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Letter Re: The Best College Degrees for the Next Depression?
James,
longer this [economic death spiral] goes on, the more it looks like
this is going to be at least a decade before normality returns. So, if
you've got
a teenage
kid
you're probably
thinking, what kind of career (assuming we don't totally melt down at
a societal level) path he or she should take...
I was talking to someone the other day and he told me his kid was studying
art. "Oh, I asked, is he any good?" He replied "No, not really." This
family man is spending good money, money that could be put into preparations
into
a liberal arts education? Idiot.
Even if his son were Michelangelo reincarnated,
who is going to pay for artwork in a depression. It's not like he is going
to get a stipend from the
Medici
family and work on family portraits of the rich and famous.
I'd like to ask the collective survival mind as represented by SurvivalBlog
readers, what careers do you think are worth paying money to learn how to do
for the
next generation? - SF in Hawaii
JWR Replies: Off the top of my head, I think that any of
the medical professions would be good choices,
especially those related to geriatrics,
since we live
in an
aging society The only notable exception would be cosmetic surgery.
BTW, the Memsahib's
parents grew up during the Great Depression and consequently they told the
Memsahib
and
her
sister
that
they
would be willing
to pay for their
college education only if they wanted to be "teachers, nurses,
or dental assistants"--because there would always be some demand for them.
No fru-fru art degrees for their daughters!
