Today we celebrate the epic rant of our brother, Mike Cunningham, of Nowhere University, who lives at the corner of Discouraged and Hopeless.
An article entitled "Jobs Offer Student Loan Forgiveness," by Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press "Personal Finance Columnist" offered up typical finance fare: get hired in a public service government job and you can get out from under all that nasty student loan debt, yadda yadda yadda.
Tompor offers up as examples various college and law grads attempting to get out from under their six-figure student loan debt. Naturally, when you click on the comments section, you immediately find a boomer troll with his "tisk, tisk, tisk" aimed at these reckless borrowing youth: "So why take out the debt to begin with? There are many other ways to both attend and pay for college. Community college (to start/basic courses), military services, etc."
Brother Cunningham, from his vantage point at the corner of Discouraged and Hopeless, replies to the typical "go to community college" or "join the military" arguments as follows:
Mike Cunningham · Nowhere university
Why should we have to join the military or start at community colleges when baby boomers had the luxury of going to any college they wanted for affordable prices? What makes you better than me?
Baby boomers had every possible advantage possible. If I was living in an era where college was cheap enough to pay out of pocket and the average salary was 50k, I wouldn't be stupid enough to take out a loan on a house I can't afford. But that's exactly what almost every baby boomer did.
Why are we idiots for taking on college debt we can't afford when you all took home loans you couldn't afford? And at the same time, this country rewards the loan sharks that did it all. Thanks, America. I'd rather live in Russia if I had the money to get out.
Baby boomers had every possible advantage possible. If I was living in an era where college was cheap enough to pay out of pocket and the average salary was 50k, I wouldn't be stupid enough to take out a loan on a house I can't afford. But that's exactly what almost every baby boomer did.
Why are we idiots for taking on college debt we can't afford when you all took home loans you couldn't afford? And at the same time, this country rewards the loan sharks that did it all. Thanks, America. I'd rather live in Russia if I had the money to get out.
Obviously, Brother Cunningham stewed after his first comment, then went back to add a second rant:
Mike Cunningham · Nowhere university
I got saddled with 30k in debt before I realized what a joke college was along with this trash can of a country.
Now instead of getting a high paying job for spending (wasting) 4 years trying to better myself, I live in the ghetto with drug lords getting bigger welfare checks than my salary at McDonald's. And to top it off, whenever I mention my debt, it's always the same thing from people: "Stupid you for taking on that kind of debt." "Stupid you for picking English." How was I supposed to know that becoming a LAWYER was a dead end in life? Only in America could that ever happen.
Seriously, this country is a joke. If you're under 30 and have any kind of potential left for your life, get out NOW. It enslaves its young with lifelong debt. It steals pensions from its old. It gives BILLIONS in corporate handouts to billionaires. It hands out benefit after benefit to its government employees, and everything is made in China. What a diseased, corrupt, depressing, putrid joke.
A scam blog tip of the hat to Counselor Cunningham. Congratulations on an epic rant! Keep up the good work out there on the message boards!
he sounds like he feels he should be entitled to going to college at the same rate as boomers.
ReplyDeletethat's the entitlement attitude we have talked about before.
...or maybe he wants to go at a fair rate determined by real market competition?
Delete...or maybe he's scolding the older generation for repudiating the new deal immediately after benefiting from it?
at 6:14 AM
ReplyDeleteHe is not saying that at all. You have just chosen to see what you want to see and hear what you want to hear. He was making reference to the fact that Baby Boomers had a lot more opportunity as younger people when this country was a strong Republic vs. now when it is a fading Empire. Baby Boomers have a tendency to project their experiences on others without considering the fact that the world has changed drastically since they were young.
...but, Mike, in his frustration, took a swipe at 'Merica, and of course when anybody does that it automatically invalidates any and all points they may have had, because 'Merica. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a lazy, shiftless commie who hates our way of life.
DeleteBoomer QED.
We interrupt this commentary for an important Public Service Announcement:
ReplyDeleteIf you're just starting law school and sitting there dazed by Hadley v. Baxendale and the UCC, or trying to remember the elements of an intentional tort, here's some simple advice. First thing tomorrow, return your books to the bookstore for a refund and drop the hell out.
