Higher Learning and Higher Spending

Lately, there has been a severe increase in the number of people I know, whom are pursuing Masters degrees, and a few have graduated. Many are making a big fuss about it, that they need to get the Masters to make more money or because they need it as an accomplishment in their lives. Fine.


They have my condolences.


Well, allow me to clarify...you see, I have nothing against higher learning. I believe that if someone is within the means of it and has the gumption for it, go forth and edjumacate yourself! However, some of these people took out a loan just for their Bachelor's, which added with the probable loan taken out to pay for their Masters...they're looking at decades of paying that shit off. Oh, sure: one could argue that people with Masters degrees earn more, as it's been plastered all over the media and universities, and in certain cases, this is actually true! However, what they fail to acknowledge is that not all degrees are quite worth the effort as all degrees are equal, but some are more equal than others (literary references are awesome).


Take, for example, two people: One is a mechanical engineer and the other is an Asian studies graduate. They both decide to go for their respective graduate advancement programs, they graduate and then begin their careers. It's a no-brainer who's gonna be making the serious bucks and who's gonna be paying back a loan for the next 34 years (assuming they get a decent enough job related to their field). Hell, if you take into account interest rates for loans, income and adjust for inflation/cost of living, there's a good chance that even the engineer won't see net profit unless he/she makes closer to 200-300k a year and pays more than the minimum for their loan.


It almost seems like some of these people fail to realize several factors working hard against their ideas, namely:


1) Employers look more for experience, rather than education. Someone with 2-years work experience has more chance than someone with just a Bachelors. The same could be said about 4-years work experience and a Masters.


2) Generally Masters are sought after once you've been in the workforce after some time. This whole 'get a Masters right after a Bachelors' is kind of a novelty, which stems from universities wanting more cash. If you rolled your eyes and scoffed at that last sentence, remember that universities are more like businesses: they care less about your education and more about making cash.


3) Living is fucking expensive. No, seriously; eating, going out, car maintenance, house/apartment maintenance, bills, repairs, miscellaneous expenses...there's a reason why debt runs rampant around the world.


4) Unless they're making over 60k a year, or have a veritable shitton of scholarships/grants/savings, they're simply not making enough cash. 


5) "Learning" has become easier, in that classes are significantly easier to accomplish than they used to be. This sounds like a positive thing, except that because of that, a Masters will soon start losing its appeal and soon employers will want people with fucking PhDs. There's a reason why nowadays a "Bachelors is good to wipe your ass with, and you need a Masters" (at least, according to schools and/or the media).


In essence, they're screwing themselves up by bending over and letting banks and schools ram loans up their asses, and they don't see it coming. [I seriously didn't plan for that pun, honest.]


So, please, if you know someone that is wanting to pursue a graduate program and fit the aforementioned bill of not having enough money/taking out loans/is inexperienced: tell them to get their heads out their asses, 'cause the lack of oxygen is preventing them from using their fucking brains. 


"El costo de la vida sube otra vez..."
- Cee


PS - If you've the means to do it, however, I thoroughly recommend attaining a better degree, preferably an MBA.


Further reading:


http://www.thewisdomjournal.com/Blog/is-a-masters-degree-really-worth-it/
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/what-is-a-masters-degree-worth/
http://money.msn.com/college-savings/is-a-college-degree-worthless-smartmoney.aspx
Or type "Is a Masters degree worth it?" into Google. Derp.

Filler

Lou's been unable to post due to getting screwed by the Big Blue Weenie (I'll let you figure that one out on your own lol).


So, because I don't want to leave you guys without content, here's some filler. Enjoy!

Shhh, shh, shhh. Be quiet, baby. No words...just emotions.

Now imagine that picture with Kenny G in the background and some mood lighting.

Enjoy!

-Cee

The Rand of the Lising San

I'd like to preface the following post by admitting that I've only been living here for just over a month. So, in other words, I may or may not be full of shit.


That being said, I feel I should expose some of the less 'awesome' aspects of Japan. This week I'll cover racism/discrimination.


Racism/Discrimination:


Well, there's racism and discrimination pretty much everywhere you go, however, in Japan it can be very clear and in-your-face. Some people will outright dismiss you just for not being the right shade of yellow (see: Chinese and Koreans), and moreso for being another hue entirely (see: Anything else). You can try to be as Japanese as you want, marry a Japanese person, have half-Japanese little bastards running around, speak better Japanese than the locals and even be a citizen...that'll all sum up to about: fuckall.


You see, Japanese people are very much about the appearances of things. You can be the richest, intelligent, funniest mofo under the sun and by GOD will the Japanese not give a shit about that if you dress like anything less than spectacular.


...


Ok, shitty example. Here's another one: At work, I have certain 'planning' periods where I'm supposed to do planning for classes, except that I only have one school and most of my classes are the same, so I spend a good deal of time looking like I'm busy when really all I'm doing is staring at a piece of paper in front of me and pretending to write. I wish I were kidding about this, I really do. To add further insult to this ordeal of sitting around while you lose all will to live, comes the added 'stress' that if you're done with all your work and you're still not looking busy, you are deemed lazy and unproductive. Now that last bit applies to EVERYONE in the room, but because you're a different color, you're under even more scrutiny (especially if your contrast if low - if you catch my drift). People might walk near you and try to look at what you're doing so they can tell others about how "you were doodling dicks on your desk" or something like that [I'd like to note I haven't been doodling dicks on my desk - Ed]. 


Another little 'issue' is when you have racist teachers in the same room, or when you pass them on the hall. They are NOT coy about it, and will either ignore you/your greeting entirely or look at you like you just sodomized their dog and ate their kid. Or something like that. Either way, to them, you're somewhere between dog shit and a child molester, and all because you're not the right kind of hue or contrast.


"Contrast me up, Scotty."


-Cee


[The Rand of the Lising San is a series focusing on the shittier sides of Japan. This is merely to inform and/or vent, not necessarily reflecting overall opinion of Japan or Japanese people. There's a reason why Cee lives there.]

Subtlety is For Pansies.

As you've probably gathered from the title, we are meaner and LOUDER(!) than your average folks. Matter of fact, you could almost say we're total assholes, but you wouldn't, 'cause you're too nice of a person, so we'll say it for you:

We're total assholes.

Of course, it doesn't help that both of us (Lou and Cee) are in environments that require subtlety and niceness: Lou works for a rather large corporation and I work/live in Japan (also for a not-so-large corporation). You may ask, "Does that aggravate/stop you?" Hell no. It just exacerbates (look it up) our real nature of being bold, brash and stuff. Oh, and nerdy...don't forget nerdy.

"So...what's this blog about?" ye might ask, to which I reply, "None of your damned business, that's what."

...what...?

Oh. Fine. You could say this blag is aimed at everyone who ever had an incongruent thought about anything, anyone with a nerdy side to them, or...y'know...anyone. We hope to encompass a whole assload (that is a unit of measurement, I swear) of topics, including life, Japan, tech, love, sex, math, etc. You may get offended, or you may not care...either way we hope you enjoy reading the hell out of this blag.

"This blag requires more vespene gas"

- Cee