College Costs......

HumpDawgy

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Midas had the gold touch. Government has the fecal touch

GIF by South Park
 
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RockyDog

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It is almost to the point where it is not cost effective for many Mississippians to attend college. The cost of education is very quickly outpacing the rate of return.

Our fearless MS leaders talk out of both sides of their mouths. They say they want to retain young minds and keep them in MS. Yet on the other hand they want to cut government to the bone. Yes. The state’s largest employer. Makes total sense. Schools are having to give away teaching jobs to anybody willing to take one because education majors don’t want to stay in the state either.

Fat Tate and Philbert say they want these bright young minds to stay in MS but you can’t give away jobs because nobody that spent 100k on their education in a science or engineering field is going to accept a job for $35-45k. The legislature sat on a billion dollars of revenue this past session and now many office are operating under a hiring freeze with lots of unfilled jobs because these slick talking hucksters would rather give their celebrity buddies or fitness trainers millions of dollars than spend it on real Mississippians
 

Podgy

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You said "American women in particular are treated well" by the US healthcare system.
Based on real outcomes and policies, that's an absurd statement.

Newsflash: Women live longer than Men everywhere.... But AMERICAN women don't live as long as other OECD MEN, despite our higher Public and private spending on healthcare.

But call me childish, Mr Misogynist...
At least you spelled mysognist properly. And I'm the one who is married with daughters who attended almost all of their K-12 activities. You just get more accurate with each post. How do you that? And lifespan is clearly not impacted by behavior, drug and alcohol abuse, obesity rates or other life choices. It's only the system. FYI, I've used and praised France and Italy's health care system on this site before and mentioned the benefits of hybrid national and private systems. Glad you pointed out that men don't live as long as women all over. The systems in all countries must be sexist and anti-male to have those outcomes. BTW, Asian American women live longer than white women. I guess that proof that the system is rigged in favor of Asian women. And yes, women are treated well. Most healthcare spending goes to women. Hell, men and women die of prostate and breast cancer respectively at similar rates but we spend so much more money on breast cancer research. The outcomes for black Americans are really the worst. I pointed out in another thread that you could find an inexpensive house in Jackson but you didn't bite. You seem to have a lot of complaints about America, some of which I think you can work on. Move to Jackson, buy an inexpensive house and use your wisdom to maybe teach in a K-12 school to improve a host of outcomes for some residents there. Don't just complain. Make a difference.
 
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HRMSU

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You said "American women in particular are treated well" by the US healthcare system.
Based on real outcomes and policies, that's an absurd statement.

Newsflash: Women live longer than Men everywhere.... But AMERICAN women don't live as long as other OECD MEN, despite our higher Public and private spending on healthcare.

But call me childish, Mr Misogynist...

Not trying to beef just stating a fact that my "American Woman" wife and daughter have been treated pretty well by the US healthcare system. Maybe it's our privilege **
 
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L4Dawg

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You said "American women in particular are treated well" by the US healthcare system.
Based on real outcomes and policies, that's an absurd statement.

Newsflash: Women live longer than Men everywhere.... But AMERICAN women don't live as long as other OECD MEN, despite our higher Public and private spending on healthcare.

But call me childish, Mr Misogynist...
Takea look at healthcare outcomes once you enter the system with an illness. THAT is how you really judge a healthcare system. Lifestyle choices have a HUGE impact on life expectancy.
 

Podgy

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Keenum makes $850,000 annually plus a host of other benefits (housing, car, various expense accounts, travel...lots of goodies as part of his compensation). Universities have administrative bloat, some of which is due to administrative initiatives and some is to deal with mandates (state, federal and accrediting agencies). It's not just the role of government, although that's a factor. Universities compete for top students, give them financial awards that keep them from having to spend as much on a unviersity education as others. Those without schollies and grants fund the smarties universities shower money on. Universities like to build stuff (someone has to pay off that nice baseball stadium). Rich college kids like nice stuff and make decisions for other students as well, something that increases the price of college. A college degree, except for some fields, is still a good deal for most people.
 
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L4Dawg

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Blame the parents. They are choosing status over what's practical/best. Costs are not high at JUCO and the smaller public colleges. But just like ole Rebecca on Full House proved, it's all about being able to brag to others about what college they are going to.
For sure.
 