Avoid a life crisis in 2016 by dealing with it today.
Say WHAT? So NOBODY in this "trash can country" wants to give this spiteful lazy bum a high-paying job? What a perplexing mystery.
ReplyDeleteListening to him, it is crystal-clear that he is an incredibly productive employee.
The real problem is that we have too much trash like Mike is going to college in the first place. He should just stay in his trash can instead.
Yeah, you stupid whippersnappers. Open your mouths in protest and you prove you're not worthy of our grace. If you complain, you're clearly not productive, because the two are crystal-clearly connected.
DeleteKneel, slaves, kneel! Only the docile and supplicant proceed.
General Zod was the ultimate Boomer supervillain.
Delete"We win! We always win! Is there no other generation on this planet to even challenge us?!"
Well, let's see, 902. Mike:
Delete1. Thinks he deserves a high-paying job as a reward for "wasting" his time;
2. Is too stupid to understand that you can always SELL your house, but not your college degree;
3. Is jealous of people on welfare;
4. Would rather leave the country than pay his debts;
5. Thought majoring in English would lead to a high-paying career (was that even true in the 1950s?);
and
6. Thinks that if a single person in America gets a handout or has it easy (in another ERA, even), he should get that exact same handout too, by God.
Sure sounds like a productive employee to me. You want fries with that?
Link doesn't work, at least in Firefox. (No need to post this - just an FYI.)
ReplyDeleteFixed the link. Thanks.
DeleteI feel for the guy. I wish our higher Ed system, student loan system, etc. did not do this to him.
ReplyDeleteBut this embittered ranting does not help the cause. Possibly a little to raise awareness. But not that much when it becomes a permanent feature of the higher Ed protestors of which we are 1 branch.
Attacking America ain't that helpful either.
As forthe corporate handouts for billionaires rhetoric, yeah that's true but irrelevant. GE paying zero taxes in recent years doesn't have any effect on xyz law school raising tuition. We can thank federal subsidies (aka handouts) in the form of student loans for that.
It sounds like the guy wants the Elizabeth Warren solution of even subsidies and federal govt paid debt forgiveness that amounts to even more handouts, more national debt, and tuition rates still going up. How about we cut off fed subsidies to student loans or cap them at 20k/year instead. Force higher Ed to cut tuition and live within its means.
I am surprised you haven't picked up on this story about Charlotte School of Law (owned by Ininflaw aka Sterling Partners):
ReplyDeletehttp://wfae.org/post/after-8-years-charlotte-school-law-has-become-ncs-largest-so-whats-value-degree
The comments are epic and you can clearly see the school's students and faculty came out to defend the school's reputation and standing in light of the naysayer comments.
I only see 3 comments, and that's only after shutting off my spam filter (God, I hate Facebook plugins).
DeleteBut here's my favorite:
"I DISAGREE that if you did not attend a well known school like Duke, Wake Forrest, or Chapel Hill that the odds of a student obtaining a job as an Attorney are slim...
Why am I so SURE of this? Because I know several Organizations (large and small) that hire students from Charlotte Law, and by far they are exceptional performers and their pay rates exceed the estimate market value (numbers presented in this article) BOTTOM LINE: NO Matter what school you ATTEND, ENDURANCE and DETERMINATON are KEY!"
68 comments to date
DeleteA few disturbing stats about Charlotte School of Law"
Delete1) Bar pass rate (in NC): 61.5%
2) Median GPA: 2.97 | Median LSAT: 146
3) Total Enrollment: 1,392 students
4) Average Student Loan Debt (not including undergrad debt):$115,747.00 for 90% of students
5) 35% employment score (per LST)
6) NC is ranked 12th as most attorney glutted state in the U.S. and has a surplus of 529 lawyers EVERY year.
If you read the WFAE article, it cites to 1 success story--a sheepish looking recent grad who works for legal aid. How can that be considered a success story when those legal aid stiffs start out at $40K a year? If the success story grad took out the average debt of $115K, he will be worse off financially than the guy who is the assistant manager at Walmart.
Ah, appears I was looking at a copy of the article on a different platform.
