The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Join the Marines!

Posted on | January 16, 2011 | 22 Comments

Glenn Reynolds has been warning for months about the “higher education bubble.” Too many kids are going to college with the idea that it will automatically lead to higher incomes. Tuition has ballooned, increasing much faster than the overall inflation rate.

A major part of the problem is that many students are taking on massive loans to fund their education, an ill-advised course of action actually encouraged by federal policy, because no one in Congress wants to be accused of being “anti-education.”

As the professor says, “Things that can’t go on forever, won’t.” The hardships of the current economy are forcing a lot of people to reconsider their options, and sooner or later they will realize that graduating with a B.A. and a mountain of debt isn’t a good career plan and it sure as hell isn’t a good bargain. This bubble must eventually collapse.

Join the Marines. That’s the career advice I’ve given my sons for years. My wife’s younger brother was a skinny, happy-go-lucky kid. And then he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. When he got out of boot camp, he came to visit us and the transformation was remarkable. He had added at least 15 pounds of lean muscle and, what’s more, his attitude was focused and disciplined. Send a boy to boot camp, and they’ll send him home a man.

And you young guys, listen up: We took my wife’s brother to church with us. When he walked into that church in his dress-blue uniform, heads turned. The ladies love a Marine.

The Corps offers many benefits to its members. As the Marines like to say, you get to travel to foreign countries, meet interesting people, and kill them.

Finish high school, then do a three-year hitch in the Corps, and you’ll qualify for free education under the Montgomery G.I. Bill. And whatever you do after that, you can always take pride in being an alumnus of the most elite school in the world: The University of Parris Island.

Category: Education, Military

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