ChE1997

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At least you spelled mysognist properly. And I'm the one who is married with daughters who attended almost all of their K-12 activities. You just get more accurate with each post. How do you that? And lifespan is clearly not impacted by behavior, drug and alcohol abuse, obesity rates or other life choices. It's only the system. FYI, I've used and praised France and Italy's health care system on this site before and mentioned the benefits of hybrid national and private systems. Glad you pointed out that men don't live as long as women all over. The systems in all countries must be sexist and anti-male to have those outcomes. BTW, Asian American women live longer than white women. I guess that proof that the system is rigged in favor of Asian women. And yes, women are treated well. Most healthcare spending goes to women. Hell, men and women die of prostate and breast cancer respectively at similar rates but we spend so much more money on breast cancer research. The outcomes for black Americans are really the worst. I pointed out in another thread that you could find an inexpensive house in Jackson but you didn't bite. You seem to have a lot of complaints about America, some of which I think you can work on. Move to Jackson, buy an inexpensive house and use your wisdom to maybe teach in a K-12 school to improve a host of outcomes for some residents there. Don't just complain. Make a difference.
It's sad that you care so little for your kids to not advocate for better outcomes for women.

I hope they don't suffer an ectopic pregnancy in Mississippi in the post Dobbs world. Of course that would be their fault for a poor life choices like being a woman living in Mississippi.

Men die of prostate cancer at a much older age than Women of breast cancer. So apples and buicks. Losing a 40 year old mom with school age kids does not have the same social impact as a retired Granddad dying of Prostate cancer at 80.

I think America would be a lot better if we did more to help others and not just the ultra wealthy.
 

OG Goat Holder

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Woman can be choosier now. Men are going to have to improve themselves to find a mate. I recommend doing that. Single adult women tend to do better on a number of factors than single adult men. Marriage makes the lives of men better. Well, a good marriage does.
Until they get to be 30 and that biological clock starts ticking. And they wonder why the alpha males don't want to marry them after they've ridden the carousel. "BuT, bUt, Im EdUcAtEd AnD nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLzz!!" That's the equivalent of a nice guy's pandering. They don't realize that there is now a new crop of hot young girls that have taken their place.

I remember Tomi Lahren going on a rant a year or so ago about 'where are all the good guys' or something.

It's gotten a little dysfunctional for sure.
 

ChE1997

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Takea look at healthcare outcomes once you enter the system with an illness. THAT is how you really judge a healthcare system. Lifestyle choices have a HUGE impact on life expectancy.
That's the issue. On average, American's DON'T enter the healthcare system until it's serious, because it's too expensive.
And that's the design on purpose. When the US Selected an employer based healthcare model vs a public model, it was done on purpose to get the outcomes we have now.

Saying let's look at outcomes of those that get help is really adjusting the goalposts. Shouldn't the system be set up where ALL people get better care? It works that way everywhere else.

Unless you don't really want to help everyone. You really just care about the ones the system works for now.
 

HammerOfTheDogs

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It is almost to the point where it is not cost effective for many Mississippians to attend college. The cost of education is very quickly outpacing the rate of return.

Our fearless MS leaders talk out of both sides of their mouths. They say they want to retain young minds and keep them in MS. Yet on the other hand they want to cut government to the bone. Yes. The state’s largest employer. Makes total sense. Schools are having to give away teaching jobs to anybody willing to take one because education majors don’t want to stay in the state either.

Fat Tate and Philbert say they want these bright young minds to stay in MS but you can’t give away jobs because nobody that spent 100k on their education in a science or engineering field is going to accept a job for $35-45k. The legislature sat on a billion dollars of revenue this past session and now many office are operating under a hiring freeze with lots of unfilled jobs because these slick talking hucksters would rather give their celebrity buddies or fitness trainers millions of dollars than spend it on real Mississippians
You're correct that Government (federal, State, and local) is Mississippi's biggest employer. However, the real reason businesses don't want to move here is due to the Tort system. It's been reformed since the Wild days of the 1990's, but Mississippi is still one of the most litigious States I've ever seen. Few businesses want to move somewhere where they can get sued out of business.

Here in Texas, our politicians suck too, but the State doesn't rely on them for their economic well-being.
 
