GOP is against higher education

[Anonymous]

In July, a Pew Research Center study found that 58 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents believe colleges and universities have a negative effect “on the way things are going in the country"

The GOP is really frightening. They are beginning to lose faith in higher education. This is terrible! The economy is becoming higher tech and higher skilled. This will just further perpetuate a blue state/red state or city/rural divide.

[Anonymous]

Trump loves the poorly educated.

[Anonymous]

Nice try, OP.
Nobody is saying that the GOP is “against higher education.” Many of us do believe, however, that it is not working the way it should in some cases.
We also KNOW that “higher education” is not the path for everyone. There are a plethora of lucrative fields which don’t require an advanced degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nice try, OP.
Nobody is saying that the GOP is “against higher education.” Many of us do believe, however, that it is not working the way it should in some cases.
We also KNOW that “higher education” is not the path for everyone. There are a plethora of lucrative fields which don’t require an advanced degree.

Like what, coal mining?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nice try, OP.
Nobody is saying that the GOP is “against higher education.” Many of us do believe, however, that it is not working the way it should in some cases.
We also KNOW that “higher education” is not the path for everyone. There are a plethora of lucrative fields which don’t require an advanced degree.

Like what, coal mining?

Plumber, electrician, and many others.
Read up... https://clark.com/employment-military/highest-paying-jobs-no-bachelors-degree/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nice try, OP.
Nobody is saying that the GOP is “against higher education.” Many of us do believe, however, that it is not working the way it should in some cases.
We also KNOW that “higher education” is not the path for everyone. There are a plethora of lucrative fields which don’t require an advanced degree.

Are you sending your kids to college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In July, a Pew Research Center study found that 58 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents believe colleges and universities have a negative effect “on the way things are going in the country"

The GOP is really frightening. They are beginning to lose faith in higher education. This is terrible! The economy is becoming higher tech and higher skilled. This will just further perpetuate a blue state/red state or city/rural divide.

I think there's more to the story. Unfortunately Pew research article on this didn't ask why the respondents felt this way. Count me as one of the many republicans who has grown weary of colleges and universities in the US - and I say this as someone who has multiple undergrad degrees and an advanced degree. My beef is not with the concept of colleges and universities, but how US colleges and universities are CURRENTLY behaving. First is the hard lean towards progressive activism, creating thought bubbles that are antithetical to the idea of free exchange and learning. Second is the schools' focus not on core academic performance, but the construction of fancy facilities, resulting in escalating tuition that in turn saddle students with crushing debt. Thirdly, colleges and universities are not doing enough to guide students into productive fields like engineering, but are instead all to happy to indulge in the whims of immature children who study meaningless majors that have no hope for good employment upon graduation.

If you dig a little bit into the PEW research, Republicans and Democrats are largely aligned on most of the sub measures except one: Republicans indicate that colleges and universities should mostly be about getting educated and less so about personal growth. Meanwhile Democrats are split half and half on getting educated versus personal growth. The lack of any other correlation prompts me to hypothesize that Republicans are indeed largely weary of colleges and universities because they are not doing a good job of preparing kids in terms of personal growth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nice try, OP.
Nobody is saying that the GOP is “against higher education.” Many of us do believe, however, that it is not working the way it should in some cases.
We also KNOW that “higher education” is not the path for everyone. There are a plethora of lucrative fields which don’t require an advanced degree.

Your opinion doesn’t match Pew’s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nice try, OP.
Nobody is saying that the GOP is “against higher education.” Many of us do believe, however, that it is not working the way it should in some cases.
We also KNOW that “higher education” is not the path for everyone. There are a plethora of lucrative fields which don’t require an advanced degree.

Are you sending your kids to college?

+1 It may not be the path for everyone, but I assure you that most of the elite GOP are sending their kids to private schools and colleges. They just don't think college is for most of the middle/lower class. The GOP elite don't want the masses to be educated in case they turn into liberals because study after study shows that the more educated you are, the more liberal you tend to become. Additionally, a huge majority of well regarded scientists believe that climate change is real. Actually, even Trump believes it's real, but only when it impacts his bottom line like his golf course eroding into the ocean due to rising sea levels caused by... climate change. So, they don't want the GOP base to be educated just in case they also will start to believe that we need to get off coal and oil and turn to more renewable energy; if they did that, then that would hurt Trump's cronies' businesses, and that's a no no.

