University: should ANYONE study Political Science? [ADVICE Ep. 009]

we are two people who both talked about
the future talk about our educational prospects and our job options in terms of how they might or might not want positive the length of veganism we're not obsessed with the idea that our jobs have to be vegan but it would be great if there's some kind of positive connection between how we are funny how we survive and the fusion fission movement and we talk about a lot of options so within the last year I've mentioned this in other videos before this isn't news but she and I have both thought about going back to school getting a degree linked to nutritional science so that's a horror biochemistry based degree takes like four and a half years minimum and leads to pretty low level employment as a nutritionist you know you that's that's group of both of us in research I think we've researched it independently before we ever got to back together and then we talked about doing it together partly because if you have to take those courses like intro to chemistry 101 would be a lot less depressing if you're in the classroom with somebody you're in love with and you get to go home and study together you know it really could take the edge off that stuff so we got a question from from a viewer here as two people again really in an open-minded way we've just looked at a lot of different career options educational options since we got together and we're looking for things that are positively connected veganism so we've got a email from a viewer in Argentina and this viewer basically I'll read it directly quote when I first got into veganism I was thinking about studying something related to biology zoology botany ecology something along those lines but these last few months I started talking about the real meaning and importance of veganism and whether or not I would be better off spending my time studying political science so she's questioning broadly is it better to go down the path of the hard sciences whether ecology chemistry biology or otherwise or looking at the social sciences politics because vegan is veganism is ultimately a political struggle features what was perfect to dick so I'm right off the bat they've I mean you know it's hard for you looking at the movement looking at look at what's going on what's possible what's impossible I think I think for you that's four words in your mouth but I think whenever you sit down and talk about a possible master's degree or a possible for the university or with your family the question is how is this to re going to pay for itself how are you hearing back money yeah yeah for sure I was going to lead to a good career something that will allow me to have a family and great retire on or I mean to put in other words what job does this qualify you for yeah so I mean you know holders I already have one degree in political science currently getting a second to Communication Studies so my perspective is totally different but my girlfriend here I mean I think you're just someone who would be tempted by politics because you care about politics politics of ecology politics of veganism and so on especially but I think it's that general sense of wanting to be empowered one a of expertise that will help you make a positive difference in the world Ryan yeah yes why we were thinking about masters of Public Administration sort of to do with politics right right so look broadly speaking so in response to this viewer from Argentina I can't speak on how the university chakra Carson theta of course but I think that the whole field of political science for one thing is struggling to be a science it's strolling to justify itself as something other than just opinion you could have a academic discipline called political opinion where you come in and read other people put a clip in and give your it's not called for the clips median it's called political science and I think there's the different attempts to square the circle different attempts to solve that impossible to solve problem because it may it may be there really is no solution to that it may be you that ultimately this is just a school of opinion but one way is by trying to define the discipline in terms of bureaucracy which is what masters of Public Administration is where they okay this isn't politics anymore public administration public sector administration means if your office you know so the actual mechanisms of the state and ultimately how to fill out form t28 form is e55 how running organizations works how government agencies works how the mechanics is to get things done so I think that for you in terms of actually convincing your parents that this is worth ten thousand dollars or fifty thousand dollars in the United States it's very very expensive that's crucial because you're able to point to the curriculum and say this is actually giving me a skill it's giving me training it's giving me a qualification to do a job otherwise I would not be able to do and that is not true of masters of Public Policy at qualifies you to do almost nothing and it's not true of political science as a discipline which is scary it's scary to think you're going to spend years of your life dozens of dollars and at the end of the process you are qualified for no jobs other than what you were qualified for before you you medical so they feel free to interrupt me anytime but obviously in answering this question that's something I have a lot to say about and you know you you won't have as much to pile on with but it does it does really cure your past present future a weird way I do think like in the United States many many of the universities in political science try to legitimize themselves legitimize themselves as a science as a discipline and to make the very high rate the very high fees for higher education were going through two methods which we really don't do in Canada it's a difference even between United States and Canada bigger between United States and Europe two methods one they try to get celebrity professors so like means you barely remember from the Clinton administration Bill Clinton's Secretary of State Bill Clinton's special ambassador for this and that old politicians they bring them in they make professors out of them and say oh you know you'll get to meet this person and ask them what it felt like to press the button to drop that bomb on Cambodia or drop the you know start you know that the other Iraq war and like it sounds like a joke but it's not it's big business in the States by having celebrity professors by recruiting people from government they're often reassuring students that they'll be able to get a job because there's the hope that this celebrity professor will get you an internship or get you you know an open open a door to some kind of job in Washington DC or somewhere else in the US government you'll be making connections that justify spending a huge amount of money on tuition and the second trick in the United States that I think is a bit more of a pervasive corrosive that I've never mentioned it to you before but it's horrible like if you said to