Colleges, universities, and the real world

Liberty unquestionably demands an educated people – because daily living requires some degree of understanding of how the world works. There are, of course, many questions. How much education? About what subjects? What balance between education and experience?

This old cartoon makes a pretty good point:

History – and our current experience in the last several decades here in the States – shows that higher education provided to leaders of human governments does not guarantee success in accomplishing the goals of government. Whether legitimate or illegitimate objectives. (Of course, we here at TPOL strongly believe that there are no factors that offer any hope that government can succeed. Because it is human government is founded on immoral concepts.)

The same questions, though, need to be asked regarding society. Is higher education essential for a society to succeed? To promote peace and prosperity? To maximize liberty and provide some degree of security? Both history and our current condition (both in the States and the world) again strongly indicate that colleges and universities not only are not essential, but actually may be detrimental. Especially as these institutions develop and bluntly, grow corrupt.

Why? Perhaps because these organizations – like any human organization – lose sight of their purpose. Colleges and any school, for that matter, is supposed to teach important and useful skills. This is not to say that the arts, music, and many other subjects are not important and useful. Even teaching of skills such as business administration provides the knowledge and some bit of the skills that help modern society. Not through government rule and top-down orders, but by facilitating voluntary transactions and cooperation.

While we here at TPOL are technical people: engineers and agronomists and technicians and financial types, we do not denigrate such courses of study as English and American literature: liberal arts. They certainly do have a place in past and modern society. But we see that the great names – the people who contributed to the wealth of culture and amenities and luxuries that characterize western civilization are not those who excelled and got graduate and post-graduate degrees in such fields. And like with professional sports people, the chances of success and fame and fortune in such fields are very, very small. Better than winning the lottery, certainly, but still very low.

Higher education, like basic education, is a captive of, and “beneficiary” of government control and largess. As more and more attention to education is given by government. Education at all levels by government at all levels, the less education seems to be honestly provided. Indoctrination? Of course, either the hyper-patriotism or the most extreme of subversive mindsets – at least on the collectivist, Regressive side of things. (Funny, no? How colleges do not even attempt to indoctrinate their students when even the least virulent form of libertarian philosophy, minarchism. Much less true anarchism.)

As colleges and universities mature and begin to decline, they become more and more divorced both from the real world and from their own beginnings. Whether those are religious or political or oriented towards science, engineering, and other technical skills.

We are indeed fortunate in the 2020s that there is more and more awareness of the alternatives to the traditional education industry and academia available. Especially with the new technologies and ideas that are coming to reality despite the best efforts of government and academia.

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