Jaden... Jaden... Jaden. //snort Jaden made a three part statement that started this way (excuse his inability to use capitalization correctly... the boy ain’t learned):
“People Use To Ask Me What Do You Wanna Be When You Get Older And I Would Say What A Stupid Question The Real Question Is What Am I Right Now.”Ok, stop right there. What is Jaden right now? Well, he’s a stupid kid who doesn’t seem to get the fact that if he weren’t the son of Will Smith, he would be headed for a job as a janitor. He wouldn’t have “starred” in a failed film. He wouldn’t have twitter followers. And he wouldn’t make the news unless he shot up a 7-11. And an attitude like his shows the exact kind of disregard of the future that leads to people being broke, hopeless and wondering how it all went wrong. That's nothing to be proud of.
The boy genius continues... “All The Rules In This World Were Made By Someone No Smarter Than You. So Make Your Own.”
Bzzzzz. False. I can assure you, Jaden, that everyone who made the rules is smarter than you. In fact, let me point out that it’s not even intelligence that is needed to make rules, it’s experience. Rules are made to regulate human conduct based on prior experience. Sometimes, rules are made by idiotic bureaucrats (though Jaden probably likes those rules), but usually they are the result of generations of humans observing how other humans act. That means rules are based on an understanding of cause and effect, an idea that clearly eludes Jaden.
Finally, we get to the main point. After telling us that “education is rebellion” (whatever that means) and that school is the tool used to “brainwash the youth” and that newborn babies are “the most intelligent beings” on the planet, idiot boy declares:
“If Everybody In The World Dropped Out Of School We Would Have A Much More Intelligent Society.”Oh boy. This is painfully stupid. Does Jaden actually think that the people who designed his car, his phone, or the power station that gives him electricity could have done that without education? Does he really want a doctor who never went to school? I doubt it. And even if his assumption was correct that you could develop these skills without school, would we really want that? For one thing, think of the waste as every engineer would need to invent engineering himself before he could do something. How long would that take and what are the chances he gets it all right? Seriously, why reinvent the wheel over and over and over when someone else can explain it to you? Oh wait... that would be “brainwashing.” //rolls eyes Moreover, how does society know it can trust this self-taught engineer? Not only do we have no way to know what he did or did not do to further his training, but who would be qualified to judge? Essentially, Jaden’s moronotopia is a world where we need to take everyone’s claims about their own abilities at face value and then pray that the guy wasn’t lying when he said he knew how to build a bridge, or a car, or operate on a patient.
Anyway, I wouldn’t care about the ramblings of a moronic child of privilege if it weren’t for the fact that so many wannabe “populists” keep sending this same message. Indeed, you get this message all the time in a steady drumbeat of opposition to education: education doesn’t make you smart, real life experience makes you smart! Educated people are elitists and elitists are bad! Teachers are incompetent and schools are nothing but indoctrination centers for commie-libs/capitalist pigs! Most people shouldn’t even go to college! And so on.
This is bunk. Education is the key to the future and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying... or a moron. And if you want proof, consider this. According to the Census Bureau, here are the mean incomes by education level:
$20,241 Learned everything he needed to know in kindergartenSo one of those elitist professional types earns six times what a proud populist earns each year, and over a fifty year career will earn $5.3 million more. Even someone with just a generic college degree will earn almost a million more than the proud populist who didn’t need no education.
$30,627 High School Grad
$32,295 Some college
$39,771 College grad
$56,665 Bachelor’s Degree
$73,738 Master’s Degree
$103,054 Doctorate Degree
$127,803 Professional Degree
And it doesn’t stop there. There was a new report the other day about the effect of the recent recession on different income groups and it showed what we’ve always known: the better educated you are, the safer you are from economic shocks. Consider these facts:
● The unemployment rate for low-skill/low-income workers in the US right now is 21%. That is about the same level as the unemployment rate at the worst parts of the Great Depression. However, the unemployment rate for high-skill/high-income workers in the US right now is 3.2%. That is below the level that economists traditionally consider “full employment.” That means there are more jobs than workers at that level and those workers have power to bid up things like income.There is no doubt about the statistics. If you don’t get an education, then your hopes of making good money are limited, your chance of getting a job is much lower than for others, and you will be sacrificed in every recession... unless your father is Will Smith. That’s a big price to pay for just being able to claim false moral superiority.
