“It’s never too late,” this paper reported on June 9, as Ricky Soule received his high school diploma at the age of 72. It is most gratifying to know that people care about knowledge at an age very close to mine. We are never too old to learn. And believe me, there’s a lot to be learned.

The article cited a few statistics about wages relative to a person’s level of education. The average wages ranged from $24,500 per year for a high school dropout to $74,200 per year for a person with an advanced college degree. That does not even take into account that at minimum wage, one would earn only $16,000 a year. That’s if one were lucky enough to land a full-time job.

The article more or less implied that if we want a good-paying job, we must receive more education — formal education, anyway. That means that we are paid very little if we spend less time in school. Somehow, society deems us less worthy because we spent less time in a classroom.

Just for kicks, let’s just say that everyone receives a Ph.D. We really concentrated on educating our people. Does that mean that street pavers, hospital bed cleaners, trash collectors and laborers will now make $74,200 per year? Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. No, those folks will continue to receive substandard wages. Even though their jobs are all critical to maintaining a healthy and prosperous life for us all, they will still be denied economic justice.

In the final analysis, we find that education is the answer to earning not only a living, but a thriving wage. Education, or the lack thereof, is just another way to justify providing a much deserving portion of our population with injustice.

Peter P. Sirois, Madison

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