The GOP also want to keep the middle/lower class down by pushing manufacturing and coal jobs onto them instead of the higher paying jobs that usually require some form of higher ed.

I have nothing against electrician or plumbers. They can, indeed, make good money, but how many GOP elite wouldn't mind if their kids became plumbers or electricians? Why don't they want the middle/lower income people to strive for something better? I have told my kids it's fine if they want to be an electrician or plumber, but they'd better be really good at it and be willing to work hard if they want to live a financially comfortable life. I grew up low income and am the first in my family (including extended) to get a college education from a C rated state univ, and I even used to be a R a very long time ago, so I'm not part of the liberal elite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nice try, OP.
Nobody is saying that the GOP is “against higher education.” Many of us do believe, however, that it is not working the way it should in some cases.
We also KNOW that “higher education” is not the path for everyone. There are a plethora of lucrative fields which don’t require an advanced degree.

Your opinion doesn’t match Pew’s.

Trump lovers only believe in polls when it supports their ideology. All other polls are "fake news" or "remember 2016?"

[Anonymous]

“President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.”
- 2012 GOP presidential runner up Rick Santorum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In July, a Pew Research Center study found that 58 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents believe colleges and universities have a negative effect “on the way things are going in the country"

The GOP is really frightening. They are beginning to lose faith in higher education. This is terrible! The economy is becoming higher tech and higher skilled. This will just further perpetuate a blue state/red state or city/rural divide.

I think there's more to the story. Unfortunately Pew research article on this didn't ask why the respondents felt this way. Count me as one of the many republicans who has grown weary of colleges and universities in the US - and I say this as someone who has multiple undergrad degrees and an advanced degree. My beef is not with the concept of colleges and universities, but how US colleges and universities are CURRENTLY behaving. First is the hard lean towards progressive activism, creating thought bubbles that are antithetical to the idea of free exchange and learning. Second is the schools' focus not on core academic performance, but the construction of fancy facilities, resulting in escalating tuition that in turn saddle students with crushing debt. Thirdly, colleges and universities are not doing enough to guide students into productive fields like engineering, but are instead all to happy to indulge in the whims of immature children who study meaningless majors that have no hope for good employment upon graduation.

If you dig a little bit into the PEW research, Republicans and Democrats are largely aligned on most of the sub measures except one: Republicans indicate that colleges and universities should mostly be about getting educated and less so about personal growth. Meanwhile Democrats are split half and half on getting educated versus personal growth. The lack of any other correlation prompts me to hypothesize that Republicans are indeed largely weary of colleges and universities because they are not doing a good job of preparing kids in terms of personal growth.

And yet, you will still send your kids to college, right?

So, do conservative leaning college do a better job at preparing kids for college, universities like BYU?

Throughout history, progressive activism has come from universities where students are encouraged to think for themselves. It encouraged activism like Tianamen square and the revolt against military rule in South Korea in the 70s/80s. Those are just examples. What you are saying is that universities shouldn't encourage people to reach for liberty or individual thought and instead just become a cog in the wheel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In July, a Pew Research Center study found that 58 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents believe colleges and universities have a negative effect “on the way things are going in the country"

The GOP is really frightening. They are beginning to lose faith in higher education. This is terrible! The economy is becoming higher tech and higher skilled. This will just further perpetuate a blue state/red state or city/rural divide.

I think there's more to the story. Unfortunately Pew research article on this didn't ask why the respondents felt this way. Count me as one of the many republicans who has grown weary of colleges and universities in the US - and I say this as someone who has multiple undergrad degrees and an advanced degree. My beef is not with the concept of colleges and universities, but how US colleges and universities are CURRENTLY behaving. First is the hard lean towards progressive activism, creating thought bubbles that are antithetical to the idea of free exchange and learning. Second is the schools' focus not on core academic performance, but the construction of fancy facilities, resulting in escalating tuition that in turn saddle students with crushing debt. Thirdly, colleges and universities are not doing enough to guide students into productive fields like engineering, but are instead all to happy to indulge in the whims of immature children who study meaningless majors that have no hope for good employment upon graduation.