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Podgy

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It's sad that you care so little for your kids to not advocate for better outcomes for women.

I hope they don't suffer an ectopic pregnancy in Mississippi in the post Dobbs world. Of course that would be their fault for a poor life choices like being a woman living in Mississippi.

Men die of prostate cancer at a much older age than Women of breast cancer. So apples and buicks. Losing a 40 year old mom with school age kids does not have the same social impact as a retired Granddad dying of Prostate cancer at 80.

I think America would be a lot better if we did more to help others and not just the ultra wealthy.
"It's sad that you care so little for your kids to not advocate for better outcomes for women." You're hilarious. You're an amazing advocate for women on a sports message board read by a handful of bored people waiting for football season to start. You're just so much better than I am. The self-righteous shall inherit the earth.

"Losing a 40 year old mom with school age kids does not have the same social impact as a retired Granddad dying of Prostate cancer at 80." I agree with this totally made up, simplistic binary scenario you invented to support a silly opinion. And you know what, I think a 30-year old, single mom living in a trailer with 4 kids dying of breast cancer slowly and painfully is worse than a 82-year-old man dying of heart disease. I also think that a 28-year-old mom dying....
 

Podgy

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Until they get to be 30 and that biological clock starts ticking. And they wonder why the alpha males don't want to marry them after they've ridden the carousel. "BuT, bUt, Im EdUcAtEd AnD nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLzz!!" That's the equivalent of a nice guy's pandering. They don't realize that there is now a new crop of hot young girls that have taken their place.

I remember Tomi Lahren going on a rant a year or so ago about 'where are all the good guys' or something.

It's gotten a little dysfunctional for sure.
Crazy hot chick who overestimates her value. Most men don't really care about having a wife who is ranting about something on tv. Emotionally stable women make good moms and wives and life partners.
 

Duke Humphrey

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Keenum makes $850,000 annually plus a host of other benefits (housing, car, various expense accounts, travel...lots of goodies as part of his compensation).
And thats probably not enough for the value we get out of him.
 

QuadrupleOption

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College is still free to those of us who actually belonged there. Most of you would have been better off at a trade school.
My daughter got a full scholarship (so did my son), but the food plan and housing costs were as much as tuition. THOSE have gotten stupidly expensive over the last 30 years too.
 

Podgy

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I suspect that if you require universities to guaranty at least a portion of the student loans their students receive, prices will decline.
 
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OG Goat Holder

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Unpopular take here - but if parents/students saw college as a tool to get where you want to go, rather than just a 4-year party phase of life, things would be a lot different. Status and social life and all that has ruined much of our society. People think there are certain things you get to go through, like being a 'senior', college is where you become a man, proms, etc. Bullcrap. Just total nonsense.

Now - if you want to go party - go party. Nothing wrong with that. But get something done while you're there.

Many times, those things really can't coexist.
 
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mstateglfr

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I would agree that most people are better off at trade school, but the first part is insanely untrue. Not everyone is "misfortunate enough" to meet the qualifications of the pell grant or MESG and the likes, but if it was only academic elitists like you at college nobody would want to be there in the first place
Why would most people be better off at trade school?
If MSU has 20,000 students currently, you are saying that more than 10,000 would be better off learning a trade?

Project that out to every college and I am no sure that would actually be better for the people or the economy.
 

johnson86-1

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Woman can be choosier now. Men are going to have to improve themselves to find a mate. I recommend doing that. Single adult women tend to do better on a number of factors than single adult men. Marriage makes the lives of men better. Well, a good marriage does.
This is the opposite of what is happening. High status men can be pickier and can 17 around a lot more before having to find out. More pronounced in cities where jobs requiring college degrees are concentrated, but true to an extent most places.
 
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mstateglfr

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College is still free to those of us who actually belonged there. Most of you would have been better off at a trade school.
Are you claiming college is only for those who get a full ride?
If that is your claim, then I would in response claim that just because someone went to college for free doesnt mean their logic and reasoning skills are well developed.
 
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L4Dawg

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That's the issue. On average, American's DON'T enter the healthcare system until it's serious, because it's too expensive.
And that's the design on purpose. When the US Selected an employer based healthcare model vs a public model, it was done on purpose to get the outcomes we have now.
Saying let's look at outcomes of those that get help is really adjusting the goalposts. Shouldn't the system be set up where ALL people get better care? It works that way everywhere else.

