The Unbiased Truth About Nova

[senseiman]

Why on earth would you be philosophically opposed to a degree? Its a tool that you can use to get the type of job in Japan that you want, if you can get one then go for it, otherwise your options are pretty limited.

The main problem for you is that the normal avenue for non-degree holders, the working holiday visa, isn't available to Americans. I say go finish that 1/3 of the degree you've got left.

Also, about that "4 year degree" requirement, if you've got a 3 year degree then they'll still take you. I had a 3 year undergraduate degree from a Canadian university and I was hired by both GEOS and AEON despite that fact without any trouble.

[Sukotto]

Why on earth would you be philosophically opposed to a degree? Its a tool that you can use to get the type of job in Japan that you want, if you can get one then go for it, otherwise your options are pretty limited.
The main problem for you is that the normal avenue for non-degree holders, the working holiday visa, isn't available to Americans. I say go finish that 1/3 of the degree you've got left.
Also, about that "4 year degree" requirement, if you've got a 3 year degree then they'll still take you. I had a 3 year undergraduate degree from a Canadian university and I was hired by both GEOS and AEON despite that fact without any trouble.

US has 2yr Associates degrees.
and working holiday visas for Americans?
these people are too crazy, as the following may attest to:


oh, boy,
are you ready for this one?


you're all going to totally rip this apart, i know.
i'll try my best. i never put it "on paper", so to speak.
just had varying ideas going around in my head for a number of years.
and, if i list spell them out to you, it might be the end of it and might just
wind up getting one after all because a) you might convince me otherwise; or b) whenever i say i am going to do something, i often do not do it.
so here the opposite.

my very first semester in attending university was a 2nd semester and the school i went to wasn't that big so the first Japanese language course was not taught during this semester. i'd had it in high school and my Japanese teacher suggested why don't i go to college for Japanese after he learned i didn't really have any plans after high school. i could get a degree in anything and go to Japan to teach English. so Japanese language was
the primary reason i went after taking a couple years off not really thinking too much about attending during that time.
that was what got me to go in the first place. had it not been for Japanese language, i would not have gone to college at all.
with my first semester not having Japanese, when it was almost done i almost failed to make the minimum required gpa because one particular course i'd just about given up on. i didn't really want to be there any way and i'm not taking the courses i wanted, so why should i be there? an adviser convinced me to go talk to one prof about the particular class. so i remained in college.

even though i really had my doubts about wanting to be there at all.
i felt college was for the rich people.
why should i get to be a privileged shmuck?
maybe i could become an "expert" and tell other people the way
things should be or how they should live their lives?
that seemed kind of immoral to me.
for instance, i don't want to become a social worker and tell some kid they had better shape up or face the consequences. coercion.

and the whole "IQ" test thing is culturally biased.
"so we college graduates are smart because we have these
degrees that show a mastery of set of knowledge X."
which whom deems that particular knowledge important?
generally speaking, groups that control more of the planets resources
than the rest.

those with the degree should get paid more money because those
that control most of the resources(money) deem that particular set
of knowledge valuable. why? because it helps them keep control
of the resources, of course. share a little more of those resources
with with those (degree/knowledge holders) that can use their cleverness to help maintain the resources in the hands of the few.


and if you are not able to obtain enough of the pre-determined set
of knowledge that is good at helping maintain the resources in the hands that they are, you should just get less resources of the earth. or so it is determined by those (we allow) to lay claim to a disproportionate amount of the earth's limited resources.
the earth is not an endless resource, therefore, the theory that a "rising tide of economic goodness will raise all ships" is rather incorrect.
only so much can be "re-invested" in resource extraction, the source of all real wealth -the earth, because there is only so much resources to extract.
simply adding some numbers to current numbers and "inventing" more value or wealth is a flaming joke; a house of cards ready to crumble when it goes on too long.

that's also a sort of time line of ideas as i obtained or contemplated them. (perhaps poorly)

so,
college is primarily about the restocking of the ruling class.

at least in a society with such disparities in wealth as the US,
despite the idea of "class" being well hidden behind ideology and rhetoric.


today,
the ruling class primarily hides their privilege behind the legal protections
of the corporation. not only privilege in disproportionate access to the earth's resources, including the resources in other peoples' countries which are actually a particular people's first and foremost, but also the privileges that the legal form called the corporation constructs, such as limited liability for the owners/shareholders, among others. these privileges were primarily constructed over the past century, century and a half.



and criticizing corporations i've found out, not in a collge class, but in extra-curicular activities, is not a "communist" endeavor:
"I hope we shall take warning from the example and crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
said (Letter to Logan, 1816). THOMAS JEFFERSON

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”
– U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864

and the patron saint of capitalism
Adam Smith condemned corporations for their effect in curtailing "natural liberty."


so blah, blah, blah,
the us is the belly of the beast.

something bad was going to happen but we didn't know what.
well, lots bad was already happening coming from dc, but mostly
didn't affect people in the US so much.
then the US flat out invaded 2 countries,
dropping the war by proxy and usual low-intensity warfare of arming dictators and death squads (read Pinochets & Contras).
(low-intensity meaning attacking civilians; not very low-intensity for those it was aimed at: unionist/worker rights advocates, church groups, community groups, democratic organizers, etc...)


and maybe cute Japanese girls almost got me to leave this trash heap.
but thanks to others who are much smarter than i, this did not happen.



regarding going to Japan without a degree to try to get a job,
i also thought this not such a good thing because
one should respect the requirements of one's host.
i mean, "white males", be they wealthy land holders or not,
have historically gotten their way throughout history.
so here lies a very good reason, imo, to not try to weasel one's
way into a job in Japan without a degree.


yeah, yeah, sounds nice.
so who wants to give me a job?
not


yeah,
that about sums it up.
and going to Japan is an escape from this reality.
so, yeah.
forget about it.
at least for now.
lame-duck presidents still might claim they have a legal power
to attack Iran. impeachment is the least we can do for the rest
of the world; for those that live on the periferary of the empire,
to say we are sorry. will that happen? or are too many of us,
myself included, addicted to American Idle?
if only i'd stop sitting in front of this damn screen!