"Education" and learning don't necessarily coincide. Yes it does open more doors, it does give you leverage in the professional field to make demands and have expectations of your employers, but success isn't guaranteed with graduation. The myth is that a person believes they goto a 4-year college, earn a B.A. and land that "dream job" where their future is set towards a bright and sunny horizon well... if that doesn't pan out exactly what does one do? They go BACK to school for 2-3 more years and get a Masters degree, again to try and fulfill the belief that the "prestige" will gain them some self-absorbed idealization that they deserve better. What happens? Things don't pan out the way they intended and they go back to school again, this time for PhD and what happens after that? While still looking for that perfect job, they end up becoming professors to make their way. All the while, amassing a good deal of debt, potentially getting married, then having kids, buying a house, expenses and materialism compounds because you must have that certain car, and that certain furniture, and then you work to live and sustain your nuclear family. Making sure your credit doesn't get bad, but relying on it to survive. Education enables people to become high-payed slaves of prestige. The idea that college earns them the prestige to become a high-paid employee with a certain title for his/her name, working towards that "american dream" of a family, shadowed by debt and credit cards. I guess its not that bad... capitalism. We could all be socialists otherwise, but is that a terrible thing too? Never stop learning ya'll.