If you dig a little bit into the PEW research, Republicans and Democrats are largely aligned on most of the sub measures except one: Republicans indicate that colleges and universities should mostly be about getting educated and less so about personal growth. Meanwhile Democrats are split half and half on getting educated versus personal growth. The lack of any other correlation prompts me to hypothesize that Republicans are indeed largely weary of colleges and universities because they are not doing a good job of preparing kids in terms of personal growth.

I have a Master’s in Computer Science. I don’t think it is for everyone. Telling someone what to major in doesn’t mean they like it or will excel at it. For example, my friend from India went through testing and placement in university. She was told she needed to go into architecture. She hated it. She came to the US for grad school and was free to pick what she wanted and went into CS.

All that said, would I be ok if my child wanted a degree in something like religious studies? Maybe. As long as she knew it required her to get a PhD to be a professor. She’s young enough that the baby boomer professors will retire or die off, which will create tenure track positions. My GenX friends were majorly disadvantaged by demographics when it came to tenure track hiring. (But a few did make it)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In July, a Pew Research Center study found that 58 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents believe colleges and universities have a negative effect “on the way things are going in the country"

The GOP is really frightening. They are beginning to lose faith in higher education. This is terrible! The economy is becoming higher tech and higher skilled. This will just further perpetuate a blue state/red state or city/rural divide.

I think there's more to the story. Unfortunately Pew research article on this didn't ask why the respondents felt this way. Count me as one of the many republicans who has grown weary of colleges and universities in the US - and I say this as someone who has multiple undergrad degrees and an advanced degree. My beef is not with the concept of colleges and universities, but how US colleges and universities are CURRENTLY behaving. First is the hard lean towards progressive activism, creating thought bubbles that are antithetical to the idea of free exchange and learning. Second is the schools' focus not on core academic performance, but the construction of fancy facilities, resulting in escalating tuition that in turn saddle students with crushing debt. Thirdly, colleges and universities are not doing enough to guide students into productive fields like engineering, but are instead all to happy to indulge in the whims of immature children who study meaningless majors that have no hope for good employment upon graduation.

If you dig a little bit into the PEW research, Republicans and Democrats are largely aligned on most of the sub measures except one: Republicans indicate that colleges and universities should mostly be about getting educated and less so about personal growth. Meanwhile Democrats are split half and half on getting educated versus personal growth. The lack of any other correlation prompts me to hypothesize that Republicans are indeed largely weary of colleges and universities because they are not doing a good job of preparing kids in terms of personal growth.

And yet, you will still send your kids to college, right?

So, do conservative leaning college do a better job at preparing kids for college, universities like BYU?

Throughout history, progressive activism has come from universities where students are encouraged to think for themselves. It encouraged activism like Tianamen square and the revolt against military rule in South Korea in the 70s/80s. Those are just examples. What you are saying is that universities shouldn't encourage people to reach for liberty or individual thought and instead just become a cog in the wheel.

Yes of course, I would try to get my kids into schools that are more focused on academic excellence and try to be closely engaged in the "personal development" aspect. My feeling of weariness is towards colleges and universities in general, which is a very broad brush. However, there are islands of excellence within this sea of mediocrity.

I am not sure that conservative leaning colleges do a better job, I see plenty of evidence that many liberal leaning universities also do exceptionally well. It's a spectrum and not a clear cut choice of one or the other. There are also guides on how conservatives can survive in a liberal university - going with the flow to tell professors what they want to hear in order to earn the grade. This is far more nuanced than the summary that colleges and universities have a negative effect.