In effect, it’s boom times for the well-educated and depression for the unskilled. Yet, the populists want you to join the ranks of the unskilled. Don't fall for that.
● It gets worse. As jobs vanish during a recession, higher skilled workers who lose their jobs take lower skilled jobs and in the process push out lower skilled workers. Economists call this “bumping down” or “crowding out.” What this means is anytime there is an economic shock, the higher-skilled workers will land on their feet one way or another – either by getting their jobs back or a comparable one, or by taking one from the unskilled. The unskilled can do nothing about this. This happens in every downturn.
29 comments:
I suspect Jaden Smith's contempt for education has something to do with his father being involved in Scientology. There are a lots of kids who will never have to work a day in their lives but very few of those run around claiming 'Babies are the most intelligent creatures on the planet'.
I agree about the importance of education. As I've stated before, I think many of society's problems spring not from education, but people not being educated enough (the fact half of black males don't finish high school is crippling).
I don't think all teachers walk on water but my sense from my time in public school, my time volunteering working with troubled kids and my daughters' time in public school is that the biggest problem in the system is parents. Too many parents aren't participating in their kid's education. Teachers should be able to make the subject matter interesting, but they shouldn't have to be motivators.
Andrew - Give Jaden a break. He's an over-privileged child much like Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton. They value nothing because nothing including an education is out of their reach.
Anthony - I agree with you 100%. Education is what one makes of it. You get out what you put in. And you are absolutely right - Parents are the problem. Parents and teachers (PTA) used to work together, now they are adversaries. We want so much for a children to get good grades, but don't give a hoot about whether that means they can read/write at grade level.
Good post although I tend not to spend any of my precious time listening to idiots, especially young, uneducated, inexperience idiots.
The one question I have with regard to education is which is the cause for the effect? Is the getting education what leads to higher pay or is it the motivated person who buckles down and grinds through the education is the kind of person who will be successful? Sort of weeding out the unmotivated people who are not willing to have delayed satisfaction.
Anthony, I think Jaden's just a spoiled kid who doesn't really grasp much of anything yet... like the fact that the rests of us don't have his privileges. And you're right, Scientology could be part of it.
I agree completely that education is the key to a better society. Unfortunately, too many people don't, especially the populist crowd (left and right). These numbers and millions more like them consistently show that not getting an education is a near guarantee of failure, but the populists have turned this into something noble... it's not, it just breeds superstitious sheep.
As for teachers, I have to say that I've met some bad some one and some good ones, just like in every profession. But for the most part, they really do care and they do try. And I agree that the real problem is the parents, not the schools.
Koshcat, I try not to as well, but we are in an age of idiocy right now. And obviously, this post is aimed at more than just Smith. Smith will be fine. His parents will hand him money and a career. But the kids of these people who treat the education system like it is toxic are the ones who will spend their lives bouncing between minimum wage jobs and then unemployment.
In terms of cause and effect, I think there are multiple things going on. For one thing, educated people are better at assessing situations, so they will be better at spotting genuine opportunities. They are also better at exploiting opportunities because they are much quicker and better at handling anything that requires complex thought or adaptation. They are better spoken and come across as more trustworthy, so they are more likely to be offered opportunities. They have also proven the very abilities that businesses look for, so they are more likely to be hired in the first place. And once you are on the track, it's a lot easier to keep falling off than it is to board the speeding train mid-way through the route.
Bev, That is the problem with being given everything... you value nothing. But of course, he's just the foil for what has increasingly become an ideological statement -- edukation is evil!
For the most part, I too blame the parents. I think they do need to change the way they hire and test teachers and they need to change the way they hold them accountable. But parents are a huge problem. Some are adversaries as you say ("I'm gonna sue because you failed my kid!") but others are simply neglectful.
