uh I just want to talk to you about that
book uh it was a good segue oh did you
read it no okay but I want your thoughts
like just face to face um why do you
think college is a SC okay so um half of
this audience if you get a job will get
a job that doesn't require a college
degree 41% of kids that enter College
will not graduate and the vast majority
of kids 60 to 70% that go to college I
believe study things that are completely
worthless meaningless and don't enrich
Society at all but is that the is that
the fault of the student or the college
because I looked in the stats for this
it's usually because they either don't
have the finances to support themselves
going to college they don't um they have
mental health problems that lead them to
dropping out or stress or their family's
not supporting them so is that the fault
of college that they pick bad degrees is
that the fault of the college that they
can't support themselves right it's like
getting a gym membership and then saying
well you know I don't want to actually
go work out it's the fault of the gym so
a good question so first the 41% of kids
that drop out
uh the federal government will fully
underwrite any four-year College through
Fasto you know that through a student
law meaning so if anyone has financial
difficulty that's not really a thing the
federal government will fully grant you
your loan to any for University right so
you might have you might not want to
take on that student loan burden you
might not want to take that on but
that's number one number two I can't
speak to the mental health issues I
doubt that 41% of the kids that graduate
in that number all have mental health
issues but maybe that's the case uh I'm
not sure I don't know that number
um but let's talk about the institution
itself so everyone in the audience here
how many of you have had to take classes
that are a waste of time that you wish
you didn't have to take that are a waste
of money and that every single hand goes
up look around look around look around
look around they're scamming every kid
in this audience they are forcing them
to take classes that make them poorer
that take up their time in order to get
the credential that is a institutional
scam and and by the way every other part
of life is all about your own
customization your Netflix account how
you get your burrito bowl from how you
dress your Amazon cart is you are in
charge but you come to college and they
say you must go take these three four
five classes that are very expensive
especially for you out of state students
to go further into debt study things
that don't matter to find jobs that
don't exist that sounds like a
scam at least in my personal experience
right like maybe some colleges they're
all like they all like they're all like
nambian gender study right they might
all be that but I would say what are you
studing I'm studing economics right okay
um and what I would say is that I have a
great levity in choices of classes I
want to take even if like there's a
bunch of general education classes I
have a great flexibility in the class I
want to take it's up to the
student if they want to take meaningless
classes given their um credit
limit okay but I mean I would just
speculate that this school still has
specific criteria of classes right am I
correct diversity yeah you have to take
a diversity class that sounds like a
scam well they are robbing you to take a
diversity class it's actually not what
you typically think I think there I mean
I'm taking is it true do you guys have
to take a diversity class no no this is
this is true this is true all right so
that's a scam like let's be clear
diversity class scam can you define what
a scam is um when you are you are
getting ripped off of your with your
money your time your resources either
Beyond what is a market rate or against
your will so I'll give you an example if
you guys want to fly to New York and
Spirit Airlines says we're going to
charge you $2,500 for a one-way ticket I
think we' all all all could agree flying
Spirit Airlines for $2,500 is a scam
like you know it when you see it I mean
it depends on how you view the worth of
college like if you the federal the
Federal Reserve for San Francisco gave a
um released a new letter discussing the
actual finances um behind is college
actually worth it and they found that by
age 40 you recoup all at the average
student recoups all their costs if they
graduate if if they graduate and even
accounting for that other Economist um
also State no so that that's an
important study if you take out the top
10% that's not the
case top 10% of what top 10% of
graduates and income earners so the top
10% end up FL ping with a college degree
the other 90% do not do you know that
there are 11 million job openings in
this country that pay $75,000 a year
that require 6 weeks of training that
require muscular labor or using your
hands 11 million job openings now a lot
of you guys are in college because
you've been pushed into college saying
that you must get the piece of paper you
might get the piece of paper when there
are very they're good paying jobs 11
million of them but either your Society
your parents or your own choices are no
I want to go to college I want to go
after that piece of paper my contention
is that there are way better options out
there for a lot of students not every
student but almost every a lot of other
students Charlie I think um a part of
your core rhetoric there there's
actually some real truth there that like
I think a lot of there's people are
getting really just pressure to go to
college even if they'll make poor
choices I'm just saying that even while
you're in college you can make better
choices to make yourself better totally
agree do you think most people
do it I know some that are making great
choices I some making terrible choices
so let's think about this why do you
think let's just say most make terrible
choices would you say that's the case
I'll give you 40 to 60 why do you think
that is maybe because the institution
incentivizes bad choices it's easy to
coast and still graduate it's easy just
to check the boxes right it's it's not
an institution designed around
Excellence it's around let's get you
through the mill as quickly as possible
get the piece of paper pay your bill
thank you very much
but do you think that the act the
culture around students going to college
could change instead around their
decision making I think we need way less
kids going to college the institution
itself is so broken let's be clear Force
diversity classes Dei all that stuff
it's nonsense if it was really College
really should be closer to what
Hillsdale College is which is about
wisdom Beauty truth goodness not just
about Job preparedness but that we've
lost that
completely if if it's about doctors
lawyers engineers and the skills of
course but you know that it's way beyond
that I mean people's going to I'm not to
pick on you but you're studying
economics that's terrific that's a good
reason to go to college um it's not the
best reason I'll be honest but it's a
good reason right I mean economics is a
serious discipline it's a real science
you know we need people really
rigorously studying that
so okay let's we just have a difference
of opinion I I I just want to ask you a
question what would you do like if
you're were a policy maker um I would
defund all the colleges in the country
make come s on their own two feet with
either tuition or donor
