In short the public schools, including the universities, are nothing more than baby-sitting institutions.

Sadly, this speak sounded well thought out until the last line.

'But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us we're smart enough to do so.'

If the modern school system in the US is simply turning out mindless drones, is it really wise to base your opinions of people's level of intellect on a piece of paper from an extension of that same school system? Wouldn't it be wiser to deprive that extension of much of its funding by refusing to buy into the 'paper equals smart' myth?

What amuses me is the fact that I do not have a college degree, which has saved me from a much larger load of debt and has kept me from being the usual massive drain on taxpayer funding. Not only that, but I have tutored college seniors, been told that I seem far smarter than the college professors they pay to learn from, and have been asked if my Master's degree was from Harvard or Yale.

Many were shocked to learn that my higher education was self-education and did not involve an insanely high tuition, frat and sorority drunk-fests, or sitting in a classroom for years on end.

Of course, when asked to justify getting a college education, most college faculty state that they FEEL college is the right way to learn. Students state that higher earnings were their goal-completely missing the irony that the higher earnings are canceled out by the higher debts incurred.

College may have been useful and productive in the days of Plato and Socrates, but it has far outstayed its usefulness, and in my opinion, its welcome.