For the first time, I've finally seen the fabled mythical Brazillian Tour Groups

[englanddg]

Ok, I've had my daily dose of stupidity now.

Time to get off the internet.

 

[Cubfan300]

No worries... I'll just get out of your way on this one.

 

[jaklgreen]

No worries... I'll just get out of your way on this one.

I was trying to explain that life is much more of a struggle for most other countries then the US. And to complain about this country, to me, and I am sure to plenty of others whose families have come from other countries, is kind of ridiculous. A person can come to this country with nothing and make something of themselves. It's not so easy other places.

 

[Gabe1]

Only 27% of college grads in 2013 were able to land jobs in their field yet have staggering debt for their education.

22 million Americans are Unemployed or Under Employed.

The labor force participation rate declined from 63.6 in January 2013 to 62.8 percent in 2013 because many have given up trying to find a job, mainly the older workers too young to retire.

10 million unemployed youth fill out job applications and don't even receive a call back for interviews as these jobs once were entrance level positions into work force and now are held by underemployed adults.

Yep better than some countries. But we'd be lying if we said Not In Our Country to this image that plagues every state.

 

[Matt_Black]

And there's also the issue of criminal justice. Many European countries have a much lower recidivism rate than the U.S., as they focus on rehabilitation. Norway comes to mind, as there prisons look almost like resorts.

 

[COrunner]

I thought the Brazillian tour group was just a thing of legend. And this time, I finally got to witness it! Flags, chanting, same clothing, all of it! I don't have anything negative or positive to say, it was just neat to finally see what has been talked about so much.

To get back on topic I have experienced BTG's as well, heard the chanting and seen the mass of humanity storm toward the FP booths and swamp lines and water parks. But I've also had the exact same experience when the cheer nationals were hear and there were tons of cheerleaders doing the same thing.

It's easy to get xenophobic and blame the BTG boogiekids but honestly I just don't like when large groups invade WDW. The same way I don't like rascals and double wide strollers being allowed in the park. But it is Walt's sandbox and if you want to play there you deal with whats there.

That being said how we have learned to deal with it is simple. We save up for an extra 6 months so we can stay at a higher end hotel. Just moving up a tier makes a world of difference.

If we see a group at a park, we walk the opposite direction from them. Just modify your day, you are a smaller group and more agile, they are a large lumbering pack and can't turn on a dime.

Start earlier. I asked my wife and neither of us could remember seeing a tour group at a rope drop, plus all the nightmare stories come at night apparently.

 

[thomas998]

Only 27% of college grads in 2013 were able to land jobs in their field yet have staggering debt for their education.

22 million Americans are Unemployed or Under Employed.

The labor force participation rate declined from 63.6 in January 2013 to 62.8 percent in 2013 because many have given up trying to find a job, mainly the older workers too young to retire.

10 million unemployed youth fill out job applications and don't even receive a call back for interviews as these jobs once were entrance level positions into work force and now are held by underemployed adults.

Yep better than some countries. But we'd be lying if we said Not In Our Country to this image that plagues every state.

So basically 27% of the kids going to college had the forethought to major in something that was marketable. Which really means 73% of the kids were idiots. I've seen the unmarketable college kids, majoring in things that anyone in their right mind would know is a dead end... medieval military history was always one of my favorites that no one in their right mind would think would be good for finding a job.... or those boat loads of English lit majors which think critiquing something someone else wrote is going to land you a job... Sorry but I can't feel sorry for someone that wasted their time and money trying to learn something pointless.

 

[thomas998]

And there's also the issue of criminal justice. Many European countries have a much lower recidivism rate than the U.S., as they focus on rehabilitation. Norway comes to mind, as there prisons look almost like resorts.

Problem isn't the prisons trying to rehabilitate or punish... the problem is the culture of the lowlifes in the US... when you are raised to have no respect for the property or rights of others from the time you were born until the time you get arrested it is really too late to try and undo all that poor parenting has done. To be brutally honest the bulk of those in prison should probably be kept there for life to try and end the cycle, instead they will get out reproduce and create a new generation of inmates.

 

[Gabe1]

So basically 27% of the kids going to college had the forethought to major in something that was marketable. Which really means 73% of the kids were idiots. I've seen the unmarketable college kids, majoring in things that anyone in their right mind would know is a dead end... medieval military history was always one of my favorites that no one in their right mind would think would be good for finding a job.... or those boat loads of English lit majors which think critiquing something someone else wrote is going to land you a job... Sorry but I can't feel sorry for someone that wasted their time and money trying to learn something pointless.

Yikes!

