Hey—I’ve got a great investment idea for you: You give me $100,000 and four years of your life, and I give you... hmm… pretty much… nothing.
嗨，我有个很棒的投资主意要给你：你给我十万美元和四年生命，然后我给你……唔……可能什么都给不到。
No, I’m not the devil. I’m Mr. College. And I’m here to help you finance this wonderful opportunity. I have a whole package of government loans and impressive-sounding scholarships to make it all possible.
不，我不是恶魔。我是大学先生。我来是为这个绝妙机会给你提供经济帮助的。我拥有各式各样政府贷款和听起来十分诱人的奖学金让这一切成为可能。
Of course, you’ll have to pay interest on the loans, which will double the cost over time…but that’s a problem for “future you” and need not concern us now.
当然，你将要支付贷款利息，它久而久之会翻倍……但它是「将来的你」的问题，暂时不用我们操心。
Do we have a deal?
我们谈成了吗？
Of course, we do! You want to succeed in life, don’t you? How can you do that without a college degree?
当然了，成交！你想要出人头地，不是吗？没有大学学位你怎么做得到呢？
But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time. Are you a movie fan? We’ve got a degree for that. How about criminal justice? Be like one of the cool people on the TV detective shows. And, we offer a whole selection of minority and gender studies programs. Learn why you’re a victim and deserve to be angry all the time.
但那不代表你不能过个好日子。你是电影迷吗？我们有这方面的学位。刑事司法怎么样？成为电视侦探节目上的那些酷家伙。还有，我们提供一系列少数群体和性别研究项目。学习为什么你是个受害者，应该永远保持愤怒。
What are you waiting for? Sign on the dotted line. Classes begin in the fall. Don’t miss orientation—especially if you’re male. You don’t want to be parading your toxic masculinity around the campus. Definitely not cool…
你还在等什么？在虚线上签名。秋天就开始上课。不要错过新生培训——尤其如果你是男性的话。你不会想在校园里显摆你那有毒男子气的。一点也不酷。
Sound crazy?
听起来离谱？
I don’t know why it should. Millions of college students make that deal every year, usually with their parents’ encouragement and financial support.
我不知道有什么离谱。每年数以百万大学生同意这笔交易，常常都得到他们父母的鼓励和经济支持。
Now, don’t get me wrong—I have nothing against going to college. I sincerely believe it can be a worthwhile pursuit under the right circumstances. If you want to be a doctor or an architect, for example, it’s obviously a necessity. But look through the typical college syllabus and it’s clear that most of the majors, not to mention classes, are a waste of time—and money.
现在，别误解我——我不反对上大学。我真诚地相信在适当的条件下这是值得追求的。比如说，如果你想成为一名医生或是一名建筑师，这显然是必要的。但纵观一般大学的课程大纲，绝大多数专业明显，更别提课程，是浪费时间——还有金钱。
So why do responsible adults, who only want the best for their children and are usually cautious with their hard-earned money, squander it on such a bad investment? Worse, why would they send their son or daughter to a school to learn to reject the values they—the parents—hold dear? On what planet does that make sense?
那为什么负责任的成年人，只想要对他们孩子最好的，并且常常对他们辛苦挣来的钱十分慎重的成年人，会把它浪费在这么烂的投资上？更糟的是，为什么他们会把自己的儿子或女儿送到学校学习拒斥他们——父母——珍视的价值观？这在哪儿都没有道理吧？
It doesn’t. It’s an old paradigm, and we need to break it. Before it breaks us.
这没道理。这是个旧模式，而我们必须打破它。在它毁了我们之前。
How do we do that?
我们要怎么做？
Here are two solutions that would go a long way to solving the problem.
这里的两个方案将有助于解决这个问题。
One:
一：
Ask yourself if you really need to go to college.
问问你自己是不是真的必须上大学。
Most of us go to college because it’s simply expected that we do so. Our parents expect it. Our friends expect it. Plus, it sounds like fun—a rite of passage; an escape from Mom and Dad and all their rules.
我们中大多数人上大学单纯因为被期望这么做。我们父母期望。我们朋友期望。加上，它听起来挺好玩——一次成人礼：逃离妈妈爸爸和所有他们的规矩。
But none of that actually has anything to do with getting an education or earning a living after you leave college. Maybe you’re not the academic type. What’s wrong with that? Nothing.
但它们当中没有一样有关接受教育或离开大学后的谋生。或许你并不适合做学术。这有什么问题？一点都没。
According to a Georgetown University study, there are 30 million jobs paying over $55,000 a year that don’t require a college degree.
根据乔治城大学的一项研究，有 3000 万份年薪超过 55000 美元的工作不要求大学学位。
Learn a skill like welding or plumbing or a dozen other trades and you’ll never be looking for a job. The jobs will be looking for you. We’re talking $50 an hour or more. Six figure income after five years and no debt. Consider the military. You learn essential skills and, again, no debt. Or go into sales. You don’t need a sociology degree for that.
学习一项技能，比如焊接、修水管或许多其他技术活，你将永远都不用去找工作。工作会来找你。这里说的是时薪 50 美元或更多。五年后六位数的收入并且不用背债。考虑下军队。你学习必要的技能，同样，不用背债。或是进入销售行业。它也不需要社会学学位。
If you are going to college, then have a goal and a plan to achieve it. Your college journey will cost you and/or your parents a boatload of money. What are you going to get in return? Choose your courses with a practical mindset. Stay away from the silly stuff. And if you don’t really know why you’re going to college, consider answer…
如果你要上大学，那请拥有一个目标和一个实现它的计划。你的大学之旅将会花费你和/或你的父母大量的钱。你想得到什么回报？以实用的观念选择你的课程。远离那些愚蠢的东西。如果你不是太清楚为什么你要去上大学，好好想想答案……
Two:
二：
Delay college for a year or longer.
推迟一年或更久再上大学。
If more graduating high school seniors would do this—not jump into college immediately after high school, college curriculums would improve and nonsense like “safe spaces” would disappear. Why? Because students who had spent a year or longer in the real world wouldn’t put up with it.
如果更多高中毕业生这么做——不高中毕业后立马进入大学，大学课程会改善，「安全空间」这样的鬼扯也会消失。为什么？因为在现实世界度过一年或更长时间的学生不会忍受它的。
Get a job—any job—for a year before starting college. What’s the big rush, anyway? One year isn’t going to make a difference as to whether or not you succeed in life, but waiting tables or stacking boxes or whatever you do for a year will almost certainly change your attitude about a lot of things—like how hard it is to earn a dollar and how easy it is for the government to take that dollar away. You will also develop a new appreciation for the privilege of going to college. And you’ll be much more likely to be immune to the BS.
找份工作——任何工作——做一年再开始大学。反正也没什么好着急的。一年时间不会影响到你是否出人头地，但是当侍应、搬货或随便什么做上一年几乎肯定会改变你对很多东西的态度——比如挣钱有多辛苦和政府拿走你的钱有多容易。你同样会对能够上大学的特权产生新的理解。并且你会更有可能对那些鬼扯免疫。
Don’t be a passive investor as a student or a parent. Your education is too expensive and too important to be left to Mr. College. He might have your money. Don’t give him your mind.
作为学生或家长不要当被动投资者。你的教育太过昂贵，对大学先生来说太过不可或缺。它或许可以拥有你的心。不要把你的头脑给了他。
I’m Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA, for Prager University.
我是查理·柯克，美国转折点的创始人兼主席，为 PragerU 制作。
译校：FungChuh
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