money taxpayers should not be
subsidizing higher education period
survive on your own all right thank you
you said that economics was not the best
thing to study in your opinion like when
I when I put my hand up the question I
wanted to ask was like what do you
actually think the best thing to study
is best reason to come to college again
if you're going to a super leftwing
college and you're trying to just get
the piece of paper and credential I mean
you should go at what the college is
it's if it's known for if it's best de
um and so I don't know what w is known
for what it's best at but I mean
computer science right I would imagine
the Paul Allen School is that right or
am I correct this is up top of my head
is that right it's right here right yeah
so um but yeah those fields in
particular but sociology or the or the
life sciences or soft social sciences
typically do not have as much of an Roi
on the time or the money spent and so
economics is in the Middle Ground there
and so you said uh that you would defund
colleges state colleges on a national
level um and so basically that would
mean that there are no subsidies going
out to students like inate students or
anything like that I I would I mean you
don't get to determine what the states
do but yes federally all federal grants
should end completely yes okay make
these institutions survive on their own
if they're such if they're so wonderful
and they're so great then make it work
make your uh make your numbers work and
so then what is the difference between a
uh State College and a private privately
owned College well a state so w get
subsidized in state tuition here right
so if you go to um that's why that's why
I'm paying only 12,000 no for sure but
you're paying it back in taxes let's be
clear right so taxes make that possible
and your parents or you paid that in for
18 years so you get that back um but a
private school uh I don't is there
University of Seattle is that a thing or
okay which I'm guessing is private
Seattle yeah okay that they do not get
money from Olympia to subsidize the
tuition so they have to stand on their
own two feet right so they have higher
tuition and they have to justify to
donors how they're doing every single
year but they still might get some
federal money does that make sense yes
and you're saying this on the grounds of
uh required like diversity credits and I
just think I mean look around has
College enriched our society the young
people are the most depressed they're
the most anxious the most alcohol
addicted drug addicted least married
most angry generation American history
is that all college where where does
that where does it come from though I
mean they're the most college educated
most credential generation in history
where do these ideas come from I would
argue I would argue that they come from
the fact that there are too many people
and not enough jobs and to stand out of
the crowd to stand out of the masses you
need to get yourself some credentials I
totally agree so you want to stand out
don't go to
college then you're not going to get
hired worked for me worked for
you start your own business by the way
that's not true half of employers no
longer require a college degree
requirement well okay I'm I'm talking
about more specialized jobs that's
that's fair as far as trades go okay
that makes
sense 11 million job openings for trades
yeah you're using your muscles to uh get
your daily wage right it's not it's not
just muscles though like for advanced
engineering is not easy that's not just
picking up Lumber and putting on one
side of the warehouse that's very
specific very you know and by the way
you can learn to code in eight weeks and
earn 100 Grand a year you can yeah yes
uh may you don't need to go to
University of Washington the thing is
though the thing is though that uh you
are not going to get hired over somebody
that has graduated from udub computer
science degree Sur you you've been sold
a lie you've been surprised you'd be
really surprised employers less and less
likely actually want to hire kids from
college because they work the least they
the most entitled and the quickest to
run to HR about problems and Mis pronoun
people um you'd be you'd be surprised no
it's true for like the big big firms
like Microsoft Amazon Starbucks like
they obviously want you to have a
college degree but mid- major companies
mid-level companies increasingly don't
care they care about can you do the job
like do you have any sort of skill do
you have are you going to work really
hard do you have good character that
makes sense for like startups and such
for sure um however and here's the thing
just start to interrupt but after like 5
years nobody cares where you went to
college just so we're clear sorry to
interrupt but yeah yeah uh all good I
mean we we have we just have a
disagreement here my my whole point is
to try to push the boundaries of
discussion to make you guys open your
eyes and realize you guys are getting
ripped off by the institution here and
that's it so yeah so I do not believe
that I'm getting ripped off because in
my field it is very important especially
with how oversaturated it is right now
I'm studying CS computer science yes um
there's tons of jobs in I mean there
might not be though I mean there aren't
that's the point AI might take all your
jobs away sometimes way out to stand out
the whole point is that here and
elsewhere around the country we're doing
a bunch of research on how um computer
scientists and and like engineers in
general are still going to be useful
with the rise of AI other elsewhere you
don't learn stuff like that you learn
the basics of programming you've maybe
heard about like the Harvard
uh 8we course right that you were
probably talking about just a second ago
um however uh when you actually do uh
take that course you don't get a lot of
the reasoning skills a lot of the
practical application skills and a lot
of the things that I'm learning every
day in my classes and so the fact that
uh you can learn it in 8 weeks and get a
job because you have the qualifications
uh it's true maybe but in the market
that we have right now where the job
market is super oversaturated there are
a ton of people getting computer Science
degrees these employers most of the like
high level ones that are going to pay
you a lot of money are not looking for
somebody who has the base level
qualifications they're looking for more
than that and one more thing is that
that to get these jobs coming straight
out of college even with a degree in
computer science from udub which udub is
known for computer science you are going
to have to have years and years of
internship and job experience in most
cases otherwise you're going to be doing
the base of the base level fair enough
so we we we just have a difference of a
World viw um I say why not graduate from
high school learn the code and go beg
for an internship and bypass the college
thing completely you'd be amazed at how
willing people are to help with that
again you guys have been largely sold a
lie that you need to March through this
place for four years and check the boxes
and get the piece of paper and it's been
dangled in front of you I'm here to tell
you and I'm only 10 years older than you
that the world doesn't really care you
went free went to college they care when
you come out of college as your first
job once you're in the door it really is
rather irrelevant but we disagree so
okay that's right