[hopefulengineer]

Guide to implement neo-feudalism:

1. Remove all trade barriers, allowing corporations to outsource all low skill manufacturing jobs and ship back the finished product with no consequences

2. Don't enforce border laws, allowing the remaining low skill jobs that weren't offshored to be taken by illegal immigrants with no federal labor protection, forcing native citizens to go for higher education if they don't want to accept 3rd world wages

3. Create a student loan program that doesn't allow debt to be discharged and allows colleges to continually increase prices, resulting in skyrocketing tuition costs, turning your citizens into debt slaves and driving down skilled wages due to the flood of college graduates

4. Enjoy your increased profits as the middle class dies and is replaced by a two tier society of elites and plebes.

The current system has been created by corrupt politicians and the rich who have bought them. Productivity has increased but all the wealth is going to the rich because of current broken free trade laws allowing infinite labor arbitrage.

Nobody wants to hear it but the only reason people vote for anti-establishment candidates like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump is because the establishment is failing the people.

[exabrial]

#3 could also be solved by not having the government back student loans and allow creditors to decide risk on things like your major, your GPA, or your class attendance record, but that would be insanely politically incorrect. Essentially you're either given an amount that your career will pay for, or you have to choose a major that will pay for an amount that you desire.

[kevinali1]

I'd call this shitty, but certainly not politically incorrect.

[DrJones1098]

Education is one of the most important things a country needs to keep a free society, educated workforce, and booming economy...

Why capitalism is involved I have no idea.

Ignorant people favor simple political messages...which is one reason certain groups of politicians put education immediately on the chopping block.

[cinquemb]

It will be great when individuals learn to not conflate institutionalized schooling with education; they may overlap in the best of times, but stick you with a raw deal if one is made to think they must take out a bunch of un-dischargable debt in order to pursue knowledge…

Though that will never happen, masses of people will always seek the easy solutions that fill the void, and opportunists will be willing to sell them it along the way.

[Retric]

It’s really not about education it’s about credentials.

Workers who can decide to stop playing that game.

[cinquemb]

> It’s really not about education it’s about credentials.

Credentialisim, yes, even better…

The trite Robin Hanson argument goes "X is not actually about X", where here X is education.[0]

>It’s really not workers who can decide to stop playing that game.

It's about people making choices. A lot of people choosing to go in debt without realistic options to pay it off, a lot of people thinking un-dishcharable debt by the federal government is a good thing, and a lot of people thinking they must enforce the above because reasons.

[0] http://www.overcomingbias.com/2016/04/who-wants-school.html

[Retric]

Interesting, but it’s missing the human factor. People that gather credentials have incentives to make them more important.

You can look at how quickly the MBA took off as a product of many things. But a huge factor is MBA programs convincing people taking them to higher other MBA’s.

Or how lawyers have made it illegal for people without the right credentials from practicing law.

[nickthemagicman]

That's why universities should be socialized.

Knowledge and credentials to better oneself and the economy at large should be available to anyone who is willing to put in the work.

Intellectual capital of a countries citizens is the best investment of tax money there can be.

[nickthemagicman]

I think that's cynical. Even if it's about the degree you gain alot of benefits along the way.

That's like saying people work ONLY for the money.

[nickthemagicman]

Yeah but most people don't have the environment growing up to appreciate learning and knowledge.

Learning itself is a skill...and University teaches you how to learn and to appreciate knowledge...no matter what degree you get you're better off afterwards.

It's sad the capitalistic cynicism about University these days.

I have a feeling it's going to hurt us massively in the long run.

[cinquemb]

> Learning itself is a skill...and University teaches you how to learn and to appreciate knowledge

True that learning is a skill. University is not the only place people can "learn to learn", it is one option out of innumerable many that people can think of if they can so dare to imagine.

>...no matter what degree you get you're better off afterwards.

I think some people would question this when they get to the point where they are destitute trying to pay off loans that they can't discharge, which I'm not sure how capitalist non discharagble loans are. Usually, a lendee being able to default on a loan is the risk lenders take when underwriting…

> I have a feeling it's going to hurt us massively in the long run.

I disagree with that statement, the church (like universities are now) use to be a massive powerful force that acted as a gate keeper to knowledge, and over time, became mostly irrelevant to such ends…

[DrJones1098]

>University is not the only place people can "learn to learn.

I disagree. There are no institutions in modern capitalism that teach you how to learn if you don't already know how. It's extremely rare for them to even train you in skills they need if you already KNOW how to learn.

>think some people would question this when they get to the point where they are destitute trying to pay off loans

Hence my original point...

> Claiming that universities are a gate keeper to knowledge in the age of the internet...

You are missing the point of universities and basically everything I've just said.

[hopefulengineer]

you've romanticized higher education into something it's never been. It started off as a means for the children of the wealthy to network and show off that they were wealthy enough to waste years of their lives learning information with no practical value like Latin. Actual useful skills required for society to function were learned on the job

The most logical and efficient option is for the government to subsidize some open source books for crucial topics and then provide a testing and credential system to prove knowledge on said topic.

[exabrial]

Both of the two things you mention are great ideas, but don't necessarily require a state actor. It could be a good thing for a state to kick of and get the ball rolling.

[arvinsim]

This is already on the way in the 3rd world country where I live.

[godzillabrennus]

5.) Make it legal to form a PAC that can take unlimited money from any entity or person globally and spend it on politicians to ensure the cycle of wealthy people doesn’t break.

6.) Watch socialism and communism become more interesting systems of governance again as more people are frustrated.

[sjg007]

Hate to break it to you but Trump ain’t gonna help us unless it makes him rich.

[mslip]

Not sure how you interpreted that as the point he/she was trying to make.

[sjg007]

Trump is an establishment guy. At a minimum he needs the establishment to protect the republicans so he can protect himself.