What Is Your Life's Blueprint?

This is a reading of the Dr. Martin Luther King speech, sometimes called "The Street Sweeper". The purpose of this video is to make people aware that in 1967, Dr. King understood that education, perseverance, and self-worth was going to change more than all of the politicians and legislation combined. At a time when we have 30% dropout rate, it's important to hear these words and make certain that our children have a blueprint for their lives.

College - Is the debt worth it?

It has gotten too darn expensive to get a basic degree anymore. It makes you wonder if the ROI is worth it? Tie that to the lack of jobs and you have a serious question. On the other hand, it isn't the worst of times. So, what is the real problem?

I came out of college in Buffalo, NY in 1982 where unemployment was 14%. Luckily (hard work) I was able to find a job in the computer industry, and made a career there which allowed me to pay off my small student loan. I also worked as a laborer all through high school and college which allowed me to cover all of my expenses.

There are two problems:

First, many college students don't want to do labor jobs. I'm not calling them lazy, but there are always jobs for those who are willing to do the dirty jobs.

Second, colleges aren't training and educating their students to attain real jobs. The cost of the education is far too great compared to the saleable skills learned; leaving students in a boat load of debt, and many times without reasonable employment options.

Possible solution:

What we need is apprenticeship programs to compete with University programs.
Areas such as: Network Engineering, Accounting, Skilled Construction, Education, etc. could easily be apprenticeship programs and in turn reduce the debt required to attain a degree that doesn't really prepare people for careers.

Check out the whole platform position in the book: Political Common Sense for America