Punditry Can Be A Waste Of Time Too

It’s no surprise, I realize, that I came across a column basically arguing that college should be reserved only for those who study the sciences in the online version of the Murdoch Street Journal, and it is even less of a surprise that such a column was written by Charles Murray (pictured).

You see, Murray is an academic who seems to derive a perverse fascination out of performing two main tasks: 1) slicing and dicing people into primarily demographic categories in order to establish some sort of intellectual hierarchy whereby the privileged few (in his delusions) rise by virtue of some innate quality of leadership, intelligence, courage and/or good breeding to wisely preside over our society; and 2) explain with almost geometric logic precisely why the rest of the chaff that falls by the wayside in his reckoning deserves no better than employment at McDonald’s cleaning toilets (full disclosure – I’ve done that in my life, people…it’s as bad as it sounds).

And Murray has been at this for while now (as noted here). And he always has a ready forum for his pejorative musings somewhere, should he so desire to impart them upon us.

Today, he tells us that, in lieu of a Bachelor of Arts degree, individuals should be awarded a certification that they could present to a prospective employer. That would save all of the fuss for some undeserving types in Murray’s view from acquiring all of that nasty debt on their way to eventually earning a McJob as due their unimportance in George W. Bush’s America (I mean, to not possess a science-related degree? Gad, how pedestrian can you get?)

I want to emphasize, though, that in no way am I trying to diminish anyone who graduates with anything other than a B.A. from an accredited university, nor am I trying to demean anyone who obtains a certification in a trade. And I’m also not trying to put down anyone who doesn’t follow any of those paths, as long as they stay within the bounds of the law.

What’s prompting me to engage in this bit of navel-gazing is the following; I wear a few hats in my employment, but one of them is that of a technical communicator. And you simply cannot quantify with a certificate or award the point at which someone is proficient in this type of employment.

And just because that is so does not mean that someone with an aptitude for this business should not be allowed to pursue a course of learning at a university that would award that person with a degree conferring that he or she is skilled in that profession (allowing for acquisition of further knowledge and skill in employment). And yes, Murray is arguing that such a designation should not be awarded without a certification test.

Aside from the fact that there is no “test” that a person with a liberal arts background could or should have to take that would represent an entire body of knowledge acquired by that person in the course of obtaining a degree (nothing like the CPA exam of Murray’s example), I should point out that employers already employ at least a “two-tiered” model of employment (referencing Murray again) in which individuals skilled in one discipline are rewarded more effectively than others. That is a matter of business necessity more often than not, and even if I personally didn’t like it, there really isn’t much I could do about it.

Also, quite simply, there is no replacing the experience of attending an institution of higher learning of some type (if that option is available), if for no other reason, than because of the self-betterment that usually ensues from interacting with people of different races, religions, ethnicities, and gender preferences. But again, since that is something to which Murray (and many others who, instead of seeking greater opportunities for college, have tried to shut off those that currently exist) cannot attach a number, so it is meaningless to him.

“Getting rid of the B.A. and replacing it with evidence of competence” (meaning that the only individuals who could receive a degree of higher learning would be those in a science-related curricula) is a terrible idea, even if it could ever be realized (and institutions of higher learning would fight like hell over it, as they should, since their funding depends in part of the number of students they graduate). It would further demean the importance of the skills of creativity, communication, and outside-the-box problem solving that must be present in some form not only within a corporate setting, but within our society as a whole, in order to function within our communities, our nation, and the world.

Ok, you can stop singing “Kumbaya” now; I’ll get back to political bitching later.