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sjjohson08's comments:
on An Educated State
Ethics in business practices is seriously lacking. Looking at the culprits behind the demise of the US economy lends evidence to this.
Common sense is created through knowedge. Create common access to knowledge, create common sense. Everything I learned to be successful in life, I learned in school, work and the military. College gave me the ability to communicate and convey ideas that would have otherwise remained dormant or lost in translation.
posted 3 years, 12 months ago
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on An Educated State
Investment in educating the population is an investment into a healthy, productive and thriving society. Education impacts our decision making and is correlated to socioeconomic status. It is not merely an indicator of job/wage potential. As noted in the American Journal of Health, "Education is an important indicator of health, in part through the knowledge of a healthful diet and health-inducing behaviors" (March, 2009). The big picture is that an educated population is a healthier population resulting in less health disparities and lower health care costs. Less money spent on health care increases disposable income that potentially will be invested into other sectors of the economy.
Self-reliance is an asset that is learned through many social constructs and schools play a part in developing that skill. Even then, relying on ones' self to succeed is only part of the equation. One would not have been able to work for what they have, had not the opportunity to work and earn the GI bill through the military been made available. I write from experience, as I too have earned the GI Bill. I worked very hard for it and believe I would have been more successful had college been more affordable from the get go. I started working my way through college at 18 and often times had to drop classes so that I could pick up more work hours to support myself. This cycle ended when I joined the Air Force at age 23 in order to get money for college. Now, at age 32, I am within 2 terms of attaining a Bachelor degree and will be a first generation college graduate.
In the pursuit of happiness, health and longevity, everyone deserves the right to a College degree and it should be made affordable so that students can spend more time in their studies and less time being distracted by the stress of having to work to pay for school related costs.
A more educated society may have been able to circumvent the economic troubles that have fallen on all of our shoulders. Ultimately our decisions effect not only ourselves but society as a whole. Everything is connected.
posted 3 years, 12 months ago
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