This post lost credibility with categorizing graduates as idiots and blindly assuming they did not graduate with degrees that are marketable. It ignores the impact to employment opportunities directly related to the Great Recession of 2008 which this country has yet to fully recover from. We have members on this sight too that lost jobs in their field of education but it doesn't mean they were idiots for getting a degree in that field nor does the statistics indicate that as hiring freezes are loosened or ended that these degrees will be a waste of time or money as you proclaim.

Our village for the first time since 2008 will hire replacement police officers for those who retired, which requires a 4 year law enforcement degree. I can't call those with law enforcement degrees idiots. We are not the only village to freeze hires. Our school district will again hire teachers for non-core subjects that were laid off because the property tax level fell do to the housing market crash. That doesn't make certified teachers idiots. As the housing market price point is starting to climb again mach area of government will again start to regain funds necessary to lift hiring freezes. So many corporations downsized do falling profit margins and will again hire as the economy improves.

My DHs company laid off 75% percent of their employees during this recession, directly tied to the auto industry. They held onto one of three engineers. As they are hiring back employees in 2014, 4 years later those engineers that were bright enough to become educated will again be hired in their field. It is ignorant to believe that the degrees earned are pointless for the future and that those graduates are idiots, it is very short sighted given how many areas of our nation the recession impacted.

 

[thomas998]

Yikes!

This post lost credibility with categorizing graduates as idiots and blindly assuming they did not graduate with degrees that are marketable. It ignores the impact to employment opportunities directly related to the Great Recession of 2008 which this country has yet to fully recover from. We have members on this sight too that lost jobs in their field of education but it doesn't mean they were idiots for getting a degree in that field nor does the statistics indicate that as hiring freezes are loosened or ended that these degrees will be a waste of time or money as you proclaim.

Our village for the first time since 2008 will hire replacement police officers for those who retired, which requires a 4 year law enforcement degree. I can't call those with law enforcement degrees idiots. We are not the only village to freeze hires. Our school district will again hire teachers for non-core subjects that were laid off because the property tax level fell do to the housing market crash. That doesn't make certified teachers idiots. As the housing market price point is starting to climb again mach area of government will again start to regain funds necessary to lift hiring freezes. So many corporations downsized do falling profit margins and will again hire as the economy improves.

My DHs company laid off 75% percent of their employees during this recession, directly tied to the auto industry. They held onto one of three engineers. As they are hiring back employees in 2014, 4 years later those engineers that were bright enough to become educated will again be hired in their field. It is ignorant to believe that the degrees earned are pointless for the future and that those graduates are idiots, it is very short sighted given how many areas of our nation the recession impacted.

You might want to go back and read carefully what I was referring to. The original post was very specific in stating that 27% of college grads in 2013 - which means kids that graduated from college in 2013...not people that had graduated and work for years and were then laid off.

I stand by my statement and if you understood the problem you would agree. Go look at the local university where you live and get one of their course catalogs... look at the various degrees and majors they offer and then try and determine which ones are really marketable.... And just for grins go get a copy of the list of graduates they provide at commencements, then you'll see the degrees those grad picked and I can guarantee that you'll see the vast majority were in areas that no self respecting career counselor would ever have thought was a good idea.

 

[psukardi]

You might want to go back and read carefully what I was referring to. The original post was very specific in stating that 27% of college grads in 2013 - which means kids that graduated from college in 2013...not people that had graduated and work for years and were then laid off.

I stand by my statement and if you understood the problem you would agree. Go look at the local university where you live and get one of their course catalogs... look at the various degrees and majors they offer and then try and determine which ones are really marketable.... And just for grins go get a copy of the list of graduates they provide at commencements, then you'll see the degrees those grad picked and I can guarantee that you'll see the vast majority were in areas that no self respecting career counselor would ever have thought was a good idea.

I believe That 70s Show handled it best when Eric said and I quote, "That's good because they just opened up that big philosophy factory in Green bay." That's ultimately what it comes down to for a lot of people. Nothing wrong with being a philosophy major, but when you find out that there's only so many colleges hiring and you're working at a Starbucks for minimum wage + tips don't complain.

 

[Communicore]

medieval military history was always one of my favorites

I know someone with that kind of degree. He is now a bartender.

 

[Gabe1]

To be brutally honest the bulk of those in prison should probably be kept there for life to try and end the cycle, instead they will get out reproduce and create a new generation of inmates.

