12 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
DrGonzo
16 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFZjg4eGMk

Here’s the commercial I think you were referring to. It’s amazing how ridiculous this commercial to anyone with an ounce of common sense. Yet I find myself looking at the pretty people with their nice stuff, the soothing music, and I think “Wow, Discover Card really DOES care!” Ugh. No wonder you got so heated today!

DrGonzo
16 years ago

I saw the commercial I think you were referring to. Look it up on YouTube under “Discover Card Brighter.” It’s amazing how ridiculous this commercial to anyone with an ounce of common sense. Yet I find myself looking at the pretty people with their nice stuff, the soothing music, and I think “Wow, Discover Card really DOES care!” Ugh. No wonder you got so heated today!

steve
steve
16 years ago

Hi, on the subject of degree’s.. Like Jack i also do not have a degree, however it rarely is a topic of conversation. I do have a more vocation (degree level) qualification a higher national diploma in electronic engineering which i took in my late 20’s. I have held director level position in major corporates and set up several entrepreneurial start up companies. I also know of employers that always ask for degree level candidates, and have argued until I am blue in the face that this does not guarantee success.
In the UK we have degree qualified graduates working in McDonald’s but you struggle to find a carpenter, electrician or plumber (most are coming from Poland!!). A good plumber can earn £70k (approx $140k). Apprenticeships (i did one) have all but disappeared. There is a ray of light. It has been recognised at all levels that this is a crazy situation and more vocational qualifications are now being pushed. Not everyone should have a degree, they don’t need one and shouldn’t be forced to try (and possibly fail) to get one or even worse get one in a useless subject.

Chris
Chris
16 years ago

I firmly believe that you need to understand society today in order to survive tomorrow. I appreciate Jack’s hard work to get the message out there, I think the sound quality of the podcast is fine, much better than your earlier episodes. Keep up the great work.

Dan in Oregon
Dan in Oregon
16 years ago

Thank you Jack for another great show!

“We are a nation of consumers and there’s nothing wrong with that” Retch! The first time I watched that I was stunned, unsure of what I had just seen then as it sunk in I was sickened. I don’t understand how Discover thought that line was good advertising.

On degrees, I worked for several years in a job that paid very well and didn’t require a degree. After being injured on the job I went back to school, got a degree and now years later I am finally making what I had been before my injury. Did my degree help me? Not really. I work with people that are doing the same thing I do without one and we all make about the same wage. My brother who never went to college makes about twice what I do so no I don’t believe you need a degree to do well.

Fox
Fox
16 years ago

While I agree with most of what is being said, I have some trouble with this some what delusional thinking, that land = freedom. A person only has to look through countless historical references, to see how many ways one’s land can be taken. In todays world, there are plenty of ways in which individuals have been, are, and will be screwed out of their land.

Sherry
16 years ago

RE: Degree’d Education- As a person with a general knowledge of science & math – I find most people have “delusional degrees”. By this I mean (for example) that nurses are taught by the pharmacies who wrote many of the college books. The basis of the education of a nurse is to promote their “product” of drugs and illness. There is not an educational program which is not driven by a commercial sector.

These kids are being to taught to “go by the book” (if they learned it in college – it must be true -right?). I find “the educated” so misinformed and taught NOT TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES! Every now and then – I find older professionals with that same mentality.

Here’s to a great harvest of beans under my bed . . =)
RE: Everybody “deserves” an education. I have a niece who is told since 6th grade – she “can get a college degree” when she is in special ed for 80% of her classes! She can’t do a high school class without a lot of help – so Who would pay for her education?

SteveO
SteveO
16 years ago

Great sound quality Jack!
The last part of this hit me….. I am 43, working in a job and career I no longer want, stuck in place due to the salary. I’ve been killing my debt but it’s hard to get the family to understand the way I feel about debt (a major no-no).

Katy
Katy
16 years ago

Great podcast Jack! Really spoke to me. Im 28 and right now I work a 9-5 job in the Advertising industry. It is amazing how companies try to mold consumer perception. To tell the consumer what they want and need.

By using emotional appeal and whatever they can to influence a potential buyer. What we have is an individualistic and materialistic society. We go to school to get a “good” job, so we can have a big house and lots of shiny things we don’t need. We work our whole lives for a pile of stuff and at the end of the day, none of it really matters. We forget how to actually enjoy life cause we are so busy chasing crap. We are told this is the American Dream.

Thanks for sharing the message. Keep up the good work.

rmg7
rmg7
15 years ago

I studied architecture in a well known school. The experience changed my life for the better. Did it make me into an entrepreneur? It’s difficult to say, but my feeling is that I had it in me anyways. Proof: I have a second profession. I divide my day between design and music. Apart from some private lessons and a couple of night classes, all that I’ve learned about music has been self taught. At certain periods in my life, music has paid me even more than my college degree has.

If you have the caliber, you’ll make it anyways. And “making-it” has little to do with how many figures you write into your tax forms, IMO. We have a saying down here that says: happiness, is not who has more, but who needs less.

Thanks Jack, for the inspiration.