I'll tell you what, when we were growing up, the kids whose parents cared did really well and went on to become doctors, lawyers, managers, engineers. The kids of the parents who said things like "D is for done" were failures... and remain failures today.
I agree with regard to teachers and parent involvement. It is frustrating to hear stories about really really bad teachers are put into a room all day because they are too dangerous to be even in contact with children. I think this is a huge image problem with the union. I understand their desire to protect the teachers but do you really want to protect these dregs?
My daughter is now in 4th grade. She has had one spectacular teacher, 2 very good teaches, and one only fair. The "fair" one kept winning awards but after spending a year with my daughter I still wasn't convinced she even knew who my daughter was. My daughter would turn in assignments, the teacher would lose them and then accuse my daughter of not turning it in. My daughter is a little OCD when it comes to things like this and she doesn't lie (yet). After meeting the teacher, I know where the problem lie.
As for the privileged kids of rich parents, I think a lot of how the kids behave and shape their future are influenced significantly by the parents. There are plenty of kids of rich families we don't hear much from and their parents challenged them.
So I know all of this starts tomorrow, but this is the result of my search today for health insurance through a NY exchange...
Your search returned zero plans. Please check the information you entered and try again. If you have entered correct data and are still not receiving any search results, note that at this time we do not have complete plan information for all locations. Please check back at a later date since plans are updated on a monthly basis.
Koshcat, I am a little frustrated with how they hire and grade teachers, and it all goes back to the unions. I think they need to open the criteria to allow people with proven skills but no education degree to teach and they need to start holding teachers more accountable for each student in the class. They need to give principles more power to fire. I also think they should start adding more people to classrooms to prevent exactly the kind of thing you're talking about -- or favoritism or abuse or insufficient time to give attention to each child, etc.
As for awards, what I find interesting about awards is that the unions claim there is no fair way to evaluate teachers, yet they seem to manage to find bases to give out awards. Total contradiction.
Koshcat, Very true. There are a lot of good kids from rich families. It's about values, not money.
Bev, You're in New York... the only place Obamacare will actually end up working.
I don't see what the fuss is about ... if Jaden can't make it in Hollywood as a high school drop out who thinks he is better then people stupid enough to go to school and work well he can always go with a fallback plan of becoming a democratic politician.
Interesting I saw a special on Stossel where people paid 8 grand a year to send their kids to a school with no tests, no grades, no assignments, no classes, where each student can do whatever they want all day including play video games, have to teach themselves to read. This particular school was in place since 1968. The kids even had a judicial court as all children had an equal say with the adults on how the school should be run.
Does Jaden go there?
Indi, As Koshcat points out, he probably goes to a Scientology "classroom" where he makes wallets for export to China.
It would be interesting to see how the students of schools like that did over the longer term. Did Stossel go into that?
What's really funny is ass-hats like Jaden would be the first to be to be eliminated in a communist society.
Koshcat, That's something liberals never get. When governments get tyrannical, having "good intentions" doesn't protect you. And the fellow travelers are usually the first up against the wall because they are considered dangerous.
Andrew........Did you really put up a post slamming a teenager?! Hahahahahahah!!!! I know you're not getting low on material! He's a kid for gawd's sake.....Kids say the darndest things!
What's really troublesome, is when they get older and make the same inane, asinine comments and expect people to ooh and aah over how perceptive and insightful they are. Being in Hollywood, this will probably happen to Lil Jay anyway. My gawd...look at all the idiotic things adult actors say:
"Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens." - Britney Spears
“I pledge to be a servant to our president,” - Demi Moore
So, I don't think these idiots will be the first up against the wall once the tyrants take over. They will always be brain-dead morons able to recite lines while looking pretty, and the new overlords will still need fools like them for the masses to follow on Twitter so they can be seen as relevant.
So, I say....Cut young Mr. Smith a break. He's young and stupid. Wait until he's older and stupid like his dad: (From an interview)
"I’ve read that you believe life can be understood through patterns.
