Ok, since I have been convinced not to start a blog, and I will be posting my thoughts for discussion here, I would like to take some time to explore the value of education.
Now while I don't plan to address EMS directly, please believe me that how this applies to EMS is foremost in my mind as I type.
Remember when all you had to know to have a great life was find shelter, make a spear, and start a fire?
No school, you cold devote all of your time to your basic desires of eating and breathing. Mates were usually found with a club and probably a slight case of Kluver-Bucy syndrome.
What was in it for you was very clear and tangible.
Fast forward a few years...
Some beings developed and advanced language and math skills. Those newly "educated people" knowing all of mankind's collective knowledge of the day received roles and employment in the very upper levels of society. With it came wealth and mating desirability.
Fast forward a few more years...
In an effort to cement these advantages, the original professions as well as guilds were formed. In order to achieve money, power, etc. All you needed was to be in the good ol' boy club, promise a portion of your wealth to the select group and have a skill that was not common.
A few years later...
Larger amounts of wealth and mating selection could be found by having a steady job. The most minimal of education all but definitively decided a good life in terms of wealth and desirabilty.
let's move on to the 20th century...
Early on, reading and writing wasn't even a requirement for most skilled laborers. The industrial age was in full swing, and in employment independant thought was not valued more than doing what you were told. Now the more educated you were, the higher the ladder you could ascend in society irrespective of guilds or birth in the modern world. Education was available to most. By the end of this period, a basic college degree assured a respectable amount of wealth and mates.
Then the information age came about. Even more powerful than the age of reason, man's collective knowledge grew at a pace never before matched. In the modern world, a 4 year degree became all but required save for a few hold out positions, largely kept by extortion or other unsavory means.
The cutting edge or the bleeding edge?
So great is the collective knowledge of man today that we are finding it is taking even higher levels of education to function even at the entry level of many professions, even outside of healthcare.
Those with some insight or intuition saw these changes as they progressed. They had to leave where they were in order to seek places where uneducated could still make a respectble life. They came to America. But now we find that that such un/under educated are so far behind the curve that the lifestyles they hoped and dreamed about are rapidly diminishing.
Even in the third world, the only escape from poverty is education. Those who do not advance are rapidly being left behind. Struggling to find work, retraiing, hoping. Some will catch a break and they will never be able to move from it.
I found it was those who cared most about me or respected my contributions that pushed me to education. I didn't go quietly. Nor did I go quickly. When I started, a highschool diploma or GED got you a great job. Then it required vocational education. Then an undergrad. Now quickly becomming a Master's. For the first time in my life, I am ahead of the curve instead of behind.
Had I not embraced the idea of continuing life long education, where would I be now? Perhaps at a small suburban fire department as a firefighter and EMT. No collar brass, no white shirt. I would not be able to apply or better jobs. I might always be worried this fiscal year was the day they said "we are cutting staff." Or "We are cutting out all fll timers and becomming part time or volunteer." Or "In order to save money we are regionally consolidating and your minimum qualifications are too little for us to retain you."
Where would I be if I didn't even worry about such a thing happening.
In an instant. Thanks for playing, you are gone.
So here it is:
The question of the hour?
Are those who always advocate experience, or claiming there is not enough motivation or reward for furthering individual education or education requirements onto something?
Have they discovered a conspiracy theory or con the rest of us fell for?
Is there a shortcut to Fame and Fortune? (or at least a comfortable life)
What is their true motivation?
Do people really get what they want on their own terms?
How many of you have found financial comfort and personal success at the level of minimal training?
HOw does a person aspire to be an advocate or aspire to greatness and remain convinced that the least amount of effort will be enough to achieve it?
Why put so much effort into fighting the inevitable demands of progress?
What makes the world of yesterday so much more attractive than the world of tomorrow?
Now while I don't plan to address EMS directly, please believe me that how this applies to EMS is foremost in my mind as I type.
Remember when all you had to know to have a great life was find shelter, make a spear, and start a fire?
No school, you cold devote all of your time to your basic desires of eating and breathing. Mates were usually found with a club and probably a slight case of Kluver-Bucy syndrome.
What was in it for you was very clear and tangible.
Fast forward a few years...
Some beings developed and advanced language and math skills. Those newly "educated people" knowing all of mankind's collective knowledge of the day received roles and employment in the very upper levels of society. With it came wealth and mating desirability.
Fast forward a few more years...
In an effort to cement these advantages, the original professions as well as guilds were formed. In order to achieve money, power, etc. All you needed was to be in the good ol' boy club, promise a portion of your wealth to the select group and have a skill that was not common.
A few years later...
Larger amounts of wealth and mating selection could be found by having a steady job. The most minimal of education all but definitively decided a good life in terms of wealth and desirabilty.
let's move on to the 20th century...
Early on, reading and writing wasn't even a requirement for most skilled laborers. The industrial age was in full swing, and in employment independant thought was not valued more than doing what you were told. Now the more educated you were, the higher the ladder you could ascend in society irrespective of guilds or birth in the modern world. Education was available to most. By the end of this period, a basic college degree assured a respectable amount of wealth and mates.
Then the information age came about. Even more powerful than the age of reason, man's collective knowledge grew at a pace never before matched. In the modern world, a 4 year degree became all but required save for a few hold out positions, largely kept by extortion or other unsavory means.
The cutting edge or the bleeding edge?
So great is the collective knowledge of man today that we are finding it is taking even higher levels of education to function even at the entry level of many professions, even outside of healthcare.
Those with some insight or intuition saw these changes as they progressed. They had to leave where they were in order to seek places where uneducated could still make a respectble life. They came to America. But now we find that that such un/under educated are so far behind the curve that the lifestyles they hoped and dreamed about are rapidly diminishing.
Even in the third world, the only escape from poverty is education. Those who do not advance are rapidly being left behind. Struggling to find work, retraiing, hoping. Some will catch a break and they will never be able to move from it.
I found it was those who cared most about me or respected my contributions that pushed me to education. I didn't go quietly. Nor did I go quickly. When I started, a highschool diploma or GED got you a great job. Then it required vocational education. Then an undergrad. Now quickly becomming a Master's. For the first time in my life, I am ahead of the curve instead of behind.
Had I not embraced the idea of continuing life long education, where would I be now? Perhaps at a small suburban fire department as a firefighter and EMT. No collar brass, no white shirt. I would not be able to apply or better jobs. I might always be worried this fiscal year was the day they said "we are cutting staff." Or "We are cutting out all fll timers and becomming part time or volunteer." Or "In order to save money we are regionally consolidating and your minimum qualifications are too little for us to retain you."
Where would I be if I didn't even worry about such a thing happening.
In an instant. Thanks for playing, you are gone.
So here it is:
The question of the hour?
Are those who always advocate experience, or claiming there is not enough motivation or reward for furthering individual education or education requirements onto something?
Have they discovered a conspiracy theory or con the rest of us fell for?
Is there a shortcut to Fame and Fortune? (or at least a comfortable life)
What is their true motivation?
Do people really get what they want on their own terms?
How many of you have found financial comfort and personal success at the level of minimal training?
HOw does a person aspire to be an advocate or aspire to greatness and remain convinced that the least amount of effort will be enough to achieve it?
Why put so much effort into fighting the inevitable demands of progress?
What makes the world of yesterday so much more attractive than the world of tomorrow?