Progressive activism in modern day US colleges and universities are far more about group-think than independent thought - just look at how they inverted the meaning of the phrase "safe space". When college and universities start limiting free speech to specific "zones", then you know progressive activism has gone too far down the path of fascism. I don't feel that this is the same as Tiananmen square or South Korea, which had legitimate grievances against an oppressive government. What are modern day progressives complaining about in the US? They want to be called the gender that they choose. Also, having first hand experience dealing with the leaders of Tiananmen square, I can tell you that those people fail to impress me - they are charismatic, but mostly operate within a framework that is similar to gangs, a circle jerk of personalities whose main talking points are about the glories of each other's deeds in the past. They are devoid of any real useful talent other than to charm the pants off of idealistic and impressionable youth who has not yet matured enough to have their own independent thought and are therefore all too easily swooned by exaggerated stories of conquest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In July, a Pew Research Center study found that 58 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents believe colleges and universities have a negative effect “on the way things are going in the country"

The GOP is really frightening. They are beginning to lose faith in higher education. This is terrible! The economy is becoming higher tech and higher skilled. This will just further perpetuate a blue state/red state or city/rural divide.

I think there's more to the story. Unfortunately Pew research article on this didn't ask why the respondents felt this way. Count me as one of the many republicans who has grown weary of colleges and universities in the US - and I say this as someone who has multiple undergrad degrees and an advanced degree. My beef is not with the concept of colleges and universities, but how US colleges and universities are CURRENTLY behaving. First is the hard lean towards progressive activism, creating thought bubbles that are antithetical to the idea of free exchange and learning. Second is the schools' focus not on core academic performance, but the construction of fancy facilities, resulting in escalating tuition that in turn saddle students with crushing debt. Thirdly, colleges and universities are not doing enough to guide students into productive fields like engineering, but are instead all to happy to indulge in the whims of immature children who study meaningless majors that have no hope for good employment upon graduation.

If you dig a little bit into the PEW research, Republicans and Democrats are largely aligned on most of the sub measures except one: Republicans indicate that colleges and universities should mostly be about getting educated and less so about personal growth. Meanwhile Democrats are split half and half on getting educated versus personal growth. The lack of any other correlation prompts me to hypothesize that Republicans are indeed largely weary of colleges and universities because they are not doing a good job of preparing kids in terms of personal growth.

And yet, you will still send your kids to college, right?

So, do conservative leaning college do a better job at preparing kids for college, universities like BYU?

Throughout history, progressive activism has come from universities where students are encouraged to think for themselves. It encouraged activism like Tianamen square and the revolt against military rule in South Korea in the 70s/80s. Those are just examples. What you are saying is that universities shouldn't encourage people to reach for liberty or individual thought and instead just become a cog in the wheel.

Yes of course, I would try to get my kids into schools that are more focused on academic excellence and try to be closely engaged in the "personal development" aspect. My feeling of weariness is towards colleges and universities in general, which is a very broad brush. However, there are islands of excellence within this sea of mediocrity.

I am not sure that conservative leaning colleges do a better job, I see plenty of evidence that many liberal leaning universities also do exceptionally well. It's a spectrum and not a clear cut choice of one or the other. There are also guides on how conservatives can survive in a liberal university - going with the flow to tell professors what they want to hear in order to earn the grade. This is far more nuanced than the summary that colleges and universities have a negative effect.

Progressive activism in modern day US colleges and universities are far more about group-think than independent thought - just look at how they inverted the meaning of the phrase "safe space". When college and universities start limiting free speech to specific "zones", then you know progressive activism has gone too far down the path of fascism. I don't feel that this is the same as Tiananmen square or South Korea, which had legitimate grievances against an oppressive government. What are modern day progressives complaining about in the US? They want to be called the gender that they choose. Also, having first hand experience dealing with the leaders of Tiananmen square, I can tell you that those people fail to impress me - they are charismatic, but mostly operate within a framework that is similar to gangs, a circle jerk of personalities whose main talking points are about the glories of each other's deeds in the past. They are devoid of any real useful talent other than to charm the pants off of idealistic and impressionable youth who has not yet matured enough to have their own independent thought and are therefore all too easily swooned by exaggerated stories of conquest.

I would argue this is largely generational. College was not a bastion of liberal activism when I went. I think the younger generation has been raised by activist parents and raised to think they are center of the universe this in dire need of safe spaces to hid from others with differing opinions.