College in general these days I have come to regard as vastly overrated, confessed to be a long-term professor myself:-) Education has become ever so watered down, there've been blogs about it, namely "CampusMentis" on the West Coast somewhere. Gaps in our universal knowledge, save for the familiarity with our immediate surroundings, have gotten so bloated, it's no wonder, being asked where China is on a world map proved too much to handle for many junior high schoolers throughout Middle America.
Recalls the now infamous quip by George Bernard Shaw: "The only time my education was interrupted was when I was in school."
Shaw had the ultimate alibi of being brilliant, therefore, while dull to his teachers, he later excelled as few others in mastering the English language.
College students today usually can furnish no such convenient excuse!
Great post Lyzko! The same is true here in The UK. Higher education has become so watered down that unless you have a degree in a truly useful subject,it is next to worthless. When I was a student,less than 10% of us went to university,I don't know the latest figures but it must be well over 30% now.
Result? The jobs that used to be offered to A level students now need a minimum of a degree.....poorer jobs for graduates......and the poor A level students are no longer offered those jobs.....but they have a 3 year advantage and a no student debt advantage over their graduate friends.....
Here in the US, the more people at the very top such as Trump continue to make a mockery of truth, language, and history, it ought to come as no surprise that learning, much less true scholarship, are becoming less and less valued!
Before my time, yours as well I'm sure, ball players, including the Babe, Satchel Paige and many of the other greats, earned but a pittance of what they'd be earning these days, having to paint houses during the off season in order to simply make ends meet. They obviously earned more than a policemen, letter carrier or fireman even way back then, but much more within perspective than is the case now.
I rather think that such is little more than right! After all, if an engineer, teacher, lawyer or doctor must legitimately spend long years in school perfecting their skills or craft, they ought to earn far more than someone who is only a success by dint of certain natural physical abilities, albeit enhanced by practice along with strenuous exercise.
In the movies, today's actors such as Drew Barrymore, earn more than any of the really great stars of the 30's or40's, more often than not, with far less talent.
Can we honestly compare the present Ms. Barrymore with the likes of grandpa John, great uncle Lionel or great auntie Ethel.
No, it's not that standards have simply "changed", they've downright declined in order to accommodate watered-down, popular tastes, far lower than the popular tastes of yore.
But then again, the same thing has led to Poland doing very well, as employers value the way that a large part of society is educated
I can't say that I'm familiar with the Polish university system. What I will say is that most of the better educated Poles I know here in The UK took "Sensible" and "Useful" courses. And many of them topped that up with further Open University courses in The UK. These people are not currently benefiting Poland,but from what they say about returning home,Poland may benefit eventually.
I can't say that I'm familiar with the Polish university system.
I think the most important thing that Polish universities would benefit from would be transforming their structure to resemble that of the best American and British Universities which are always at the top of the rankings:
Positive thing about Polish Uni's is that they are less "political" than many other European education systems and so called "gender studies" are not as popular in Poland.
Why would someone waste 5 years of their life studying this just to become a barista in the future is beyond my comprehension.
The fact is that it never has or had anything to do necessarily with what one studies at college. Can't tell you how many ex-engineering, economics, even math/stat/business majors with whom I graduated, NOT able to find even entry level work for as long as a year and a half upon graduation!
It's all a question of supply and demand, in Poland as elsewhere.
I was Modern Language Major and it simply happened that the language in which I was majoring became unusually "hot" at the start of the '90's and so my profession took off. Had that not been the case, it is most probably that I too would have had to go the barista route as well, hocking myself into debt for the rest of my life, having to put marriage, home, and children on hold indefinitely.
So happened that my particular area of academic endeavor allowed me to carve a niche for myself while still in grad school. I surely didn't plan it that way, but it was merely the luck at the time of a cooperative world economy.
As a kid I used to think it was historical envy of a country. But when I was a young adult I met a very "sophisticated" person who was telling me the "ways of the world". One thing they said was that "Americans are smart". Then went on to say which countries were stupid. Well, if you cross the border from say France to Switzerland there is a noticeable difference in everything manmade. Switzerland looks smart. France does not! So you could say that Poland compared to another country is stupid, like for example comparing their food to France, or even Germany. I believe this is why. Borders really seal in culture and cultures can vary widely.
Borders really seal in culture and cultures can vary widely.
That's why the modern left hates borders.... they reveal collective differences which are intolerable to the left which tends to see humans as interchangeable widgets....
True, Alien! Have heard great stuff about Polish produce, particularly apples:-) Back to the threat topic, Poles were and are scarcely the only ones in Europe with an often unfounded reputation for being "backward". During much of the 19th century, the Swedes of all people, were deemed semi-literates in the United States, who sounded like clodhoppers when they spoke English.
And the Frisians remain the butt of all jokes in Germany.
Today, as with the Poles, the Swedes more than caught up to the rest of the West, and like Poland, Sweden is as much at the top of her game as any other country I can think of.
Not much or actually worse. Poles make sh*it money (one-quarter of what people make in the US), but in many cases pay Western prices or very close to it.
Yeah, calling any national cuisine better than the French is pretty tenuous territory (although the Italians can make the French sweat, and you give a German an oven and some flour they become as dangerous as they are behind a tank). But, those climates and soils allow for a much greater variety of foodstuffs during a longer period-the french and italians.
Nonetheless, gołąbki and kotlet scharbowy are pretty damned good in their own right. The Poles do a great job with pork and dairy products and root vegetables, IMO.
Not to miss an opportunity to sing my own praises: I made a beef bourguignon two Sundays ago that kicked all kinds of ass.
Thankfully, they're usually based on the more joyful aspects such as taste, texture, and aroma. Polish food does well, IMO. I like Kuchnia Polski (or however you say it).
@Bobko Not only in NY but also in Germany it is difficult to find Polish restaurant. This only confirms that the quality of Polish cuisine is still unknown and still remains an insider tip.
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