me you really want to do political science not public administration I would warn you in the States especially they put a lot of emphasis on statistics I talked about this right after Trump got elected action in more videos a patreon only video but you know they put so much emphasis on crunching numbers and that to me is clinging to this idea that it's political science it decided that's it and those poll numbers what we've seen in the election of Trump especially the fact that it was a surprise those numbers have actually become less and less meaningful they're often polling data based on telephone interviews people they phoned up 5,000 people in Florida and asked them who they were going to vote for and asked them a few other questions how happy or unhappy they are with the government things of that and then they crunch those numbers and produce seemingly impressive-looking charts and some very complex equations on a chalkboard chalkboard you have to write exams about they're really burdens the student and again most of students are coming in they're people who sincerely care about politics one way or another whether they're left-wing or right-wing whether they're vegan or they're into gun rights whatever their issue is and that's a very boring burdensome process of learning to crunch numbers that probably dissuades a lot of people from from studying political science I would say in Europe is there is there is emphasis on polling but it doesn't quite take on that that form that's young the state and outside of that real quick to say if you're looking for horror political science something that's not just come in and talk about your emotions not just come in and talk about your feelings and will give you a master's degree you're really going to be surprised by them the things that look look hard or actually the softest so you'll have a program in something like international human rights they they oh great so this is going to be real politics cuz we're talking about refugee camps if we're talking about massacres and crimes against humanity and then you get there and it's kind of like a school for victimology and people are just sitting down and talking about their feelings and social justice rhetoric and at the end of the process you haven't gained any any skills any itemized Abul specific skills on your resume for any job you can do and there have been a lot of reflections about that from professors themselves i find professors are quite willing to talk about the shortcomings of the academic approach to the teaching and study of politics but look so I mean look I've got one test subject here if I was going to put this out as a general question I mean should anybody in 2017 get a diploma in political science I my own girlfriend my answer is no so I know this bright young woman who happened to be in love with she's interested in veganism and a lot of the political issues I'm interested in but I can't say to her yes commit buckle don't get a get a degree in political I can't say that and you know even just that even just as a thought experiment if I think of who should get a degree in who should get a degree in political science the answer is almost tech support more to get in here fix the camera what is this okay well fine never off-center that's cool that's a suitable end of the video I know you got you got you got anything else particularly Nambe because I can't recommend the Chi goes into that field and with the exception is what I study in a studied English yeah I mean nothing that I'm going into really will be building on that anyway nothing that I've looked into really I mean English did help me with communication skills just general write writing really it is generally useful degree and I got a bachelor's so that's great yeah I it's funny you say that because when you think about in a perfect world those really to those who should be Lynx because I mean yeah one of my friends did get a yeah when I ran English and a political science project yes her job right now and I've nothing to do with either of those degrees work at Starbucks marketing Morgan okay man I know that's better or worse than working at Starbucks yeah but when you think about it because in terms of the other political science kids I knew look I could talk a good game before I went in to that you know the degree in political science is not a degree in oratory it's not a degree in public speaking it's not a degree in even in writing how to write essays well or how to write columns or both as well it's not agreeing communications and it's not a degree in English but I think one of the things that's very sad of a political science is that most people even if they come out of with a PhD even future level they are actually not good at talking about politics or writing about politics look really really really really and I mean maybe that's the most kind of fundamental swindle of all you know I mean maybe for some people if what you want to do is politics you it's pathetic as the sense you might even be better off getting a degree in literature or create or nor afraid of writing or something you know what I mean if you have a good program in that yeah so that's that's it kids the question should anyone get a degree in political science as a gross generalization globally and I've got experience in many many universities in Asia funny places like Taiwan and Hong Kong in Canada a lot in Europe too I don't know anywhere where I could positively say especially if you're interested in ecology yours isn't veganism but in any field right now I really do think the whole academic discipline is bankrupt I think it's making hollow promises to students that the professor's can't deliver on and look guys keeping it all the way real a lot of professors talk to me as an equal and a friend not all a few hate my guts it's understandable but you know quite a few professors really do enjoy talking to me because I'm older than the other students and more mature and so on I had one professor sit down with me and say that he keeps track of every single student who finishes study with him what they do after they after they leave and he told me that zero found a real job so you know some were employed like you say in Starbucks or marketing's they'd found something but it's somebody gotten a little part-time position saying he said zero of his students and he's I'm not going to name him but he said he's a real world expert in his field he is one of the best of the best in his in his field and you know I've had other professors you know tell me the same thing where at this point they're teaching politics but they teach it the same way you teach poetry we just say to your students look if you're not doing it for the love of the genre here for the love p.m. you'll get out now because this leads to absolutely no you get no employable skills you know so why did you go into the political science when you're getting that that's a great question I'm going to first stop and maybe we'll record that as a second video as a sequel why did I end up in political science at all nobody is asking that before a great day