Although I agree with the sentiment of this meme it has one thing wrong.
Americans aren’t interested in getting educated. At least not in the subjects that are relevant.
Americans prefer going to school for fun and majoring in stuff like business administration and communications, or the plethora of other majors that are fully saturated with people.
STEM majors and jobs scare most Americans away and this is a problem. There are also a ton of high paying labor jobs in America but the majority of Americans want nothing to do with labor and would rather have an office job.
Look I am not saying billionaires are right, because they aren’t. Fuck them. However youngsters today growing up need to be more involved in understanding how the labor market works and become educated in the skills that actually matter. It isn’t so much a lack of education. It’s there, it’s just that most people aren’t interested in being educated in the right skills.
I agree with the general sentiment that STEM scares a lot of Americans.
When I would tell other young women I was an engineering major, I would often hear a similar refrain - “Oh, I could never do that!” And it drove me insane! I am not magically gifted at mental math, I can’t do differential equations in my head. And most engineers I know, whether American or foreign, can’t do those things either.
A lot of engineering isn’t about being freakishly gifted like Elon Musk pretends. It takes gradual development of skills toward an end goal. First, you have to nail down the tools for the work (math, physics, chemistry), then you get to apply those tools to real-world problems. Engineering is problem solving, making mistakes, and being curious enough to keep going.
In short, engineering is about the long game. And didn’t become rewarding until around year 3 for me. I took some other classes in subjects to entertain myself and fill my schedule. In the disciplines of archeology, art history, and archetecture. And I called them my sanity classes. They were immediately satisfying, and made me feel like I was learning and not struggling or making those mistakes I made in engineering classes. I think most students enjoy the satisfaction of classes like that. The learning seems more instantaneous and less like a step on a ladder.
Sorry for the diatribe. In short, if you happen to read this as a young person and have the opportunity to study engineering - do it. Try not to go into debt for it, but don’t feel excluded because you aren’t the best at long division.
As for Musk, I’ve spoken with a few engineers who worked at his various companies. Everyone has left for other companies because he is a nightmare to work for. Yes, there are gifted engineers from other countries, but Musk wants employees that are tied to him and will work the slavish hours to earn a better life for the next generation of their families. A lot of American engineers are not willing to ignore their families like Musk himself clearly does. There are plenty of other space companies that pay well and aren’t run by sociopaths.
I got a computer science degree because I got into computers as a kid and I was good with them. When I apply for a job it feels like like I’m competing with half the planet. It took 2 years to get the current job I have at an MSP and I’ve been applying for new jobs for a year now. I can count the times I’ve been contacted by recruiters over the past year on one hand. There’s plenty more in my boat. If we’d known we probably would have had a different major.
I did labor before landing a job with an MSP by the way. I’m in my early 30s with back, neck, and hand problems now and pain that radiates into my hips and legs. You don’t get out of labor jobs unscathed.
Computer science is a massive world. It’s true that even the computer world is saturated. All of India is competing with you. But keep in mind those are commodity roles that are easy to outsource and fill. There are plenty of roles like cyber security and many others that they can’t or won’t outsource. You may just be in the wrong sector.
As for labor jobs I get it. They suck. But the world needs laborers and LOTS of them pay very very well.
So many republicans complain immigrants are stealing our jobs except these are all labor jobs that Americans don’t want, and now they want to kick them out of the country so no one is doing those jobs at all.
I really don’t know what else to tell people. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. People are quick to blame billionaires and while they are right to do so they are only just one of the many variables at play.
The biggest variable at play is that Americans aren’t aligning to the job market.
It’s not about being “educated” in “STEM”. That’s just a sterile euphemism for destroying any form of education that fosters revolt against a lifetime of serving capital.
Although I agree with the sentiment of this meme it has one thing wrong.
Americans aren’t interested in getting educated. At least not in the subjects that are relevant.
Americans prefer going to school for fun and majoring in stuff like business administration and communications, or the plethora of other majors that are fully saturated with people.
STEM majors and jobs scare most Americans away and this is a problem. There are also a ton of high paying labor jobs in America but the majority of Americans want nothing to do with labor and would rather have an office job.
Look I am not saying billionaires are right, because they aren’t. Fuck them. However youngsters today growing up need to be more involved in understanding how the labor market works and become educated in the skills that actually matter. It isn’t so much a lack of education. It’s there, it’s just that most people aren’t interested in being educated in the right skills.
I agree with the general sentiment that STEM scares a lot of Americans.
When I would tell other young women I was an engineering major, I would often hear a similar refrain - “Oh, I could never do that!” And it drove me insane! I am not magically gifted at mental math, I can’t do differential equations in my head. And most engineers I know, whether American or foreign, can’t do those things either.
A lot of engineering isn’t about being freakishly gifted like Elon Musk pretends. It takes gradual development of skills toward an end goal. First, you have to nail down the tools for the work (math, physics, chemistry), then you get to apply those tools to real-world problems. Engineering is problem solving, making mistakes, and being curious enough to keep going.
In short, engineering is about the long game. And didn’t become rewarding until around year 3 for me. I took some other classes in subjects to entertain myself and fill my schedule. In the disciplines of archeology, art history, and archetecture. And I called them my sanity classes. They were immediately satisfying, and made me feel like I was learning and not struggling or making those mistakes I made in engineering classes. I think most students enjoy the satisfaction of classes like that. The learning seems more instantaneous and less like a step on a ladder.
Sorry for the diatribe. In short, if you happen to read this as a young person and have the opportunity to study engineering - do it. Try not to go into debt for it, but don’t feel excluded because you aren’t the best at long division.
As for Musk, I’ve spoken with a few engineers who worked at his various companies. Everyone has left for other companies because he is a nightmare to work for. Yes, there are gifted engineers from other countries, but Musk wants employees that are tied to him and will work the slavish hours to earn a better life for the next generation of their families. A lot of American engineers are not willing to ignore their families like Musk himself clearly does. There are plenty of other space companies that pay well and aren’t run by sociopaths.
I got a computer science degree because I got into computers as a kid and I was good with them. When I apply for a job it feels like like I’m competing with half the planet. It took 2 years to get the current job I have at an MSP and I’ve been applying for new jobs for a year now. I can count the times I’ve been contacted by recruiters over the past year on one hand. There’s plenty more in my boat. If we’d known we probably would have had a different major.
I did labor before landing a job with an MSP by the way. I’m in my early 30s with back, neck, and hand problems now and pain that radiates into my hips and legs. You don’t get out of labor jobs unscathed.
Computer science is a massive world. It’s true that even the computer world is saturated. All of India is competing with you. But keep in mind those are commodity roles that are easy to outsource and fill. There are plenty of roles like cyber security and many others that they can’t or won’t outsource. You may just be in the wrong sector.
As for labor jobs I get it. They suck. But the world needs laborers and LOTS of them pay very very well.
So many republicans complain immigrants are stealing our jobs except these are all labor jobs that Americans don’t want, and now they want to kick them out of the country so no one is doing those jobs at all.
I really don’t know what else to tell people. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. People are quick to blame billionaires and while they are right to do so they are only just one of the many variables at play.
The biggest variable at play is that Americans aren’t aligning to the job market.
It’s not about being “educated” in “STEM”. That’s just a sterile euphemism for destroying any form of education that fosters revolt against a lifetime of serving capital.