Why I stopped going to college
Growing up, it was ingrained to my head that college is a must if one is going to be successful. During my younger years in government school, I was constantly told to "go to college" by family members, church friends, school teachers and principals, fellow cadets from JROTC, and television programs, especially Boy Meets World. In every facet of my life, college was treated as a must go if I want a successful career in life. For you see, only poor and stupid people don't go to college, or so I was told.
When I graduated from government high school and made the decision to not join the military (a story for another time), I was...at a loss of what I was suppose to do, what my purpose in life was. While I was feeling indecisive, I was pushed by family and teachers to go to college. Seeing no other alternative, I went along and joined with an undecided major. While I was in Miami Dade Prison, I was engaged in political activism during my free time. I was a conservative and an American Patriot during these times. Wanting to do my part in restoring America's constitutional republic, I decided that the best way to do that was influence the next generation into becoming patriots, who will vote for more conservative politicians in government. In order to achieve this objective, the students need to know about this country's founders and what principles they believed in. So I figured that I become an American History Teacher.
So that's what my twenties boiled down to: helping conservative candidates become politicians, virtue signaling through social media, and getting a history degree in order to create future patriots. I was even going to sneak in "A Patriot's History of the United States" (1) and use it as a secret textbook for my "public" classes. (Took me a year to read that book by the way). For a long while, I felt good and energized, believing that I was fighting a noble and winnable cause...
...
...until 2014.
(With Riku Theme from Kingdom Hearts 2)
That year was when I was disillusioned beyond reason. I will be brief here:
When the TEA Party was successful in helping the Republicans reclaim Congress, my attitude was "YES! We can finally push back against the leftist agenda, begin to reduce our national debt, cut down on government imposed taxes and regulations in the economy, and restore our constitutional republic! We now have a clear and strong opposition to Obama's goal in transforming our nation into the United Socialist States of America!"...
...what I witnessed instead was the Republicans cooperating with the Democrats to strengthen the federal government's control over the states and individual, helped Obama increase our national debt to the trillions, and even continuously funded that tyrannical piece of legislation known as Obamacare! My time and efforts in the TEA Party, and political activism in general, has been for nothing. With this in mind, I gave up on politics.
Between 2014 and 2016, while I was attending the Florida Idiot's University, I was...in a mental limbo, so to speak. One that was destroying my life purpose, and my friendship with God. There's more to the story, but I want to stay on topic on some...revelations I received during these three years.
Before I get to my next point, I must preface this by stating my mentality: I love the concept of self-reliance and freedom. With that in mind, I use to express my disgust and loathing for the parasites in my country. Those who deliberately choose not to work, even when they are capable of doing so. Who relish at receiving money provided by the taxpayers at gun point. And who complain like brats when their free money is about to be taken away. These lazy parasites include, but are not limited to: welfare kings and queens, social security old farts, illegal aliens who have the audacity to demand free money, and college students who still live with their parents...
...
...at one point, I stopped to think about that last one. I'm alive because of my parent's generosity and the taxpayer's "donations." I never had a real job before. And I'm relying on taxpayer's money to finish college...I felt ill and hated myself for my hypocrisy. I guess I was projecting myself when I criticized others for their parasitical lifestyle. My hypocrisy double-folded when I...stopped caring about everything and everyone, and just ungratefully leeched on to my parents, something I still regret as I write.
Around 2016 and early 2017, I did some reading and watching. Because of the disillusionment I stated earlier, my mind was open to new ideas. (2) One of them was the Non-Aggression Principle. (3) After reading Earning Freedom, (4) I looked up a well-known libertarian and American Historian, Tom Woods. I became aware of his book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. (5) Since I only knew history from a conservative point of view, I figured it was fair to give Dr. Woods a chance and read the American past from a libertarian standpoint. Let me tell you...there were...uncomfortable truths I was forced to face. I'll explain this another time, but suffice to say...this book helped me realized that almost everything I knew about American History was false.
With this revelation, came an excruciating dilemma: My future teaching career. With all of the schools in my area pushing either the Progressive or Conservative agenda, I was going to be facing two choices:
A) Forget about what I discovered, pretend ignorance, and teach my students the official history. I would make good money and eat well, but my sleep and health will decrease dramatically. My conscience will constantly bother me and God will be disappointed in me.
B) Go against the system. Tell my students the truth about this country and teach them about liberty, but at the constant risk of being discovered and fired for following my conscience. And in my unemployment, I will have to make a different career choice and start all over again.
Two choices. Two painful consequences. Before I can meditate on this crossroad further, I stumbled upon a video by Stefan Molyneux called: DON'T GO TO COLLEGE. (6) I basically learned more than a few truths from this, including:
1) Most of the college degrees are useless and the courses do not prepare you for the workforce. No skills, no practical uses, no work ethic, no business or entrepreneur talents, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The worst kind of degree a student can take is an arts degree, making me question: "what practical use will it have once I'm looking for a real job?!" There are only four fields that students can benefit from, and the only reason these are recommended is because the government REQUIRES you to get a college education before you get these careers: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine. Everything else is useless, including what I'm pursuing!
2) A history degree is useless, because I have learned more history in six months online than twenty years in government school. Nuff said about that.
3) The purpose of College is not to educate us, but mold and indoctrinate us to either become dependent on the state or work for them, like I once did in a government after school program. If I become a government teacher, I will only continue the cycle of teaching the next generation to love and serve the state, while I get paid with money taken from the taxpayers at gun point.
4) Since college is "free" and easy to access for everyone to join, that means that the majority of students are self-entitled, stupid people who have no hope in getting a real job. I was sadly told that morons don't go to college, when the opposite is actually true. I have great resentment for those who persuaded me to make this colossal mistake. I'm only thankful to God I had the foresight to never accept student loans, especially when I was told by a couple of idiots that "student debt is good debt."
So, in May 2017, when I had twenty credits left to get my bachelor's degree, I made an unpopular decision: I quit college. As a follower of the Non-Aggression Principle, who believes in free markets, private property rights, self-reliance, work ethic, and voluntary contracts, I figured it was time to practice what I preach and pursue work in the private sector. To actually contribute to society and provide my services to those who want it. And most importantly, to earn my pay, rather than receiving handouts or stolen money. This new road I'm traveling on...is pretty scary, to be honest. But one thing is clear: I'm sticking this to the end and never going back to prison.
Footnotes
1) Schweikart, Larry and Allen, Michael. A Patriot's History of the United States. New York: Sentinel, 2004
2) Godiswithus3. "Three Fimfiction Writers who have helped me." Fimfiction.net. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fanfiction, May 2017. Web Accessed. 10 Mar. 2019. https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/739177/three-fimfiction-writers-who-have-helped-me
3) Liberty Patriot. "What the Non-Aggression Principle means to me." Minds.com. N.P., Mar. 2019. Web Accessed. 10 Mar. 2019. https://www.minds.com/blog/view/828643769550745600
4) Daxisle. "Earning Freedom." fimfiction.net. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fanfiction, Aug. 2012. Web Access. 10 Mar. 2019. https://www.fimfiction.net/story/41655/earning-freedom
5) Woods, Thomas E. The Politically Incorrect Guide To American History. Washington DC: Regenery Publishing, 2004
6) Molyneux, Stefan. "DON'T GO TO COLLEGE." youtube.com. N.P., Mar. 2017. Web Accessed. 10 Mar. 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfYot1IsqCM&t=1s