Unless you don't really want to help everyone. You really just care about the ones the system works for now.
Hogwash, nothing about our healthcare system was really done on purpose. Healthcare is not the driving factor behind our lower life expectancy. Go to Western Europe and see how many fat people you see. See what the portion sizes are in restaurants.
 

Podgy

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This is the opposite of what is happening. High status men can be pickier and can 17 around a lot more before having to find out. More pronounced in cities where jobs requiring college degrees are concentrated, but true to an extent most places.
I agree. High status men, if they're emotionally stable, can enjoy really good lives and have an vigorous sex and social life before settling down.
 

HRMSU

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Unpopular take here - but if parents/students saw college as a tool to get where you want to go, rather than just a 4-year party phase of life, things would be a lot different. Status and social life and all that has ruined much of our society. People think there are certain things you get to go through, like being a 'senior', college is where you become a man, proms, etc. Bullcrap. Just total nonsense.

Now - if you want to go party - go party. Nothing wrong with that. But get something done while you're there.

Many times, those things really can't coexist.

After many years of life after college and in the workforce I really think the best approach for someone who is not an academic student but average to above average would be to go the CC route while working in a trade. Working for an Electrician, HVAC, plumber, welder while going to school very inexpensively. After 2 years transfer to a 4 year school or finish bachelor's degree online. At around the 10 year mark start your own business in one of these trades (obviously knocking out the technical requirements/licenses during the 10 years). Now, that would take a helluva lot of discipline, maturity and drive but you'd be setup for success the rest of your life and probably owe nothing.

On a separate note, Walmart pays $16/hour and offers FREE tuition the first day you start full time or part time. It's online but includes schools like University of Arkansas and University of Arizona. There is a way but like you mention it may not include all the "fun" stuff.
 

HRMSU

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[
That's the issue. On average, American's DON'T enter the healthcare system until it's serious, because it's too expensive.
And that's the design on purpose. When the US Selected an employer based healthcare model vs a public model, it was done on purpose to get the outcomes we have now.

Saying let's look at outcomes of those that get help is really adjusting the goalposts. Shouldn't the system be set up where ALL people get better care? It works that way everywhere else.

Unless you don't really want to help everyone. You really just care about the ones the system works for now.

In Healthcare for 25+ years so I know enough to be dangerous. This subject is extremely complicated and cannot be solved with a simple problem statement.

There are SO many stakeholders with competing interests and responsibilities including the healthcare consumer. A good read is Redefining Healthcare by Michael Porter....yes the same Harvard strategy Porter. It's a little dated and just a beginning if you really want to understand where we started and how we got here along with ideas to fix it...again it's a little dated. Good luck if you decide to read it I think it's thick enough to stop a bullet.
 
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PK Dawg

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Bull. He is passing arrogant judgement regarding himself vs everyone else that post and reads here. He doesn’t know us or anything about our skills and abilities. That’s nothing against blue collar workers. I know plenty that are very sharp successful people. However, for him to say that he deserved to go to college for free and most of the rest of us here didn’t deserve to go at all is nothing but total snotty arrogance. I might have been valedictorian of mY high school for all he knows or made 30 on the ACT Test. I wasn’t and didn’t but he doesn’t know that about me or probably anyone else on this board. With that attitude he needs to go be a Rebel.
I would never be so presumptuous to use a term like “deserved” pilgrim. Your libel is disgusting and what’s wrong with this social media world!
 

JoeSchmedlap

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And we pay 2x for it to not cover everyone, plus MOST of the country pays and additional $15,000 a year for private coverage...

The us is middle of the pack in Doctors and Nurses in OECD https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/en/data-insights/number-of-medical-doctors-and-nurses

LOL that american women are treated even DECENT in the US healthcare system.
Of the 14 OECD countries, we are the worst.
Worst in maternal deaths,
worst in prenatal care,
worst in access to care,
highest death rate from avoidable causes.
Lower life expectancy
More Stress about healthcare

Now add in they cannot make their own health decisions...

