I think the implied message is that an educated citizenry is better equipped to deal in the world than an uneducated citizenry. If you are uneducated, you're less likely to manage resources or more likely to become a victim (of unscrupulous individuals or businesses.) To that end, society should be providing for the public good by providing an education to the citizenry.
However, I don't see the education system as providing the kind of education that makes people "well-informed." I know plenty of people with a degree and not a lick of common sense who ... become victims in some way or another. (e.g. Why can't they identify a financial scam when one comes along?)
This kind of education should have happened long before postsecondary education is available to an individual. This way, he can decide for himself whether that university degree will actually do him any good in the future. Should the public provide university educations to everyone? If that's the measure by which individuals are allowed to participate in the economy by being employees, then I say yes. Corporations cannot be expected to educate any of their own employees because it's a drain on the balance sheet - The Market will not create educated individuals left to its own devices.
One should desire to be educated, informed and knowledgeable from early on in life. Too often, children are sent to school because parents need childcare, not because they value an education for their children. If children aren't encouraged to perform, then they don't. This goes for being educated as well as sports and the arts.
Corporations cannot be expected to educate any of their own employees because it's a drain on the balance sheet - The Market will not create educated individuals left to its own devices.
Corporations educate their employees all the time. My company does this. So does Walmart, McD's, Accenture, Infosys and Goldman Sachs (to name a few).
Of course companies educate their employees ... around the specific skills involved in working for their company. They, the companies, couldn't care less about the general education of their employees. It doesn't matter to them which insurance plan you pick or if you go to some investment guy that rips you off.
Comments
I think the implied message is that an educated citizenry is better equipped to deal in the world than an uneducated citizenry. If you are uneducated, you're less likely to manage resources or more likely to become a victim (of unscrupulous individuals or businesses.) To that end, society should be providing for the public good by providing an education to the citizenry.
However, I don't see the education system as providing the kind of education that makes people "well-informed." I know plenty of people with a degree and not a lick of common sense who ... become victims in some way or another. (e.g. Why can't they identify a financial scam when one comes along?)
This kind of education should have happened long before postsecondary education is available to an individual. This way, he can decide for himself whether that university degree will actually do him any good in the future. Should the public provide university educations to everyone? If that's the measure by which individuals are allowed to participate in the economy by being employees, then I say yes. Corporations cannot be expected to educate any of their own employees because it's a drain on the balance sheet - The Market will not create educated individuals left to its own devices.
One should desire to be educated, informed and knowledgeable from early on in life. Too often, children are sent to school because parents need childcare, not because they value an education for their children. If children aren't encouraged to perform, then they don't. This goes for being educated as well as sports and the arts.
Corporations cannot be expected to educate any of their own employees because it's a drain on the balance sheet - The Market will not create educated individuals left to its own devices.
Corporations educate their employees all the time. My company does this. So does Walmart, McD's, Accenture, Infosys and Goldman Sachs (to name a few).
http://walmartstores.com/careers/7740.aspx
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/careers/hamburger_universi...
Of course companies educate their employees ... around the specific skills involved in working for their company. They, the companies, couldn't care less about the general education of their employees. It doesn't matter to them which insurance plan you pick or if you go to some investment guy that rips you off.