This Made Me So Mad

[Niptuck MD]

In high school, I was fortunate to attend a $50k boarding school in the Northeast on scholarship. My largest class had 10 students, while my smallest class had 4 (including me). I lived with royalty (literally), would wake up in the morning, grab breakfast, maybe golf a couple holes, and then would go learn how to invest in the stock market or how capitalism works and why money isn't bad.

It was the best education I've ever received. The irony? We were in no way affiliated with state mandated education requirements.

The state university I chose was the "best" least-expensive option on my list ($20k per year). There were some classes that blew my mind. One course was titled: "Leadership & Networking," and was a course for entrepreneurs that focused on Dale Carnegie's "How To Win Friends & Influence People." I also TA'd an entrepreneurship class, where our professor would bring in successful entrepreneurs to speak before arranging for us to get drinks with them afterwards.

But with the good, came the bad.

I've had classes where "safe spaces" were a legitimate thing (still funny to me). I've had professors who claimed money is the root of all evil. There was one professor who taught a course based on everything "wrong in the world" (pollution, capitalism, globalization, big business), yet he spent his entire career dictating problems for the impressionable youth instead of seeking any resolution himself.

I've seen the good, and I've seen the bad. It's easy to point the finger and claim the education system is "broken" and "useless," yet I find it's easier to open up the web browser, (or a book) and educate yourself. Education is highly subjective. Just because you went to a school that taught something does not mean that it's common practice around the country.

I have no sympathy for the OP "Shane Satterfield." Perhaps the issue isn't the education system, but the entitled nature of students who feel like the world owes them something for graduating college.

"I graduated at the top of my class, with honors." - Lol, you think the market cares there Shane?

my goal @Elon's Musk is to send my children to a similar aforementioned private school that you went to that i was not able to attend when i was a youngin lol

 

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[ZF Lee]

I would never go as far as calling Parents that want the best of their kids as "Pathetic". They only know what they know, they see people in their age demographic, which is more likely to have a better lifestyle if they went to college. So they just followed the simple law of association, successful dude in a big house, he went to college... College=sucess. So i can't really blame them for that sort of rationalization.

Today the world is a very different place for our generation than theirs thanks to the internet and literally infinite networking opportunities. Networking opportunities were the reason why universities were great in the early 90s and back. Now, we have chances to converse with true millionaires and businesspeople free of charge on places like this forum and learn, develop and be mentored.

See, this is why school cannot teach us critical thinking skills.
I know college was the alien elite organization for our parents, but if you don't know about something, go find out about it!

I'm sorry if I have to be harsh, but I nearly became a victim. I could have been trapped in a degree that would not support my Fastlane strategy. I guess it's up to us Fastlaners to do our due diligence then, to see whether Johnny Bullshit is knocking on our doors peddling the next big degree or scam.

About the big dude in a big house with that degree, didn't @MJ DeMarco talk about most people looking at EVENTS rather than PROCESS?

 

[ZF Lee]

I know that was a little bit of a self-righteous rant, but this is what happened to my little brother. He's been in college now for 7 years and still doesn't have a degree. He keeps floating from thing to thing being miserable because he's convinced the stuff he makes in our dad's garage has no value.... even though people buy it from him.... and beg him to make more.....

What does your brother make?
What kind of problems do those people have, that they would have to come to him to get them solved?
I don't here a lot about inventors nowadays, as it's not a really media-fancy subject, but as this can be a Fastlane avenue...I'm very interested.

 

[Tactical]

We all can laugh at this, but the truth is the educational machine is huge and their brainwashing methods are putting this country to its knees. We are told from a young age, if you go to college you will be successful. But they never talk about what to do after you graduate. We spend our time raising our children to be good college students to become employees instead of free thinkers and problem solvers. So when people are graduating, and they're being promised jobs by their universities and parents, when they graduate they expect to be entitled to a job due to 20 years of conditioning. I mean we could kick em to the curb, but the sheer numbers of how many people have crippling student loan debt is crazy.

Its truly up to us, the entrepreneurs and free thinkers to try and reach out to the population and get/give them jobs and keep this economy moving.

Not only that, but when our enlisted vets come out and into the "civilian world," they get "demoted" if you will from a leadership position to working as a slave "vets are great employees because they follow orders will". Veterans deserve way more than this, and I'll make to it I do something about it after I climb out of this shithole first.

 

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[Ninjakid]

Why has this turned into another "go to college/don't go to college" thread? The issue here is that kids fresh out of high school just looking to do a few more years of school and have a decent career have gotten scammed for more money than they could hope to save in ten years, by an apparently well respected school.

