Quote:
Originally Posted by PBzeer
So when I say it isn't the source of education that matters most, but the desire to learn, I have a personal example to go by.
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No problem there. I have my own personal example....just looking in the mirror! I have no disagreement as to whether it is possible to get ahead without a college education - or even without a high school education!
However, you asked about examples of anti-intellectualism, NOT whether it was possible for someone who didn't go to college to excel. If you asked that question, I would 100% agree.
See, agreement.....
My dad got married and had kids young - dropped out of college in the first year. He ended up owning a business with 40 employees (a supplier to Sears Catalog) and also owning large amounts of Real Estate. He did it 100% on his own, by being frugal and working 60+ hours a week.
I did somewhat the same...got married and had kids early...no advanced schooling, self-taught in construction, computers, retail, manufacturing, inventing, etc.
So I agree 100%. In fact, I'll go even further and say that education can work against some people.....that is, a narrow education can often conflict with common sense.
I remember well....I invented and patented a product, and one of the guys who was going to help me sell them brought over the first load of them (from a foundry) in the trunk of his car. He opened his car trunk outside and looked at them and asked me "how are we going to get them inside?" Note: they weighed 12 lbs apiece!
I just grabbed two and said "carry them!".
Luckily for me, I fell into some hard work and real world (construction) trades after I got married (at 20 years old). Basically, there is almost NO job I was not willing to do - I mowed lawns, cleaned basements, installed attic fans, framed houses....and, then, was given a chance at better work (installing kitchens, building additions).
In any case, the topic is/was anti-intellectualism, and I do believe that some on the right....and maybe these are just the "leaders" or the "talking heads" or the "
pr types".....but that they use this. If you are a conservative and an intellectual, this should worry you as much as it does me. Yes, I cringe when I hear the same type of stuff from the left.....I think "they are not speaking for me".