Isn't there something surreal about Michelle Obama? She got her education thanks to money loaned to her by the rest of the country. She got degrees from some of the most prestigious schools in the nation with these loans. She and her husband then got high-paying jobs and he has gone on to become the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency. 50 years ago, she would not have had the opportunities she has today and yet her speeches talk about an endlessly shifting bar and life getting harder and harder. No one from the press seems to ask her or Barack about this.
Her entire existence is clear proof that things are getting better all the time. It's so weird that I can't think of an analogy for this one.
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Her entire existence is clear proof that things are getting better all the time.
Ok, lets do a little calculation. When you and I went to college it cost about $300ish per quarter. So three quarters plus say $150/ quarter for books that works out to $1350 per year. We both lived at home for most of our undergraduate education, so we didn't have other expenses. I worked at a minimum wage over the summer at around $3.80 and hour making about $1400-$1500. I seem to recall you did something similar. So I could pay for college working a minimum wage job for 2.5 months during the summer.
How does that compare to now - classes at a Cal State are, last I checked, roughly $1500 per class = $4500+ per semester. Books are at least $100/class = $300 to $550 per semester for a total of around $10K when you include all the fees you pay now for college that aren't actual "tuition."
That is over a factor of six increase. Even gas has only gone up by a factor of three since then.
What about a student's ability to pay for it? Minimum wage has doubled at best - say $8/hour depending on where you live. It would now take 31 weeks of full time employment to pay for a year of school. A cheap school at that, and assuming you live at home.
Hardly getting better all the time! The ability to afford an undergraduate education is getting more and more difficult without either massive debit or significant help from one's family.
That's because there are many more people trying to get into the universities than there were back then. Entrance requirements are higher, too. Supply and demand rears its ugly head again.
What's the solution? How about wage and price controls for the universities and the professors!
(Just kidding.)
Having said that, Ms. Obama didn't exactly go to Cal State Long Beach, now did she? She kind of chose the higher end university. Whining that she had a big debt when she got out is pretty sad.
And how is inflation on other things? What would a Macintosh of today have cost back then? On the whole, things have gotten a whole lot better over time.
Actually, when you stop to think about it, Ms. Obama really is surreal. The number of college graduates in the US has gone from something like 6% to 40% in the last 50 years. I'd say that's getting better.
Michelle's big problem is that we expected her to pay us back for the money we loaned her.
Seems to me our first Mac and laser printer set up was about ten grand - around 1990 - now you can get a laser printer for a couple hundred bucks and the Mac (any PC) is a thousand times beefier for wa-a-a-ay less.
When we got the G5 - there was an article pointing out that with that computer and some of the video game technology, kids had more power at their disposal than NASA had to put a man on the moon.
What're we going to do with all this wealth? That's one question.
Ms. Obama needs to sit down every day and write out a couple of things she is THANKFUL for - should be 5 a day, but she may have to start smaller.
First item on the list, be THANKFUL you live in THIS country and not Myamar, Palestine...this could be a long list....
The FIRST requirement fro being president ought to be an understanding of what you have here, a deep and abiding appreciation of it, and the willingness to fight to keep it.
The Obamas seem to have none of those qualifications.
ooops G4 !!!! not G5 (wishful thinking :)
What's the solution? How about wage and price controls for the universities and the professors!
(Just kidding.)
Actually with state budget issues, faculty wages at public universities have stagnated. They've actually gone down if you consider that on average well over half of the faculty are semester by semester contract workers, often lacking any benefits. A significant portion of the faculty at Cal States now buy out of their teaching responsibilities with research grants and are replaced by temporary workers who are paid graduate student level salaries. The schools actually make money on this, so they encourage the practice.
As for Michelle Obama, when did she whine about paying back her student loans? You didn't mention this in your post. I expect that the issue isn't her undergraduate education, but her law degree. Law school (and all other professional schools for that matter), even at even a public institution, cost significantly more than regular graduate school.
That's because there are many more people trying to get into the universities than there were back then. Entrance requirements are higher, too. Supply and demand rears its ugly head again.
Check out this
This figure shows that the increase of BA's as a percentage of the population (red curve) has been pretty flat since the late 1970's. Certainly well less than doubled.
"[T]he growth in both categories [high school and BA graduation] has slowed down over the past two decades."
"Overall the greatest increases in educational attainment were recorded in the 1950s, 60s and 70s."
"More than half the U.S. population 25 years of age and over in 2000, (52 percent) had completed at least some college education. Just under one quarter (24 percent) had a bachelor’s degree or more. Nine percent had an advanced degree (master’s degree, professional degree or doctoral degree.
Above taken from the U.S, Census Bureau "
It's not the number of degrees, it's the number attending school. Students are paying customers whether or not they get a degree.
As for Michelle, I've heard plenty of clips of her crying about her student loans. I don't have time to dig it up, but I'll try and post that in a bit.
You bring up a good point, though. If wages for faculty have stagnated, where's all that money going?
I adored Obama at first, but after listening to that wife of his, I am completly turned off. She has a chip on her shoulder and an agenda and if she gets in that White House, she will fullfil that agenda because she will be pulling the strings. She has it all - gorgeous family, health, beauty, educated, wealthy, power, and she has the nerve to spew out that black "Iv'e been slighted" diatribe. I am ticked - the nerve. When I went to college, I was a single mother working 3 pt jobs. Two black girls I worked with on campus also were single moms. I later found out that they were both given grants while I was bogged down with school loans. I refused to pay them and now I am 61 and they are still harrassing me. This is only the tip of the iceberg on reversed discrimination to come. I am sick of the "settling of scores" mentality of our country. I just want all people to have total freedom and opportunity to live their lives.
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