This is what a predatory business looks like that takes advantage of naïvity of youth. I would compare them to sharks smelling blood in the water, but I would scarcely compare these scum to anything as beautiful as sharks.

 

[Jake]

Not only that, but when our enlisted vets come out and into the "civilian world," they get "demoted" if you will from a leadership position to working as a slave "vets are great employees because they follow orders will". Veterans deserve way more than this, and I'll make to it I do something about it after I climb out of this shithole first.

Each and every circumstance is different. In my case I'd say being a Vet would have made me a shitty employee in most cases. After being stationed on Okinawa, Japan and travelling all around Asia I wouldn't have been able to sit in a cubicle in the U.S..not a chance. If you go overseas your viepoint shifts and the "American Dream" that the civilians pursue has no appeal.

I was out for around a year and ran back to my recruiter and told them I want to join the reserves and go to whatever "shithole" that they decide.

I ended up in Kuwait. I saw a bunch of civilians walking around making large sums of money and I thought to myself why the hell didn't I do that instead. My colleagues were jealous of them, talked a lot of crap about how they work less and make more, they were content with their desk jobs in the U.S. I had no desk job nor did I want to return to the U.S. "You guys can be upset that they make more than you do. I'm going to go talk to these guys!"

I wasn't a slave. I took advantage of my skillset and chased an opportunity. I interviewed on my last day in Kuwait and went up to Iraq as a civilian a few months later.

Be flexible and jump on opportunities as they arrive. Veterans need to adapt to or create their own opportunities. If they feel that they're entitled to anything that wasn't in the contract than they're probably going to be disappointed.

 

[ZF Lee]

Each and every circumstance is different. In my case I'd say being a Vet would have made me a shitty employee in most cases. After being stationed on Okinawa, Japan and travelling all around Asia I wouldn't have been able to sit in a cubicle in the U.S..not a chance. If you go overseas your viepoint shifts and the "American Dream" that the civilians pursue has no appeal.

I'm not an American, but the American dream is a Slowlaner idealistic principle that is shared by many other countries, in other words, a plan of hope!

And MJ has talked about the falsity of the plan of hope for the masses...you can't control it!
So on the American Dream...

Anyway I am sure that veterans should be able to create businesses better than the general populace considered their discipline and unique experiences that civilians don't have! They should be respected for their sacrifices of time and energy to protect order and peace.

 

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[Ninjakid]

If they feel that they're entitled to anything that wasn't in the contract than they're probably going to be disappointed.

I see your point, but remember that many veterans who've seen active combat suffer from PTSD, and throughout most of history they've gotten almost no help. A lot of them can't just help themselves.
I live in a city with a tremendous amount of wealth, where you'll see luxury cars driven around everywhere you look. The fact that I also see homeless veterans on the streets is a travesty against humanity.

 

[Jake]

I see your point, but remember that many veterans who've seen active combat suffer from PTSD, and throughout most of history they've gotten almost no help. A lot of them can't just help themselves.
I live in a city with a tremendous amount of wealth, where you'll see luxury cars driven around everywhere you look. The fact that I also see homeless veterans on the streets is a travesty against humanity.

I agree and it is great when people lend a hand and help them out. I'd like to do more of this in the future. I'm just not a fan of those who are able yet run around and use the vet card expecting that they should be taken care of.

My cousin can't even get a job with the NYPD because he's kicked way too much a$$ and seen too much in Iraq. They don't trust him yet he's completely overqualified for the job.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

After 5 years of college, I got a degree. Right out of the gate, I was at the top of my field, earning a "solid" mid 5-figure salary. There was no upward mobility. I started at the top, at age 23. I did that for 3 years.


With free info from the internet, and one $299 course, I learned everything I needed to know to make 3x that salary in a year and a half. In another 5 years, that meager college-degree salary will be so far in the rear view mirror that I won't even remember what life was like to make that little.


The internet has largely rendered college, and education in general, irrelevant. For those that want to learn anything, open Google Chrome and get to it.

Featured++

 

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[PedroG]

"associate’s degree in computer science". That's his first problem right there. Associate's degrees are completely useless. Computer Science is probably the best industry to be in right now for slowlaners. But this guy wanted a shortcut.

 

[SquatchMan]

not sure how it is in indiana, but here in the south, there is no shortages of electricians and plumbers, and more and more "illegal labour" is available thus causing "competitiveness" in which Peter Thiel says is not a good state; price elasticity of demand diminishes and thus more labour is there so the labourers are battling for the cheapest bids just to eat....

