Jones, Daveante: Paglia

The Need for More Intellectuals

In order for the world to keep progressing its inhabitants must acquire the technological savvy required to keep up with the fast-paced changes. That’s why many trades are becoming less important and intellectual ability is becoming the key to success. Although the trades were the backbone that supported and molded society into the position where newer technologies developed and advanced worldwide, today’s workers must possess intellectual skills. With unskilled labor becoming cheaper elsewhere, the United States has become a society where work is based almost solely on intellect. Today, most manufactured goods are created by cheaper labor overseas. As this pattern continues, the need for higher education becomes vital in society. Also, the faltering economy has made it difficult for many working class families to keep up with the ever more expensive world. Many working class families are losing their homes, vehicles, as well as their overall quality of living. That, in turn, puts the intellectuals of society in a great position because they already have the better paying jobs and the wherewithal to find ways to cope with the substandard economy. With the position the economy is in, Paglia’s idea of simply revalorizing the trades is not going to help. Even doctors and lawyers are having problems keeping up with the economy. On the other hand, intellectuals are in the driver’s seat when it comes to discovering ways to create money-making opportunities outside of the United States. They are even making money by saving money. By saving they take the jobs from working-class citizens. When working class citizens lose their jobs, many of them seek more education in order to seek a higher level of intellect. As they migrate back to the educational world they encounter teenagers graduating high school and going on to college. Witnessing that causes them to grasp that intellect really is the key to the good life today. Enrollment at universities has gone up but the value of a bachelor’s degree has gone down. With more people graduating from college and seeking higher-level jobs, the overall level of intellect in the workforce has gone up. As the level of intellect increases the value of the trades decreases. Even the best of the trades are now at a very low value. With the value of labor going down the best of trades are now going to young adults at lower costs. Because there is no seeming end to the substandard economy in sight, the decrease in the labor of trades adds to the decrease already caused by the increase of intellect. With intellect being more valued so too are the basics of life. Everything is becoming more technically centered. Computers have taken over the world. Everything is becoming more machine oriented and funds are being redirected towards machines and computers from manual labor. With machines being more efficient at the same price as manual labor, the value of manual labor decreases and also creates an increased need for intellectuals. As the world becomes more technologically savvy and the need for more intellectuals to develop it increases, the need for the trades get smaller and smaller.