To Chris Lewis-

I think what Mr Opinion is obliquely referring to is - whether he is intelligent or not doesn't matter- what matters is "meaning".

But I have too much time on my hands obviously... ;)

Foxy,

I think everyone should do an Arts degree.

People who do a vocational degree like engineering, medicine, law, accountancy, etc. and also do an Arts degree want to be educated as well as being able to make a living from a regular job.

Have you noticed that the ones who denigrate the Arts degree are those who are the uneducated amongst us. For example the shadyminister. He thinks having three vocational degrees makes him educated. Don't think so. How many engineers, lawyers, doctors, etc. do you hear say "Oh I had to supplement my studies by learning the Classics and some modern languages and some philosophy as well." Not bloody likely. When one wants to be an archaeologist or sociologist etc they have to do this on top of their chosen field of study.

It's chalk and cheese Foxy.

Misop,

I recall when my kids were very young, once they had got off the pot - and I probably did the same - that they would crow, "Daddy, I do poos."

So perhaps you've been to a university. Like about 3 million other Australians. And like about 55,000 Indigenous people in Australia. Congratulations.

From the latest stats on the federal Ed. Dept website, issued yesterday:

http://docs.education.gov.au/node/55057

more than 21,000 Indigenous students are currently enrolled at universities across the country. Nearly three thousand graduated last year, about a third % at post-graduate level. For reference, there are about 450,000 Indigenous adults in Australia. So about one in every eight Indigenous adults is a university graduate, one in every five women, one in every ten men. Overwhelmingly in the cities, of course, where most Indigenous people now live. Around 140,000 Indigenous people have, at some time, been enrolled at an Australian university. And that won't stop, or slow down.

I don't expect much of a tsunami of favourable comments, especially not from hotshots in the Indigenous elite, about this achievement. Or any comments, in fact.

Why is that ? Because the Indigenous elite is not, in the main, interested in Indigenous benefit or improvement or 'Closing the Gaps', but more interested in power - in two ways:

* down, over what they hope will remain a huge lifelong-welfare-oriented population,dependent and helpless, desperately needing their constant political backing to maintain their lifestyles; and

* up, into the bureaucracies which provide constant revenue and committee opportunities, for the elites to 'disperse'.

But live in hope.

Anyway, Misop, you will have more than fifty thousand Indigenous graduates to compete against, if you ever graduate.

Joe

Mr O,

We shall have to agree to disagree on this one.

Just because someone studies Arts and Humanities
does not necessarily mean that they are educated
or that they think. They may merely have learned
enough to pass their exams. And the degree that they
have is not worth the paper its written on.

I have a colleague who's what is referred to as a
"Perpetual student" he keeps on studying and getting
degrees - but has not actually worked at anything in his
life. Probably he finds more comfort in studying than
in the real world. I also know a guy who finished
medicine - but never practiced it. He ended up lecturing
at university. And I won't go into how many teachers I
know - who have all the qualifications - but cannot
relate to their students or control an unruly classroom.

So there you are.

Degrees as you should know - are supposed to do a lot
of things - I've listed some of them earlier. But its
up to each individual - whether they actually achieve their
goals.

As the old joke about degrees goes:

We all know what BS is.(smile).
And an MS - is more of the same
And a PhD - is just - piled higher and deeper.

FOULmouth,

I still reckon you should have done an Arts degree. You have the makings of someone who could easily become an anthropologist, archaeologist, sociologist, historian, etc.

But you chose to be a Maoist pie-maker instead.

One good thing, you didn't end up being just an engineer like your mate the shadyminister.

Foxy,

Thank heavens for that.

Because guess what: I'm not in that bunch.

Are you?