Of the ENTIRE WORLD we rank 23rd in women's healthcare. (that's right 6 non OECD countries are better than us)

Insurance Companies made $10,000 per US family last year. I'm sure all those people work for free***

So yeah, blame the women, Andrew Tate.
Start up a clinic then and magically fix health care for all
 

OG Goat Holder

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There is a way but like you mention it may not include all the "fun" stuff.
Boom, and there you have it. And I'm keenly aware of it because I was a lukewarm type.....had enough money and time to be dangerous and party a little, but at the same time, went broke, lost a scholarship and couldn't enjoy it if I wanted. I learned real quick that it's much better to have a purpose to what you do, while still enjoying a little partying on side, done in moderation.

You're there to get educated, first and foremost, not to have an experience.
 
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Boom Boom

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Hate to interrupt your subtle anti-government rant, but student loans are just that, LOANS. They must be paid back.

So it's the people that are overspending here, not the government. Government is actually making money on it (they aren't going to forgive these loans).
Good place to note:

 

WrightGuy821

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Why would most people be better off at trade school?
If MSU has 20,000 students currently, you are saying that more than 10,000 would be better off learning a trade?

Project that out to every college and I am no sure that would actually be better for the people or the economy.
Most may have been a stretch, but I do think a lot of people go to college because they don't know what to do with their lives and then they get some degree that they don't really have an interest in. Most of those people would be better off just learning a trade and joining the workspace instead of getting a degree that's meaningless to them
 

ChE1997

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"It's sad that you care so little for your kids to not advocate for better outcomes for women." You're hilarious. You're an amazing advocate for women on a sports message board read by a handful of bored people waiting for football season to start. You're just so much better than I am. The self-righteous shall inherit the earth.

"Losing a 40 year old mom with school age kids does not have the same social impact as a retired Granddad dying of Prostate cancer at 80." I agree with this totally made up, simplistic binary scenario you invented to support a silly opinion. And you know what, I think a 30-year old, single mom living in a trailer with 4 kids dying of breast cancer slowly and painfully is worse than a 82-year-old man dying of heart disease. I also think that a 28-year-old mom dying....
It's the median age of death for breast cancer and prostate cancer....
 

mstateglfr

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Most may have been a stretch, but I do think a lot of people go to college because they don't know what to do with their lives and then they get some degree that they don't really have an interest in. Most of those people would be better off just learning a trade and joining the workspace instead of getting a degree that's meaningless to them
Agreed- a lot probably dont know what they want to be or what they have an interest in. I am not sure why the solution would be to funnel them into welding or plumbing though since they may not have an interest or ability for the typically thought of 'trades'.

But that aside, this gets back to something I have said many time on here through the years and continue to since it still rings true- in the last decade or so, about when this movement of 'avoid college and do a trade' picked up steam, there has not been and continues to not be a viable response to the reality that trades are often very physically taxing and there are not many people in the trades in their 50s and 60s. That doesnt mean there are none in that age range, but there are not many when compared to the % of people in their 50s and 60s working in office jobs/white collar jobs/non-physical labor.

So yeah, you can graduate high school and start working in a trade while apprenticing, then make money while peers are accumulating debt at college.
But until the stats change and college graduates no longer statistically come out ahead in earnings over an extended period of time, it will be difficult to convince people that they should avoid college and take up a physically taxing trade.

I am not talking down on jobs like welding, plumbing, construction, mechanic, electrician, etc etc. They are critical and they are valuable. They are also tough on the body, and disability/SSDI claims show that.
 
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OG Goat Holder

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Most may have been a stretch, but I do think a lot of people go to college because they don't know what to do with their lives and then they get some degree that they don't really have an interest in. Most of those people would be better off just learning a trade and joining the workspace instead of getting a degree that's meaningless to them
Dave Ramsey hired a dude named Ken Coleman to analyze all the career stuff. He's got some pretty interesting material. I think he's on the radio for maybe an hour per day.

Gist of it is that you need to identify your talent and passions, and meet in the middle for your 'sweet spot'. Might sound overly idealistic but we really need to be identifying those 2 things early in life.
 

horshack.sixpack

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Not trying to beef just stating a fact that my "American Woman" wife and daughter have been treated pretty well by the US healthcare system. Maybe it's our privilege **
That likely means that you, or they, have a job that offers health insurance. They inability of our health insurance market to provide affordable policies for all citizens is one of the greatest unintended consequences ever. War time employers offering the perks of insurance (positive) to attract people to work for them (positive), thus enshrining employment dependent healthcare (turns out it was a net negative for many) is really what makes our country substantially different than most other countries where it is largely provided as a "right" by the country. It is taxed accordingly to support it.