Will: I’m a student of patterns. At heart, I’m a physicist. I look at everything in my life as trying to find the single equation, the theory of everything.
Do you see patterns too, Jaden?
Jaden: I think that there is that special equation for everything, but I don’t think our mathematics have evolved enough for us to even—I think there’s, like, a whole new mathematics that we’d have to learn to get that equation.
Will: I agree with that.
Jaden: It’s beyond mathematical. It’s, like, multidimensional mathematical, if you can sort of understand what I’m saying.
Will: You know, the forum of media that we’re in can’t really handle the complexity of things that we say all the time."
Whoaaaa..........
Patriot, Yes... yes I did. LOL! :D
Yeah, they have some very stupid people in Hollywood, don't they? I think Obama should ask Demi Moore to wash the limo every week... test her commitment! :P
I like Will Smith, but his kid sounds like a dingbat. I also hope he doesn't keep reaching to Scientology for future movies.
Although Jaden was used as Andrew's primary tool, I think the same post could have been written on the whole anti-education position many people have. I had a friend who was bright and relatively successful in a business. He felt that going to college was a waste of time. "Look at me. I didn't need college." The problem was that he learned his business from his dad. It was a drywall business. He also had done a lot of different kinds of construction in his life. So yes he was successful despite no college degree but he was educated via apprenticing. Life also taught him something else about politics and taxes. When he left his job to start his own business he was shocked with the first quarterly estimated tax bill. I had always tried to talk with him about taxes and politics but he wasn't interested-even thought that having Obama as president might be kind of cool (this was pre-2008 election). After that bill, talk about someone who became rapidly interested in politics, taxes, and government waste. This is why I think everyone should have to pay their taxes quarterly so they could really SEE what they pay.
Jaden doesn't deserve a break if he is going to make his wonderful ideas public. This wasn't some local story where you got a cute little quote about the world from an ignorant teenager. The bulk of the criticism should be dumped on the media outlet that aired his ideas as a serious one.
I went off topic slightly but I get the same annoyance by the "Young Earth" (i.e. creationists) nutjobs as well.
Koshcat, I don't think you were off-topic actually. This post isn't about Jaden really, it is about the huge number of people preaching the idea that education is a waste, that you can learn what you need to learn from "life," that being "real" means rejecting education, and then discouraging people to go to school. Jaden is just a foil... a foil who opened his mouth in public and deserves what he gets in response.
This is a problem both left and right. In the 1990s, you saw a lot of this in the black community where they talked about education being something whites want, so don't do it! The left has flirted with this through it's anti-rich, anti-middle class stances... ignorance is unity. Now the populist right is preaching this big time... ignorance is nobility. All of these people are dooming their more gullible listeners to a life of poverty and failure.
And the example with your friend is part of the problem. People cite to people like your friend and say "see, it can be done!" Yes, it CAN be done, but always with special circumstances and within limits and only for a lucky few. The 99% of the people who aren't handed their business will end up pushing brooms and losing their jobs whenever a recession hits.
I am shocked and maddened by people who denigrate education.
By the way, in my experience, the true mark of intelligence is to be able to understand what you do and don't know, so you know when to seek more knowledge. The people who get into the most trouble are the people who think they know it all... which is not surprisingly a view held by the least educated.
A further P.S., I just got my flu shot and a pneumonia shot ($131 ouch)... now I feel invincible! :D
still cheaper than Obamacare exchanges
True. And I'm hearing a lot of good stories today about nothing working with the exchanges. LOL!
I have been away for a few days. This was really an interesting article. Somehow, as a country, we have to find a way of getting more people educated or we will continue with what we have now.
Thanks Jed. We really do need to start pushing the value of education harder. The future is education and our country depends on it.
P.S. I hope you're doing better. :)
Andrew, all your stats about income and unemployment only prove that the brainwashing system rewards its own and suppresses the rest. /sarc
tryanmax, No doubt. I'm paid to distribute them too. LOL!
Post a Comment