The Myth of Education and Training

How did education and training become a rescue formula for failed social and economic policies? Each time there is an economic downturn politicians and con artists dust of their big mega phone from their old garages to trump the need for more education and training. This does not mean they believe in the education of little Lisa or big Joe. It just means there is more money to be made by influencing public sentiment about the need for education.

Politicians understand high unemployment is the result of many factors; but the core reason remains greed and mismanagement of resources. Higher middle income and working class taxes and little or no corporate tax is one of the sources of higher unemployment. Corporations export jobs in search of low wages and higher incomes. Sure enough, when they export jobs, they pay no social security tax, avoid employee health insurance, and avoid employee benefits such as vacations and unemployment compensation. Why anyone would will go against such free labor and higher income. This is the main reason why there will be no significant change in the job market.

Nevertheless, the politicians and the pundits would like us to believe that we need more education and skill that may never be realized in employment for the unemployed. Very few challenges exist for such claims and no one dares to question the importance of education and training. Therefore, local governments and communities accept the sermon that education and training will bring full employment and reduce poverty. Opportunist educational and training companies pop up in every corner. These companies grab government grants and public funds claiming to train and teach unemployed people for jobs. Unfortunately, for people who joined these institutions seeking better job and better life for themselves they end up accumulating heavy debts through private lenders.

Public and vocational schools have been training students for the type of jobs industry want them to perform. In many cases, these schools had been successful in creating a labor force that is dependable in following orders and finishing jobs with little instruction. The problem now is that these low end and repetitive jobs are being replaced by automation at the expense of human labor. It is impractical to assume that there will be high skilled jobs for the many that are trained for the alleged new economy while the new economy requires few operators to produce what could have been the duty of many workers.


Politicians, businesses and pundits understand these problems, but they assume these are the problems of tomorrow and let tomorrow take of these problems. Employers will invest their resources only if they find the labor market is competitive to those countries where jobs are exported. The increased communications technology allow businesses to operate anywhere in the world with efficiency.

Education and learning are essential parts of development and human growth. Acquiring education and training should not be based on the need to acquire more money. The current premises of education and training for better jobs are designed to cover major economical and social cracks in our society. For now, many people who hoped to land a job after sinking in debts will find themselves in big disappointment. Many of us who are familiar with the real world knows education and training speeches are feel good rhetoric and does not solve the immediate problem.

Long time unemployment shakes the foundation of a person’s value and meaning in relation to society. People faced with dwindling opportunities risk losing faith in the system. As time goes on, downward growth to homelessness accompanied with personal and emotional problems will replace hope and security. Eventually, the homeless and the mentally unstable created by long time unemployment will join the underclass poor that will be completely ignored and chastised by the social and political elites. They will be labeled as "lazy, drug addict, or alcoholics", that are burdens of society.

The Politicians and the free marketers that preach education and training as the solution for our problem knows that education and training takes a long time to measure it success. On the other hand, they know how the dark side of the system functions. The dark side of the system displaces people to the point where they no longer have a voice in the system. Homeless people do not have address, which means they cannot vote. Politicians will not listen to people who will not vote. Homeless people lack basic communication tools like telephone and mail address, therefore they become invisible to society. To the politicians and social elites, poverty is the preferred method to move a sizable portion of society into a voiceless black hole. That is the frame of "Free Market" and the premises of “people are unemployed, because they are stupid" therefore they need education and training to get jobs they have been doing all their lives.