this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 91 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I don't think we should allow the market to decide how to invest in education.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Agreed. This argument is one of the more dystopian aspects of late stage capitalism. Not content with controlling basically every aspect of our lives, the mega-wealthy want to shape our education, our knowledge as well. Anything that they cannot profit from is considered worthless.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Yeah, and as someone with a degree they value I’m mad as fuck at it. Yeah of course us engineers need education funding, but we need to be taught the humanities too. I went to school with a woman double majoring in biomedical engineering and women’s studies and in addition to her being the sort of badass that wears blue lipstick to stem classes, she was also one of the most well rounded people in our college.

My English prof taught me to recognize propaganda. My lit classes mattered. My fundamentals of stand up comedy class taught me public speaking. My friend’s philosophy classes got me thinking deeper. Intro to archaeology was mind opening. I didn’t take gender studies but I did feel comfortable reading feminist theory and discussing it with my peers. Hell even my classics class made me a more well rounded person by reinforcing that rome wasn’t some glorious bastion of goodness, but a long standing society that’s overglorified but fascinating for what it actually was.

I am not an economic unit. I am a human being. Just as humanities students need math and science I need humanities.

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[–] [email protected] 74 points 1 year ago (6 children)

TLDR:

"Urban Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, German Literature, African American Studies, Gender Studies and Women's Studies". I'm sensing a bias here.

Also that state funding should match workforce demands for the state - this part makes sense.

[–] [email protected] 70 points 1 year ago (14 children)

state funding should match workforce demands for the state

Here's a better idea: companies should actually train their workers. Lots of times a degree isn't even needed at all. They're just being cheap by not paying for a 2 week training program.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

My old job at a large corporation didn't want to pay Nortel to fly out from Dallas to host a proper two week telecommunications class to train their new support personnel. Instead they made this 65 year old "Ma Bell" tech to cobble together and teach a one and a half day crash course. I left with a notebook full of unfinished CLI commands, shorthand notes and just enough information to probably not bring down the entire enterprise PBX system. Good times.

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago (11 children)

Also that state funding should match workforce demands for the state - this part makes sense.

Should it?

First off, is the point of college to fill job slots or to educate the population? It’s not a trade school.

Second, if you change funding now it impacts programs a few years down the line then prior take 4/5 years to graduate. If you overspecify your funding on the current economic situation you’re always 6 years behind when the grads hit the market.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The moment the headline said "indoctrinate", we all knew what this list was going to include.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I see Christian studies isn't on the list....

Funny that....

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You left out the context that makes it all way worse:

In numerous statements on social media leading up to the report's publication, White said there should be no taxpayer funding for “useless degrees" in “garbage fields” like Urban Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, German Literature, African American Studies, Gender Studies and Women's Studies.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago

Man, I remember back when it was women's studies getting bullied, then they added gender studies, now we've got African Americans, Germans (I assume because of Marx?), the study of the development of society, and the study of society. They're becoming so inclusive in their discrimination 🤗

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

The German Literature one made me LOL, at least he’s being transparent about it.

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Not the economics department, though. That's definitely real science and is not an indoctrination program.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

This guy is a moron. Somebody should audit the auditor.

First off? A lot of these degrees would be useful in the majority of the Econ sectors that are actually growing. But if you notice his junk list of degrees… it’s things like African American studies, gender studies… you know. Things that are “woke”.

So. Whose trying to indoctrinate whom?

In any case this moron is probably a symptom of why Mississippi has a lower than average economic growth; why the state is loosing educated workers; and why it ranks 37th in gdp and is on pace to collapse even further. If you want to stop the brain drain (people leaving…) might want to develop economic opportunities instead of bejng an asshole.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

37th is honestly 12 or 13 places higher than you'd suspect from Mississippi, though..

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

One thing I hadn't foreseen was the degree of brain drain at the state-level. Being born in certain states has become an immediate handicap that many will never overcome because they'll never be given the tools.

