tfast wrote:
>
> I am not sure that is what you were on about but I am sure that that was
> partly the point Joanna was making. And her point that the poor are poor
> because they lack power is well taken. If every poor person were to get a
> degree tomorrow a degree tomorrow would not be worth what it is today.
In 1900, even in 1940, a high school diploma was worth _at least_ as much as a BS or BA is today. But when everyone went to HS, and more and more of those who went graduated, the degree became pretty pointless. When I graduated from the 8th grade in a rural school in 1943, it was a real question for about half my classmates whether or not to continue in school. Nearly a third didn't.
At one time a rather large proportion of tenured college teachers possessed only an MA. When the GI Bill among other things made graduate education more attainable, the MA lost its meaning. And so forth. Now people who have already achieved a high level in a business concern feel that to protect their position or to advance further they need an MBA, not for the knowledge but for the certificate.
Some years ago the only person in the State Farm mailroom who knew what was going on quit State Farm because of the arbitrary limit they put on promotions for those lacking a college degree. State Farm mail practices degenerated quite a bit until his replacement began to learn the job. (Jan learned about this when she was a postal clerk working in the bulk mail center in the bloomington PO.)
Carrol