Thursday, October 14, 2004

 

What's Wrong with This Picture?

So here are two things that perplexed me related to last night's debate.

1.
Argument:
The way to improve the economy and to get people back to work is to support education.

Is it just me - and remember, I have as much education as a person can possibly have - or is it not blatantly obvious that the amount of education a person obtains does not necessarily have anything to do with one's likelihood of getting and/or keeping one's job? Am I the only one who notices that it's not just uneducated factory workers who were hard-hit by the recession but people with college degrees? Am I the only one who notices that a lot of people with college degrees are underemployed - temping, working as bartenders, etc., because a college degree does not necessarily mean that one can expect to find gainful employment in one's field of study? When the internet bubble burst, it was not only unskilled workers who were put out of work. To pretend that education is some kind of universal cure for unemployment is, frankly, a load of horse-shit.

2.
Argument:
We're all about helping the middle class. We have the child credit, we've rolled back the marriage penalty, and we're putting more money toward pell grants so that your kids can get a college education.

Alright, so I recognize that these things like the child credit, etc., can have a positive impact on middle class people. BUT NOT ALL MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE ARE FUCKING MARRIED AND NOT ALL MIDDLE CLASS PEOPLE HAVE FUCKING KIDS. It is not my intention to fan the flames of the discussion that went on a couple of weeks ago about having kids vs. not, being single vs. not. I just want to point out that a tax plan aimed at the middle class really shouldn't exclude all of those middle-class workers without a fucking husband (or wife) and without fucking kids. If the plan is to help people with spouses and/or children, why not just fucking say that instead of pretending that any of these policies will have any impact on a middle-class person who don't fit into those categories?

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