This only applies if you're an employee. You can make money if you own the plumbing company and have plumbers working for you. @IceCreamKid owns a carpet cleaning company and makes six figures. He also charges the highest rates in town because he offers the best service, which minimizes your "price elasticity of demand" argument.

You make more money if you have other people working for you just by the nature of having other people working for you. You bill the client $20/hr, you pay your employee $10/hr, and you pocket the difference after all expenses are paid.

 

[Allan Ssematimba]

Well, you’re right. Except at eighteen, most of us are pretty goddamn stupid. For every 18 year old who finds the forum and starts a business, there’s a hundred others street racing, drinking, and just thinking they’re invincible.

Word!

 

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[RHL]

how to pick a suitable mate

So, just like with guru guides, there is the outward projection, and the true, hidden reality with college. The reality is that very few colleges matter. An unknown tier-3 state school costs nearly as much as one of the top colleges these days. If you're not admitted into one of the US News top 30, don't bother unless it's free.

But beyond that, even, there is the truth about what fastlaners use college and ultra-elite prep schools for. Do you really think you know something about the Fastlane that the Walton's, the Koches, or the Trumps don't? Why do they waste their kids time and money at Dartmouth?

What's going on us networking. Most people know that. If you go to Exeter or Lawrenceville for high school, you'll be surrounded by kids whose role models have all been ultra high achievers. Classmates with eight figure parents are common. Most people are clued into this, even outside of this exclusive world. They know it's going on.

What is rarely talked about is that places like the dining clubs at Penn or the secret society parties at Harvard serve as aggressive prequalification for potential partners. Any men or women at Harvard are either insanely rich/well connected, smart as hell, or, sometimes, both. A blindfolded pick of a spouse from among your classmates there has an infinitely higher chance of paying dividends than a random bar meeting. Whether parents are aware of it or not, isolating kids with the children of other ultra successful or ultra rich people, especially from ages 14-23, goes a long way towards making sure they make the best sexual match possible, from a material rewards standpoint. There's nowhere on earth where it is easier to date than college, and there's nowhere that the pool is as excellent as at a really good college. That's what billionaires are paying $300k/4 years to get for their kids.

 

[ZF Lee]

So, just like with guru guides, there is the outward projection, and the true, hidden reality with college. The reality is that very few colleges matter. An unknown tier-3 state school costs nearly as much as one of the top colleges these days. If you're not admitted into one of the US News top 30, don't bother unless it's free.

But beyond that, even, there is the truth about what fastlaners use college and ultra-elite prep schools for. Do you really think you know something about the Fastlane that the Walton's, the Koches, or the Trumps don't? Why do they waste their kids time and money at Dartmouth?

What's going on us networking. Most people know that. If you go to Exeter or Lawrenceville for high school, you'll be surrounded by kids whose role models have all been ultra high achievers. Classmates with eight figure parents are common. Most people are clued into this, even outside of this exclusive world. They know it's going on.

What is rarely talked about is that places like the dining clubs at Penn or the secret society parties at Harvard serve as aggressive prequalification for potential partners. Any men or women at Harvard are either insanely rich/well connected, smart as hell, or, sometimes, both. A blindfolded pick of a spouse from among your classmates there has an infinitely higher chance of paying dividends than a random bar meeting. Whether parents are aware of it or not, isolating kids with the children of other ultra successful or ultra rich people, especially from ages 14-23, goes a long way towards making sure they make the best sexual match possible, from a material rewards standpoint. There's nowhere on earth where it is easier to date than college, and there's nowhere that the pool is as excellent as at a really good college. That's what billionaires are paying $300k/4 years to get for their kids.

True.
But college kids aren't the kind to do that in reality!
They would rather chase grades or parties than bust their asses off to build great businesses by networking!
Seriously.
That's what's happening in my country's top universities....

 

[OldFaithful]

What's going on us networking. Most people know that. If you go to Exeter or Lawrenceville for high school, you'll be surrounded by kids whose role models have all been ultra high achievers. Classmates with eight figure parents are common. Most people are clued into this, even outside of this exclusive world. They know it's going on.

What is rarely talked about is that places like the dining clubs at Penn or the secret society parties at Harvard serve as aggressive prequalification for potential partners. Any men or women at Harvard are either insanely rich/well connected, smart as hell, or, sometimes, both. A blindfolded pick of a spouse from among your classmates there has an infinitely higher chance of paying dividends than a random bar meeting. Whether parents are aware of it or not, isolating kids with the children of other ultra successful or ultra rich people, especially from ages 14-23, goes a long way towards making sure they make the best sexual match possible, from a material rewards standpoint. There's nowhere on earth where it is easier to date than college, and there's nowhere that the pool is as excellent as at a really good college. That's what billionaires are paying $300k/4 years to get for their kids.

