about $22,000. At private nonprofit universities, 65 percent had debt, averaging around $28,000."

If you're studying to be a doctor or a lawyer than there's no doubt higher education is a prerequisite but being in debt for $96,000 for a degree in Women's studies or Art History is just plain stupid. One of the signs at the park where the protesters have been camping out reads, "Even in a good economy, I'm unemployable."

Several years ago I attended a cocktail party where I heard a prescient remark from a gentleman who said, "sooner or later, businesses are going to stop demanding college degrees and just start hiring the most qualified person for the job." Ivy League Universities have been selling their overpriced and worthless degrees on the premise that with their sheepskin, a high paying job is guaranteed. This is no longer the case and part of the problem is the corruption of their curriculum by endowments from special interests groups and Middle Eastern potentates. Their mission to educate thinkers has been sullied by greed and liberal ideology gone mad. Their students who have been led to believe that they are the best of the best and can make contacts that will ensure them perpetual security are now finding out they don't know how to function in the real world surrounded by real people.

My daughter graduated from St. John's University magna cum laude with a degree in computer science and less than $5000 in student loan debt. This was possible because she had earned scholarships with excellent grades in high school. There is no scrutiny of actual study courses desired when applying for student loans as long as the academic institution is legitimate. If you're applying for a Pell grant to study Philosophy/Star Trek at Georgetown University or Queer Musicology at UCLA then you probably shouldn't get one. That's why we have one Wall Street sign held by an unemployed graduate mired in debt for over $80K after earning a degree in a worthless study.

How do you go through four years of college without preparing for meaningful employment? Answer: you have been coddled and supported by hardworking parents who think you're smarter than they are when in actuality you're not much smarter than a fifth grader...

The warning signs have been out there for years. Articles have appeared in magazines, newspapers and on the Internet spelling out which industries provide the jobs needed to succeed and nowhere do they recommend multicultural or social engineering studies. Ingenuity, rugged individualism and creativity are not the attributes valued or supported by Marxist academics in the realm of higher education.

Just consider the fact that many billionaires are either college dropouts or never went to college at all. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, David Geffen, Ted Turner, Ralph Lauren, Howard Hughes, Michael Dell and Larry Ellison are just a fraction of the billionaires without a degree. The list of millionaires is even more considerable but what is notable is that these individuals achieved what they did without government assistance.

I remember thinking of that when I saw the film, The Social Network, which chronicled the rise of Facebook inventor, Mark Zuckerberg. He became a billionaire because of an idea. Having an idea and the energy and confidence to pursue it regardless of impediments is the classic American key to success and the best that the government and parents can do is to get out of the way. The following success stories did not involve getting government grants or bank loans.

Frank Lloyd Wright, who without argument, was the most influential architect of the 20th Century never attended high school.

Frederick Henry Royce, multimillionaire co-founder of Rolls-Royce dropped out of elementary school.

George Eastman, founder of Kodak was also a high school dropout as was John D. Rockefeller Sr.

Two individuals responsible for huge successes in the entertainment industry are Walt Disney, a high school dropout at 16 and Oscar-winning director James Cameron who is a college dropout.

What is so sad about the Occupy Wall Street protests is the cluelessness of those participating in them. If their brain cells were still working they would be looking with heavy skepticism at those celebrities joining them for photo ops and video segments. Most of them belong not to the 99% but rather they are the 1% hypocrites whom they should be hanging in effigy.

Consider their supporter billionaire Russell Simmons. He is basically a banker who promotes his Rush card for 9.95 a month which is almost double the $5 that Bank of America wanted to charge for their debit cards and which was loudly blasted for that plan by OWS.

Another is Michael Moore whose latest faux documentary is critical of capitalism. He is the biggest hypocrite of all and at one point owned almost 2,000 shares of Boeing, about 1,000 shares of Sonoco, more than 4,000 shares of Best Foods, 3,000 shares of Lilly and more than 2,000 of - can you believe it - Halliburton.

America has become a country refusing to abandon its buggy whip mentality. The world is changing rapidly and those who refuse to adapt to its changing demands are destined to remain behind. Which kind of jobs are most in demand should be what students are considering for career choices. Teachers, nurses, computer repair, auto mechanics, electricians, plumbers, contractors, firefighters, police officers are always in demand depending on the stability of their communities. These careers may not be as glamorous or as desirable as those offered at the more prestigious universities but they offer more security in today's wobbly economic climate.

If the 99% ever want to improve their circumstances so that they won't need to camp out on public grounds holding ridiculous makeshift signs they ought to start thinking like the successful one-percenters they despise. That means accepting the fact that the world does not owe them a living and that they have to work hard to succeed.

A bath would help too.

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com