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By Sal Osio, JD

From the Publisher's Corne

March 25, 2010

Mi Punto de Vista

From the Publisher’s Corner

Higher Education and Materialism

By Sal Osio, JD

Education is the very foundation of society. It is the platform on which civilization flourishes. It is the path to culture. And, culture is the product of education, the sine qua non of joi de vivre. In the absence of culture the mind is impotent and handicapped in the attainment of la raison de existence. Without culture individual and society’s life is marginalized. Morals and values are compromised. Decadence follows.

In our American pragmatic community education is also the key to remuneration and power – the status as an elite member of society. Power and materialism underline the American mantra, not culture. And, education is equated to materialism and social status.

The U.S. Department of Education shows 4,861 colleges and universities with 18,248,128 students in 2007. The 2006 American Community Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau found that 19.5 percent of the population had attended college but had no degree, of whom 1/3^rd (almost 7% of the population) held a degree. Those holding a degree were divided as follows: 7.4 percent held an associate's degree, 17.1 percent held a bachelor's degree, and 9.9 percent held a graduate or professional degree. Only a small gender gap was present: 27 percent of the overall population held a bachelor's degree or higher, with a slightly larger percentage of men (27.9 percent) than women (26.2 percent). However, despite increasing economic incentives for people to obtain college degrees, the percentage of people graduating high school and college has been declining as of 2008.

Statistically “college graduates” – the 7% of the population – are the country’s elite. They are the movers and the shakers, society’s power structure. They are the bankers and financiers, the politicians and bureaucrats, the judges and the prosecutors, the industrialists and manufacturers, the business owners and executives, the educators and professionals, the performing and visual arts impresarios, the construction and transportation directors, the energy czars, the military hardware and munitions makers, of whom a significant number are the designated hit men (See: John Perkins “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man”). Collectively, the elite receive an estimated 80% of the gross compensation earned by the entire labor force.

In fact, higher compensation and material reward, the accumulation of wealth, the essence of power, are the primary motivation for earning a higher education degree in America. The acquisition of knowledge as a fiduciary for the benefit of mankind - the essence of culture – is the mantra of the few and all but forgotten.

Because higher education is equated with self interest, the accumulation of wealth and power - the essence of materialism - our society experiences the sociopath behavior of the elite – a group lacking a moral compass. Corporate America is lacking a conscience in their endless pursuit of earnings. Insurers cancel the policies of the insured without justification other than to avoid the payment of legitimate claims. Banks overcharge and abuse the rights of their depositors and credit card holders, wantonly, for self gain. Arms dealers and munitions manufacturers promote armed conflicts, such as the war in Iraq, to enhance their balance sheets. Prosecutors and Judges, in an unholy alliance, promote convictions at the expense of justice in a criminal justice system that has run amuck, in order to promote their careers and economic advancement. Legislators are the merchants of fear to justify legislation aimed at controlling and subjugating the less privileged classes and to promote their election and retention of power. Media commentators and reporters twist the facts and scandalize the events at the expense of truth and fairness in order to increase their audience and advance their own economic interests.

"I pledge myself to continue to search for truth, and to engage in a continuing quest for an understanding of what is unknown. I will seek, through logic and experimentation, a better comprehension and more fruitful application of what is known. I pledge myself to the use of knowledge for the benefit of mankind. I will continue the quest of wisdom, strive to nurture it, and to translate it into reality in the conduct of every day life" the Pledge of the Phi Kappa Phi scholarship society, should be the American Pledge.

Sal Osio is the Publisher of HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com). Contact at: SPosio@aol.com