In the US, we most assuredly can improve our health outcomes if we have money. That leaves a lot of our population without access to affordable insurance and hence we have a healthcare system that is a broken government/private hybrid. I'd love to see a solution that addressed that, but it is hard to imagine how we get from here to there. It certainly won't ever happen without some being willing to sacrifice for the good of others.

The biggest puzzle to me is that the people I see railing most against the kinds of sacrifices it would take to help others are often very vocal "Christians". I can't reconcile the claim of Christianity with the reality of being opposed every measure that might help those less fortunate for there will always be poor among you...
 

Maroon Eagle

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continues to not be a viable response to the reality that trades are often very physically taxing and there are not many people in the trades in their 50s and 60s.

Truth.

My previous handyman died of a heart attack when he was in his early 60s. Maybe he was 62?
 

horshack.sixpack

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It's sad that you care so little for your kids to not advocate for better outcomes for women.

I hope they don't suffer an ectopic pregnancy in Mississippi in the post Dobbs world. Of course that would be their fault for a poor life choices like being a woman living in Mississippi.

Men die of prostate cancer at a much older age than Women of breast cancer. So apples and buicks. Losing a 40 year old mom with school age kids does not have the same social impact as a retired Granddad dying of Prostate cancer at 80.

I think America would be a lot better if we did more to help others and not just the ultra wealthy.
But if I help others it might take money out of my pocket. Hard pass.***
 
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horshack.sixpack

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That's the issue. On average, American's DON'T enter the healthcare system until it's serious, because it's too expensive.
And that's the design on purpose. When the US Selected an employer based healthcare model vs a public model, it was done on purpose to get the outcomes we have now.

Saying let's look at outcomes of those that get help is really adjusting the goalposts. Shouldn't the system be set up where ALL people get better care? It works that way everywhere else.

Unless you don't really want to help everyone. You really just care about the ones the system works for now.
I don't agree with this. The US ended up with employer based as an attempt of companies trying to sweeten the pot to attract workers during a war in which all of our men (i.e. labor force) were off fighting.
 

horshack.sixpack

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I suspect that if you require universities to guaranty at least a portion of the student loans their students receive, prices will decline.
Or maybe don't provide student loans for any major where the average annual income of that occupation isn't at least 50%/year of the total amount borrowed. If you are majoring in X, and graduates who start their career in the field of X typically make $20k/yr to start, the don't loan them more than $40k total to have to pay back? Those might not be the exact numbers, but basically you need some safeguards that ensure that the only way a person can afford to major in Underwater BB Stacking is if their family is rich enough to just foot the bill for them to go to college to be more well rounded.

I know we could pontificate the benefits of college education in general, beyond just the monetary value of the degree (and agree that is true), however, it is so expensive these days that sucking young kids into huge debt loads at an age where they likely don't understand the impact of that debt, and may very well not understand that what they are majoring in doesn't really earn you a living seems bad.
 
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horshack.sixpack

Well-known member
Oct 30, 2012
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After many years of life after college and in the workforce I really think the best approach for someone who is not an academic student but average to above average would be to go the CC route while working in a trade. Working for an Electrician, HVAC, plumber, welder while going to school very inexpensively. After 2 years transfer to a 4 year school or finish bachelor's degree online. At around the 10 year mark start your own business in one of these trades (obviously knocking out the technical requirements/licenses during the 10 years). Now, that would take a helluva lot of discipline, maturity and drive but you'd be setup for success the rest of your life and probably owe nothing.

On a separate note, Walmart pays $16/hour and offers FREE tuition the first day you start full time or part time. It's online but includes schools like University of Arkansas and University of Arizona. There is a way but like you mention it may not include all the "fun" stuff.
Honestly high school counselors should be keeping a close watch on career fields with labor deficits and directing kids into areas that fulfill those needs, or at least handing them a list of biggest job needs the year they graduate.
 
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