TRUISMS MUSTN'T BE SPOKEN BY CONSERVATIVES:

Questions for Charles Murray: Head of the Class (Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON, 9/21/08, NY TImes Magazine)

Although attending college has long been a staple of the American dream, you argue in your new book, “Real Education,” that too many kids are now heading to four-year colleges and wasting their time in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.

Yes. Let’s stop this business of the B.A., this meaningless credential. And let’s talk about having something kids can take to an employer that says what they know, not where they learned it. [...]

I’m sure you’re aware that unemployment is very high right now. There are very few unemployed first-rate electricians.

I can get a good doctor in a minute and a half. Getting a really good electrician — that’s hard. If you want jobs that are in high demand, go to any kind of skilled labor. And by labor, I mean things that pay $30 or $40 an hour.

One is reminded of the story NPR did a few years ago on the desperate need for watch repairmen.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 20, 2008 7:48 AM