So they should be kept in for life in jail? I don't subscribe to the broad stroke assumption that criminals can not be rehabilitated. Many turned to a better way of life. What would happen if we locked Rosa Parks up for life for being a pain in the butt? Would it have been better to leave Tim Allen or Ty Cobb in Jail forever? Our prisons are littered with individuals that didn't grow up in stereo typical cycles that you are singling out. We have well educated politicians that had both mother and fathers that cared yet perpetrated crimes and are in jail. Illinois alone has a long laundry list of good people gone bad. Or how about the Enron folk that landed themselves in prison, they didn't come from that stereo typical type of life. I'm not a fan of singling out any demographic and placing those particular inmates in jail for life while allowing inmates like State Senators who are convicted of stealing far more released from prison in a couple of years. Or worse, if a man from those stereo typical environments left a a pregnant women to die at the bottom of a lake, he would likely be kept for life in prison. But if a Senator from a good upbringing does the same, what happens to them? I don't care for double standards let alone locking up a pre-selected demographic of people.

 

[Gabe1]

You might want to go back and read carefully what I was referring to. The original post was very specific in stating that 27% of college grads in 2013 - which means kids that graduated from college in 2013...not people that had graduated and work for years and were then laid off.

I stand by my statement and if you understood the problem you would agree. Go look at the local university where you live and get one of their course catalogs... look at the various degrees and majors they offer and then try and determine which ones are really marketable.... And just for grins go get a copy of the list of graduates they provide at commencements, then you'll see the degrees those grad picked and I can guarantee that you'll see the vast majority were in areas that no self respecting career counselor would ever have thought was a good idea.

Like I said you lost all credibility when you chose to refer to college graduates as idiots. Insecurities are loud. Class is knowing what to say and what not to say. Insults are a desperate flawed attempt of insecure people trying to appear confident and knowledgeable. Intelligent points of views do not need to be shored up with insults.

 

[Gabe1]

I believe That 70s Show handled it best when Eric said and I quote, "That's good because they just opened up that big philosophy factory in Green bay." That's ultimately what it comes down to for a lot of people. Nothing wrong with being a philosophy major, but when you find out that there's only so many colleges hiring and you're working at a Starbucks for minimum wage + tips don't complain.

Peter Thiel might disagree with that analogy of philosophy majors as might Steven Spielburg, Michael Goldberg isn't collecting tips at Starbucks and neither is Ethan Coen for that matter Steve Martin is doing pretty darn well for himself too. Phil Jackson often credits his ability to relate to his players with his education.

Likely That 70s Show isn't the best measurement of successful careers.

 

[psukardi]

Peter Thiel might disagree with that analogy of philosophy majors as might Steven Spielburg, Michael Goldberg isn't collecting tips at Starbucks and neither is Ethan Coen for that matter Steve Martin is doing pretty darn well for himself too. Phil Jackson often credits his ability to relate to his players with his education.

Likely That 70s Show isn't the best measurement of successful careers.

Great so you found a few success stories. I'd rather invest in a STEM degree than basket-weaving. Starbucks and restaurants across the nation are littered with liberal arts majors that realized the Cultural Arts factory went under

 

[Cesar R M]

I still wonder how the hell this thread moved from Brazilian tour groups; to violence, inmates and jobs.

 

[Matt_Black]

Great so you found a few success stories. I'd rather invest in a STEM degree than basket-weaving. Starbucks and restaurants across the nation are littered with liberal arts majors that realized the Cultural Arts factory went under

The problem is that what is a profitable degree can quickly change. People go, "oh, x degree has a bright future", so every takes it, then supply of people with that degree far outweighs the amount of good jobs available, so someone might very well STILL find themselves slinging coffee at Starbucks.

 

[psukardi]

The problem is that what is a profitable degree can quickly change. People go, "oh, x degree has a bright future", so every takes it, then supply of people with that degree far outweighs the amount of good jobs available, so someone might very well STILL find themselves slinging coffee at Starbucks.

Except the "mower" courses in colleges for a lot of STEM degrees keep the numbers low. Bureau of Labor & Stat backs this claim. The unemployment % for profession X < profession Y because of the training and education required.

 

[216bruce]

To quote the late, lamented Judge Smails in "Caddyshack": "Well, the world needs ditch diggers too."

Seriously, this would be an almost moot discussion if there were more decent paying blue-collar jobs these days. Sadly, those are hard to find and they used to be able to put kids through college on those salaries- I'm one (dad was a Teamster). By the way, I'm an English and Mass Communication double major- now semi-retired and living comfortably. It isn't the major, it's a combination of the person and what the economy will allow. If you are really good at what you do and LOVE it- you'll find a decent gig somewhere. I have one kid that's a teacher (soft major) and one that's an aerospace engineer ('real major'). Both are doing fine and neither would have been comfortable or been able to do what the other one does. Like the good judge- it takes all kinds.
The economy can only absorb so many engineers...

Oh yeah, Brazilians... the women ARE gorgeous and their culture is just very LOUD and over the top. Check out the World Cup. That's how they roll.