Great country.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

it’s things like African American studies, gender studies

More importantly, those are not things that anyone gets convinced or tricked into studying. People study those things because they are already invested in the subject.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

why the state is loosing educated workers

Your are totally right, but this made me chuckle.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

"People who study how society oppresses certain groups, and how those groups adapt and remain resilient in the face of that oppression, are brainwashing your kids!" - Dudes in the Oppressor's Seat

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Too many college graduates are leaving Mississippi, and aligning degree programs with labor market demand might stem the tide, White said.

It doesn't even take a full brain cell to figure this one out. Tying budgets to the job market in mississippi isn't going to help if they aren't creating reasonable jobs there.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

Mississippi state auditor? Yeah right! Nobody's ever audited THAT mess!

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

My engineering program contributed to me becoming a communist, does it need defunded too?

Seriously, being taught to explain to bosses the financial cost of employee suffering and that they won’t listen otherwise was a radicalizing experience.

Edit: read it and holy fuck German literature and anthropology are on the list wow.

Also, Mississippi, idk how to break it to you, you don’t need to fund education less, that’s the exact opposite of what literally every other state thinks you need to do. You’re not the liberal indoctrination in college state, you’re the “barely has an education system” state

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Reality is woke. Defund reality.

-- some GOP chode, probably

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

This reads like an Onion article.

I mean, they want to fix "brain drain" in America's second-least educated state by restricting educational programs?

Fucking yikes, man.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Is this the same Shadrack Tucker White that studied practical, non-indoctrinary, apoliticial fields such as.... checks notes... "Economics" and "Politicial Science" from a public university?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shad_White

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Who-hoo! I guessed right! Republican and Mindless Bean Counter. Exactly the type of people who should not advise about things University

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Who would have guessed a dude named Shad White could be such an worthless asshole?

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

Well, time to replace that auditor.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Republican Mississippi State Auditor says some lines to scare the base and make sure they keep voting against their own interests

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Being educated indoctrinates people to not be conservative. It's not college's fault directly, they're at fault for educating students, and making them smarter to realize how dumb as shit conservatism is.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

indoctrinate from the Latin docēre, "to teach"

(Other offspring of docēre include doctor, document, and, of course, doctrine)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am ever amazed that these people believe they can gut education (or even just the parts of it they want to keep people ignorant about) and still live in a first-world country

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Why is he Andy Bernard from the Office?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Is it even possible to fund a university major-by-major? Kind of a weird idea. The same class might be used for multiple majors, or minors, people switch majors, the administrative staff would presumably need to be fully paid for regardless of whether there's a gender studies major, etc.

If they were thinking of providing more government funding for scholarships for the majors they think they need more of as a state, it would be both easy to manage and morally absolutely fine. But spoilers, Mississippi is not considering providing additional money towards education.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

"Person we hired to say things says the thing" more at 11.

Really irresponsible reporting, to be honest.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Problem: the state has a brain drain.

Purposed solution: make it harder for educated people to stay in the state.

Yeah I fully believe this guy studied economics. This is exactly the kinda ass-backwards logic they would come up with. It not only fails the smell test it does not match up with real world data at all. If you want more of something you dedicate more resources to that thing. The only reason why someone would suggest doing the exact opposite of what should be done is if there is a big incentive to lie. In this case for political advancement. Like I said, he is an economist. A paid shill.

By making programs not available it means that young people leave the state even earlier. It means that they don't have a career back home when they finish. Which means they have even less resources. A vicious cycle. They suck at subject X, so it gets less funding, which means they suck more, so they get even less funding, and it continues until the subject is gone and with it all the jobs. Instead of a diverse intellectual workforce you are doubling down on the few narrow subjects that show profit in a short period of time. Totally unprepared for any market shifts. And in the meantime you can't accommodate anyone who doesn't excel at the thing you doubled down on.

There might be some excuse for this if it were working but it isn't working. You could imagine San Jose pushing their schools to teach engineering or NYC schools pushing fashion but Mississippi is pushing for degrees in fields that have no hope in competing in.

Every single fucking thing is wrong about this plan and no one gives a shit. This guy is going to get some consulting fees bullshit for telling politicians what they want to hear because fuck truth.

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