Okay, so you weren’t born on third base like this guy. It doesn’t mean you can’t score.

40 yr. old Gen-Xer delivers a worthy Comment of the Day, leveled at my criticism of the Angry Unemployed Law Grad blog, “Third Tier Reality.”  I think it provides valid perspective, though I also think the post’s characterization of how this issue has been handled on Ethics Alarms is somewhat unfair. (You can read my response under the original article.)

Here is the Comment of the Day, on the post, “Unethical Website of the Month: Third Tier Reality”:

“My point is that the situation Nando is railing about is more complex than the scenario of a bunch of disgruntled youth, unwilling to “work hard”, whining for a hand-out. Nando may pour it on thick with name calling and scatological imagery; fair enough. However, to dismiss the underlying message is overly simplistic, dismissive of people’s good-faith effort and ignores the real economic hardship that many face.

“I think it is more than fair to say that worldwide, over the last 40 years, (1) there has been a marked increase of college graduates in rough proportion to overall population; (2) tuition for undergrad and graduate school has skyrocketed, whether measured in real or adjusted dollars; (3) middle-class incomes have stagnated, and (4) the overall economy has suffered. This combination of factors does not bode well for anyone, especially younger people, regardless of political stripe. All you have to do is look at Bloomberg, Zero-Hedge, and similar sites to get data on this.

“Outside of elite circles, people go to college to make themselves marketable. The marketplace has all but demanded it. We can debate the efficacy of various degree programs…I have two engineering degrees (the highly vaunted “STEM” majors) and a law degree, and have licenses in both fields. My own personal results have been fair to middling, yet I “work hard”, pay my student loans (“high” compared to 1970s tuition dollars), etc. etc. etc.

“In my own case, I would say my legal education was a mistake given the cost-to-income ratio, as the patent law and “versatile JD” offerings did not readily present themselves to me. I continue to make a go of it, but it is by no means easy. The mileage of others will vary – and who you know is always a tremendous benefit and is always understated when one group criticizes another for their failings. None of us sprang fully-formed from the head of Zeus.

“There is recent evidence that law schools in particular manipulated placement and salary statistics, that NALP and USN&WR reported these statistics unquestioningly, and that students relied on them. According to the courts so far, this manipulation, while real, is not actionable. Yet it did influence many to make the decisions they made.

“As such, I feel for the anger and frustration that many college graduates feel, be they legal or otherwise, as I share in it. I think many, many people would absolutely jump at the chance to “work hard” and earn income that would allow a desirable living while servicing debt. Luckily, I have managed to survive where others haven’t, and I am grateful for it.\”But, for you or other posters on this forum to eschew any sense of compassion and say that all “these people” need to do (along with the welfare-queens and homeless, I suspect?) is “hang a shingle”, “get a job”, “be willing to work”, “stop whining” is, in turn, to pick and choose data that supports your worldview and ignore other valid counter-arguments.

“I would call that unethical.”

Me again.

Upon re-reading the comment, I confess that there are aspects to it that feed into false cultural currents in the national dialogue….and yes, I blame the Obama Administration rhetoric for some of it, but much of it has been leaking into our stream of thought for decades.

Once the motivation for higher education became “getting a good job” rather than “being educated and learning to think,” the downward spiral that 40 yr. old Gen-Xer (let’s call him or her “40”) described was pre-ordained. College meant better jobs, so we had to make college a goal for everyone, which meant that there was an increase in demand, which caused tuition to rise, which provoked loan schemes to make sure that access to college wasn’t determined by class or wealth alone. In turn, the universities had no reason to keep costs under control, because they were getting their money anyway, even from students who couldn’t afford the high tuition levels.

Meanwhile, the diploma, not the content and quality of the education, became the students’ goal. This led to lowered standards for graduation, grade inflation, and a deterioration of the perceived value of a college education, and, consequently, the real value of a college education. College was over-sold as a ticket to success, and the concept that there was (or ever has been) a “ticket to success” fertilized a toxic myth. I think assigning narrow blame for this societal train wreck is self-serving: the culprits include elected officials, educators, policy-makers, universities, banks, employers, parents, the media, popular culture, and the students themselves.

Law school degrees have not been similarly degraded, but their value naturally decreased as too many people became lawyers. The big money of the 70’s and 80’s also drew people into law school who had no abiding interest or aptitude for law, merely for the money they thought they could make as lawyers. Were they misled? I suppose. Were they greedy, venal, and seeking a career in an honorable profession for reasons having nothing to do with public service? A lot of them, yes. Were some of them also individuals who were probably poor fits for college as well as law? I know this is true: when I was a law school administrator, it was shocking how many students arrived with poor reading, writing and other academic skills, especially affirmative action students. Again, narrowly assigning blame is too convenient. But the fact that a lot of people who shouldn’t have been lawyers found, and find, that their degree doesn’t guarantee success in a field they were ill-suited for from the start doesn’t show that something is wrong with the degree.

Meanwhile, those who have been disappointed n their prospects have gravitated to class warfare alibis: “Who you know is always a tremendous benefit and is always understated when one group criticizes another for their failings.”  This fallacy assumes that there is an elite “group” that naturally takes care of its own, and that without such a group, one is racing with one leg tied up behind. No doubt: some people are born, as the late Ann Richards said of George H.W. Bush, on third base. Some of them, a lot, in fact, also get picked off, thrown out at home, or find themselves replaced by pinch-runners. Success is seldom automatic and always at risk, and the resentment and contempt in the air for those who start with advantages and make the most of them is nationally crippling and destructive. Anyone can make contacts; anyone can create  a network. It takes work, and skill.  I went to an elite school famous or infamous for its “network.” I have never gotten a job, an interview, a client, a contract, or a red cent from this “network.” “Who I know” has never been made up of secret societies and plummy alumni clubs. The vast majority of the assistance I have received in my career came from either my very middle-class father, people I met through various jobs, or especially the world of theater. With the exception of my father, my contacts were earned, not by an admission into a prestige school, but by my efforts to build relationships, and how I worked and interacted with others. Some people are handicapped by difficulties relating to people: I understand.  And I stink at sports.  But that’s an impediment to employment that can be addressed with recognition and hard work. It’s not going to be fixed by carrying a sign, or writing a bitter blog.

I have been unemployed, lost and desperate: many successful people, probably most, have. They don’t blame anyone for momentarily failing. They do, quite reasonably, resent being told that they had it easy, and watching someone give up in order to blame the system, rather than doing what any life demands: taking responsibility, fighting adversity, and doing the best one can.