to a degree

  I'll start by saying I do not have a degree from any college or university. Take that for whatever you feel it is worth. I'll just say I believe intelligence and education are different things altogether. I will add that having one does not indicate the presence of the other. The ability to remember and recall information is not an indication of intelligence. I can hear some of you saying, that's what the uneducated people always say. It's true that we all want to justify our positions in life. It's my feeling that is what having a degree is about in the first place. It is something I can offer as "proof", a form of intellectual cash, the price of admission. The highest form of this cash is obtaining a PhD. It isn't an easy process to get that. The process is quite rigorous. It is also a degree given in an "honorary" form, although other honorary degrees are awarded as well. Regardless, they do not carry the same weight as a "real" degree. 

  On my profile page for Facebook, I included this statement. I attended the University of Life. That was, of course, written tongue in cheek. A flippant remark designed to amuse. It amuses me, if no one else. I do chuckle every time some anonymous Facebook intellectual remarks about that, having read my profile page. Then they attempt to use is as an insult or disparage my education. Yes, it's pretty amusing to me. I could just as easily have written that I have a PhD. I laugh realizing if I had written that they wouldn't have accepted that as the truth nearly as readily. They only went to my profile page when they didn't have a retort to my comment. They needed something to use and went in search of that. They were "doing their research. " 

  I thought about that after seeing a new ad campaign on television. It isn't really an advertisement I suppose as it isn't selling anything but has a slogan. "Tear the paper." Have you heard that one yet? I haven't listened closely enough to remember what agency is paying for that bit of advice. The advice is to promote those at work, even when they don't hold an official degree from a college or university. A sort of acknowledgment that you don't necessarily need that degree to be of benefit to the company. Is it a devaluing of the current currency? Seems like it to me. An admission that having a degree doesn't always equate to success. That has been the promise for quite some time. Getting your degree was like buying your ticket to the club. Now it has been discovered they are allowing just anyone to join the club. 

  It is something I have noticed over the years. I have mentioned all this before. When I graduated high school that diploma was a feather in your cap. It was a sign that you had stayed the course, completed the task at hand. There were still many people in the workforce that didn't have that paper. It wasn't long after that having a high school diploma became a necessity, the minimum requirement. It wasn't a feather in the proverbial cap, it was the cap. Holding a degree above that one, whether a two year or four-year program were now the feathers you wanted. They were your ticket to climbing the corporate ladder. That is where the money was being made, in the big corporations. The white collar, desk job, with a corner office! 

  So, I see this ad advising employers to tear the paper. It also encourages people to learn a trade. Turns out we do need those that work with their hands and their brains! I've always felt that those we call tradesmen didn't require a piece of paper to validate themselves. The proof was in whatever they built, repaired or created. The old adage, the proof is in the pudding applied. Contrary to popular belief you can't teach a skill, you have to learn that. You can teach the theories, the practical application of knowledge, but that doesn't mean the person can perform the task. It is like I was told, understanding it isn't doing it, doing it is doing it. 

  The problem we have here is too many chiefs and not enough Indians. We have reached a tipping point in that regard. College degrees have become about as useful as a high school diploma. They are expected to a great extent. The minimum requirement. The issue has become that the minimum requirement just isn't good enough to get the job done. We need those that are actually producing the product. We need the working man. That is what "tearing the paper" is all about. It's about looking past that piece of paper and promoting the person that has earned that promotion through demonstrated ability. What a novel concept! 

  I'm being told that I should pay the loans taken out by those buying that piece of paper. I'm supposed to do that because they can't find employment that pays that much money. In some cases that is directly the fault of whatever course of study they pursued. You really can't just study whatever interests you and expect to be paid top dollar for that. Perhaps basket weaving is your passion, but it won't pay the bills. You see that's the thing, just having a degree isn't a guarantee. There is no law that says an employer has to pay you a minimum amount based on your degree of education. The government does mandate a minimum wage and that is all you are entitled to regardless. 

  The bottom line is always the same. Those that make the most money for their employer make the most money. The catch is the employer will always attempt to pay the employee the least amount of money. That's because they want the profit. That's what business is all about. You have to earn your feathers, not buy them in universities, colleges or online. Earn your feathers and when you get enough you too can be a chief!