DeleteLooks like the ATL goons got wind of this one shortly after CSL career services showed up to make up fictional graduates. This is classic stuff.
Today's Wall Street Journal: Wanted,Jobs for the new Lost Generation
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323893004579057063223739696.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0
fortunately, for many females, especially pretty ones like Adrianne, they can marry up.
Deletehttp://www.linkedin.com/pub/adrianne-l-varwig/20/880/ab2
And then there's the one who married way, way down.
DeleteThat one young woman in the WSJ story married an Egyptian citizen who--surprise!!--is now without a job. I'm so sorry she didn't know about the immigrant marriage scam. Now she's worse off than someone with $150,000 in student debt.
He is right about everything being made in China.
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered what the Chinese factories must be like that produce or manufacture most everything imaginable.
America used to manufacture things too I think, and whole towns thrived on the central manufacturing plant or factory and in fact, people spent their entire lives working for a single private sector company.
Today it seems that a University can support a whole town economy, but little other types of industries.
These parents are the same generation who recklessly pushed their children into college pretty much regardless of debt. Who would have looked down on community college, or even military service possibly, as unbefitting for their precious offspring (and military service isn't for everyone anyhow).
ReplyDeleteWho walked away from, or got bailed out of, huge amounts of debt. Damn hypocrites.
Although I wonder if parents will be more cynical about college now many parents are "Generation X".
"You signed for it you pay back every cent" is stupid when often inexperienced people were, to a certain extent, mislead into taking on more debt than they could service. No other debt causes people to become this prissy about full repayment. People place too much reverence on higher education in America.
Get a public sector job. Cute advice, in an era when public sector austerity has taken on a permanent and nationwide cast.
ReplyDeleteAs recently as 15 years ago, a nonfederal public sector law job was considered only slightly better than a consolation prize. Now, you can't get them. Staff attorneys hang on to these jobs with a grip of death, and even when there is an opening, there may not be funds to fill it. Debt forgiveness under the IBR program will make these jobs as difficult to obtain as Big Law.
Exactly. I graduated magna and couldn't even get a callback from the public defenders office. These used to be scrap jobs and now they're definitely in high demand. I laugh when I read crusty old law deans talking about public sector salaries being low. Prosecutor's office here pays the same market rate as mid-law.
DeleteYes. You really have to be at the top of a Toilet to have a hope of getting a local government job. And if you want one of these jobs you also have to do things like canvas for the local political party and get an internship early on. It was thus so even in 2007. I remember fellow students beng VERY excited about going into government work. It was not a consolation prize at all.
DeleteLemmings and 1Ls need to stop thinking of government jobs as a guaranteed fallback in case they get middling grades and can't get the Biglaw job.
Oh, and another thing. The top tier law schools are swimming in so much money that they can afford to forgive their graduates' debt if said graduates decide to work at places like Legal Aid for a couple of years.
My Toilet did not offer any kind of debt relief like that. So if you are the public defender's office and looking to hire someone, why on earth would you hire ANYONE from a Toilet over a willing T14er?
You just have to be a complete moron to go to virtually any law school these days.
I got an awesome government job after several years of miserable life at shitty law firms. Was it worth it? Absolutely. So why are you guys any different? Just asking.
DeleteI AGREE! Baby Boomers in the 1960s/1970s should have DEMANDED higher tuition! Unfaaaaairr!!!!
ReplyDeleteanother asshole law Dean mirroring what the Dean of UC Hastings did
ReplyDelete"I made the strategic decision several months ago to substantially decrease the size of this year's incoming class ... not because we have been forced to, but because it is the right thing to do," Mr. Carter wrote in a recent email distributed to Pitt Law alumni.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/law-schools-take-fewer-students-as-job-market-remains-glum-703430/#ixzz2ewhKmSWX
I'm sure that Carter has confusing motives, and the major defect in his "strategic decision" is that it doesn't cut the cohort size by 60% or so.
DeleteBut it recognizes that greed isn't considered fun and games any more, and it reinforces a growing trend. I'd give Carter some credit just for pretending to be a good guy. That's more than most deans or professors have the courage to do.