Coalition Against Institutionalized Education

I used to love being a college student. Partying, learning, experiencing new things. To me, it was a wonderland of a new life, filled with endless possibilities.

Well, I'm now too years out, and at risk of sounding too cynical too soon, I would just like to say, screw institutional education.

Firstly, if you are in a Liberal Arts major, forget getting a job. There are almost no opportunities for someone with a B.A. looking for a practical job. And whats more, no liberal arts degree will ever give you any practical experience on doing anything life related :cars, insurance, business, interacting with people. And whats worse is a college will charge you 50 grand to learn aloof facts about some culture in Kenya. I'm not saying knowledge isnt important, but college students, don't be fooled. Schools arent in the business of education, they are in the business of making money.

Secondly, the professors. Now, I have had my share of incredible professors. People truly interested in sharing their knowledge with people for the betterment of mankind. Then you interact with the ASSHOLES who have tenure and sit on their cushy throwns condescending anyone who doesn't have a PhD. Truthfully, I had a professor in college whose lab I had to miss because my grandfather passed away. I gave him five days notice of the situation, and the day after the lab I missed, he wrote back to me saying if I missed another lab I failed his course. Seriously?

And then you get the professors that just think they are so goddamn important. PROFESSOR GREG EVANYLO of Virginia Tech got on the phone with me today regarding an inquiry about SARE (Sustainable agriculture research and education) grant opportunities as he is the extension specialist you must go through to secure the grant. This condescending human had the nerve to tell me first that I had no idea what I was talking about, second, that I sounded like a pushy saleswoman hiding behind a research project to get money, and third that you can put urine directly on plants. Who is this fucking guy? I tried to explain to him that firstly, I did in fact know what I was talking about and the research organization I was partnering with had done all the necessary research to back this project up, that second, I am a college graduate, a terrible saleswoman and instead I try to save the world every day when I get up, not make money, and third that you would kill every plant you had if you peed on it. Even though this guy works in the soil and crop science, he probably never even put his hands in dirt or actually tried to fertilize plants with raw material. I spent six months on a sustainable farm in Israel, and that may not be a super long time, but I know how plants grow. I am no idiot.

The problem is that academics have turned from education to business. There is no knowledge for the sake of progression anymore. There is no collaboration. There is only knowledge for money and the promise of tenure to treat people however you want. Well while this asshole is sitting in his cushy Virginia Tech office, I'm actually trying to make the world a better place everyday, and convincing people that even though  sewage is the least glamorous side of sustainability, it is still heavily important.

I urge people to stand together against this monopoly of knowledge. College is totally useless unless you pursue higher education, and that only throws people into more debt and more issues. They don't actually teach you anything useful that can be applied to a profession outside the academic world. Today I start the Coalition against Institutionalized Education. I'm sick of their shit and empty promises and bad attitudes. I want to start a new kind of education. One that teaches people how to be productive members of society and one that values those members. One that teaches you how to do your taxes or file for insurance or to apply research. knowledge for the sake of knowledge is useless. Knowledge for the sake of Progression, that is what our society needs.