Letter to the Editor: Thinking about Ted

Published 9:38 am Monday, January 22, 2024

Please try to imagine the unmitigated joy I experienced when I found my OPINION piece right next to one by my ‘favorite’ syndicated opinionist Ted Rall! Yes, I could hardly hold back my emotional reaction, so allow me to share my thoughts:

1. Ted, who ALWAYS knows everything, now promotes LYING. It appears that he must subscribe to ‘The End Justifies the Means’ school of thought especially if it suits ones purpose, But wait!, is that not what Vlad Putin’s rationale for his little trip to Ukraine is? And, likewise, Hamas’ excuse for their October 7 ‘visit’ to Israel…both causing little dust-ups of sorts? Well, they just thought Machiavelli must have been on to something…?

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2. If you have not realized it by now, Educational pursuits post High School is actually just a BIG waste of time and money Heck, only 25% of those elitists pursue the exact field they chose and studied inside those ivy walls…how DARE they change their young minds…their life goals…their very lifestyles???

3. Perhaps Ted should be given a (hall?) pass to numbers 1 and 2, because he then attacked the REAL culprit…CREDENTIALOCRACY…a word not found in dictionaries yet. Here Ted really shines…he reveals to us the whole she-bang of the conspiracy between the following players:

A. American Colleges and Universities…those scammers of naive young people and (their) parents. He figured all this out in 1995…almost 30 years ago.

B. The components of A. above are CORPORATIONS(!), that form of business model which Ted is always attacking and blaming. And while on the attack, he offers sympathy to the 42% drop-outs who are ‘mostly low-income and minority people’ debtors… the PREY of those corporate villains! (NOTE;

Ted was a ‘drop-out’ once…he was expelled for reasons he chose NOT to share,,,yet he returned to school 6 years later??? HUH?

C. Finally, CREDENTIALOCRACY is to blame for all the post-secondary educational systems’ ills that Ted has unveiled for us to ponder. It is the root of this needless, non-wanted and coerced upon us system. Remember, only 25% actually go on…

D. (Finally 2) Ted’s solutions are always ‘obvious’: Employers got to STOP this, the Labor Department got to REGULATE this…after all, it’s only a money-grubbing business!

What Ted conveniently leaves out is that continuing one’s education just might have positive benefits as well:

1. It allows young people’s brains to fully mature before charting their futures.

2. It offers great recreational opportunities (Drinking, Smoking, Sports, SEX,,,,) and the time to put on some extra weight.

3. It also leads to some students achieving the degree they came for…like the MRS,,,

One last thought: I have for many years now said that my experience attending a University gave me one SUBSTANTIAL benefit; it taught me to THINK. Oddly enough in the 2023 NEW ZINE (Tulane School of Architecture), a 1990 graduate, a very successful businessman who CHOSE to not become an architect even with his degree, is quoted thusly;

“More than anything the School of Architecture teaches you how to think.” (Brad Meltzer, A’90)

Frankly Ted, I ‘think’ you must have skipped that class…

Richard Phillips

New Iberia