These are some excellent points.

Though my scale is a little different, we already plan on something similar for our progeny!

 

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[jlwilliams]

Why has this turned into another "go to college/don't go to college" thread? The issue here is that kids fresh out of high school just looking to do a few more years of school and have a decent career have gotten scammed for more money than they could hope to save in ten years, by an apparently well respected school.

This is what a predatory business looks like that takes advantage of naïvity of youth. I would compare them to sharks smelling blood in the water, but I would scarcely compare these scum to anything as beautiful as sharks.

Exactly so. The college industry is huge and growing. It offers career students the chance to become career teachers, maybe even tenured teachers. The student loan business is the other side of the scheme. They are legally allowed to pitch to minors, who sign as soon as they turn 18 but are still basically gullible kids. They get to write paper that you can't get out of through bankruptcy. That's HUGE. They create binding notes out of thin air with no collateral except the rest of some suckers life. The ready availability of this debt finances the aforementioned cushy academic careers. It should be criminal but it isn't. Generations of customary accepted wisdom and legions of career students turned high school teacher or guidance counsellor keep priming the impressionable minds who sign the dotted line on the notes and on and on it goes.

 

[RHL]

They would rather chase grades or parties than bust their asses off to build great businesses by networking!
Seriously.

Some of them. Loads of world-changing businesses started in Ivy League (+Stanford +MIT) dorms though. Like anything, it's not a magic bullet. Lots of pressure cooker meetups/circles/incubators produce a few superstars, and a lot of flops. That's life. Even the Sharks and Y-Combinator produce some fails occasionally.

A lot of the people at those schools end up in kind of interstitial-lane careers. Working for Goldman might be slow lane, and might be fastlane. Being an Anesthesiologist, same thing. Or an electrical engineer. But inasmuch as these careers are slow lane, they're the fastest traffic in that lane. Making $200,000-300,000/yr isn't exactly a dead end. A person who gets smart about getting themselves rental doors with that money could be living on a six-figure, 100% passive income within 7 years pretty easily.

 

[ZF Lee]

Some of them. Loads of world-changing businesses started in Ivy League (+Stanford +MIT) dorms though. Like anything, it's not a magic bullet. Lots of pressure cooker meetups/circles/incubators produce a few superstars, and a lot of flops. That's life. Even the Sharks and Y-Combinator produce some fails occasionally.

A lot of the people at those schools end up in kind of interstitial-lane careers. Working for Goldman might be slow lane, and might be fastlane. Being an Anesthesiologist, same thing. Or an electrical engineer. But inasmuch as these careers are slow lane, they're the fastest traffic in that lane. Making $200,000-300,000/yr isn't exactly a dead end. A person who gets smart about getting themselves rental doors with that money could be living on a six-figure, 100% passive income within 7 years pretty easily.

I think it's better to build a business based on organic growth, with sales, customer feedback boosted by social media and supported by value-giving communities and forums like TFLF than to give away cash and equity to business incubators like y-combinator. Business incubators may have some high-class support, but I have found startups which didn't need business incubators in the first place, and went on to make millions.

Interstitial-lane careers can become Fastlane. If you are promoted high enough or get enough high-value customers, Fastlane comes in as it obeys the Law of Effection. But this Fastlane construction is a bit slow though, with factors like harsh office politics and economic turmoils to count. But for Slowlaners who can't go Fastlane hardcore, this might remain a viable path to at least touch near the full effect of the Fastlane.

But IMO, there's a reason why MJ said in TMF that he wasn't gonna wait!

 

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[The-J]

After 5 years of college, I got a degree. Right out of the gate, I was at the top of my field, earning a "solid" mid 5-figure salary. There was no upward mobility. I started at the top, at age 23. I did that for 3 years.


With free info from the internet, and one $299 course, I learned everything I needed to know to make 3x that salary in a year and a half. In another 5 years, that meager college-degree salary will be so far in the rear view mirror that I won't even remember what life was like to make that little.


The internet has largely rendered college, and education in general, irrelevant. For those that want to learn anything, open Google Chrome and get to it.

The future of the middle class is not a college educated or trade school educated worker bee. It's a self-taught independent contractor who owns nothing and rents everything.

The rich will hire these people, and the poor will be stuck in school thinking that maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to get a job at the school or with the government.