[SOC]

One of my Facebook friends graduated with a mechanical engineering degree back in 1995. He is still paying off the student loan debt and has been in hardship status on the loan since 2008. I graduated in 1994 with a useless English degree, but I don't owe anyone any money on anything. Which one of us is better off?

I get a bit perturbed when people blame the higher ed bubble on liberal arts majors with useless degrees, but what gets overlooked are the many math, science, engineering, and computer science majors who are either unemployed or underemployed. I have been Googling the stats on this shit, and it confirms what I know. The hard majors experience a level of unemployment comparable to the soft majors.

The story that gets overlooked is the one Mike Rowe talks about which is the shortage of skilled labor. I know what the problem is. We have had a government and a society that urged everyone to go to college, and they did. They greased the skids with all those student loans. Now, we have machinists making more money and with better job prospects than graduating engineers. Supply and demand.

The big story for me the past 20 years has been the nursing shortage, but I heard on NPR that this shortage has ended. It may return as baby boomers retire, but it goes to show what I have always known. There is no such thing as a safe high demand field. And if you are making above the median income, don't be surprised when this reverts to the mean, and you end up making far less.

I feel the best way to go is to accept that median income and diversify your skill set. This is anathema to the wider culture that pushes us to become high earners, but I think this is a sucker's game. Like with stock investing, you are better off investing in low priced index funds and taking the average return rather than trying to pick stocks. With your career, you are also better off developing a portfolio of skills rather than trying to be tops in one field. The goal of this diversification isn't to make more money but to always be employable.

I have seriously considered law school, business school, and other things. But as my Facebook friend pointed out to me, his sister has an MBA and a JD and $250K in debt to pay back. I never thought that being a loser like me could feel so good. I am just a blue collar guy with zero debt.

I think most people crave status while I crave freedom. This is reflected in the way I live my life. I am an atheist. I am a libertarian. I am not married. I am blue collar. I live a really simple life.

I like the way I live, and I don't want to change it. I resist all the pressures to marry, take a promotion, go back to school, and on and on. I am such a loser, but I feel like a winner as I watch everyone else struggle with divorce, unemployment, debt, and general misery. The only issues I deal with in my life are my wishes to amend some bad habits like eating in the car.

I also admit that my antisocial tendencies come from the simple desire to not listen to or become involved with other people's problems. This is because I don't care. Life is about choices, and people make those choices. They just can't bear the consequences. I never complain about needing money or being lonely. If I didn't have the government to bitch about, I would have little to bitch about whatsoever.

The reality is that I have a good life. As for my inner peace thing, I realize that the cause of my turmoil is other people and their problems. I live in an empty apartment, so everyone tries to give me their clutter. I live debt free, and everyone wants to borrow money from me. I have free time, and everyone wants to suck it up for their worthless bullshit that I don't give a fuck about. I don't complain, so I have to hear about everyone else's complaints.

I am happy. Everyone else is miserable. When I tell them how to be happy, they never listen.

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