Why Stay in School, Part 1: The Impact of Globalization

I live in a southern rural county in the United States. For the past 6 years I've worked with youth, adults, and laid off (aka "dislocated") workers.

When I get the opportunity these days to talk with young folks who are still in High School, I've stopped talking about the topic "Why Stay In School" simply in terms of the earnings changes that occur as one progresses beyond a High School diploma to anassociate's degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree or doctorate. What I've added to the talk about earnings change is something that I think today's youth (and anyone in the workforce) needs to contemplate when creating their own lifetime learning plan. That added topic is the subject of the impact of globalization and it's potential to decimate America's so called "Middle Class".

Diehard capitalists approach the topic of globalization with the glib assumption that human capital responds as quickly to market fluctuations as the dollars flowing through the stock markets. People don't respond instantly and dispassionately to the changes brought by globalization though...I've witnessed the people who are getting caught in the crunch of globalization. Indeed thousands of families and communities are seeing themselves decimated.Diehard socialists use this reality as a pretext for seeking to indulge their centralizing fantasies to pour more money and resources down the rat hole of government intervention that routinely fails, is rarely reformed, and usually lags decades behind the realities of the market place.

I, like those I speak to, have no control over either the diehard capitalists or the diehard socialists. We can, on our best days, seek to control ourselves and develop plans that help us respond to our environments today and in the future.

So, these days, I urge my hearers to escape the career myths that bind them and inform themselves about globalization so they can take the steps which are in their best interest for creating streams of future income.