How does the fable of the ant and the grasshopper end in a Democracy, when the grasshoppers have a majority?

Often disagree with F.Z.  but found the data in his OCT. 6 essay interesting:

"Perhaps the most crucial measure of our ability to compete in a global economy is our educational attainment, especially in science, math and engineering. A generation ago, America had the highest percentage of college graduates in the world. Today we’re ninth and falling. The WEF report ranks the U.S. a stunning 51st in science and math education. If a willingness to study science, math and engineering is an indication of being willing to work at hard stuff, there is no question that we are going soft. In 2004 only 6% of U.S. degrees were awarded in engineering, half the average for rich countries. In Japan it’s 20%, and in Germany it’s 16%. In 2008–09 there were more psychology majors than engineering majors in America and more fitness-studies majors than physical-sciences majors."

(from http://www.fareedzakaria.com/home/Articles/Entries/2011/10/6_The_Hard_Truth_About_Going_%E2%80%98Soft%E2%80%99.html)

Wow...  So policy fix would be to subsidize math/sci/engineering degrees, and tax Film degrees... It's reasonable, since somewhere down the road the Film majors are going to have to rely on the system for support.

So, to the woman being interviewed at the OWS who was upset about her $60,000 debt, and inability to find a job...  Maybe you shouldn't have majored in sculpture.

Email about Taylor

Beau introduced Taylor as his cousin.  In fact there was no relation, but Beau was apparently embarrassed to be hanging out with the kid across the street who was four or five years younger.  I think I was 15 or 16 when Taylor first showed up over at Beau’s, that would’ve made Taylor 11.

Taylor resurfaced a few years later, hanging out with some of the younger guys like Redlack and Bergman.  Taylor got into trouble like the rest of us.  He was more or less a fuck-up, just like the rest of us.

I think he went out with Laurie – I’m pretty sure – some months after she broke up with Redlack. I remember Dave and Barb, Taylor and Laurie, me and Dana all sort of lived at Taylor’s house the summer before I went to college when his folks left for Europe for a month.  We drank, fucked around, played a lot of poker and played badminton in the afternoons.  It was very civilized. 

Taylor and Dave got my Corvair impounded at one point.  Taylor ruptured his spleen at one point and nearly died.

He would eat his boogers in front of us, it was a hoot.

The last time I saw him, we we’re playing poker in my folk’s basement.  We had a game 4-5 times a week, lots of nightshift tow truck drivers would play while they were on call.  Taylor was driving a tow truck then.  Through freak cards Taylor, Dave and Dennis got into a high-low (think it was Big Chicago actually) game and the pot swelled to around $3,000 – Huge money for us back then.

Taylor lost out on the high hand to Dave and had to write Dennis a large IOU to cover it.   As luck would have it, Taylor lost his job the next day, and sort of disappeared.  I went off to Boston, and haven’t seen Taylor since.  Dennis still carries the IOU around in his pocket in hopes of collecting one day.

Anyhow, Den got a call from Beau last night/  It seems Taylor had become a successful food importer.  He’d taken over his Uncle’s business after a stint as a manager for KPMG, and college in Jacksonville.  Taylor was out in California working a deal, and had rented a convertible corvette.  He was driving some back road, but wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the car.  He died instantly.  The other person in the car had several broken bones, but made it out many hours later and called for help.

Taylor apparently didn’t have kids, wasn’t married.  The article said he had his license suspended several times, and that he was quite successful in the restaurant business.  It wasn’t a very long article.