That was the famous, frequent caller Gordon Wayne Watts who often opines about student debt, Terri Schiavo, abortion and other topics. He was several websites and has solutions to all of these problems/cases.
That's interesting.
I sure disagreed with the guest the other night about unpaid internships. I mean, I've completed them of course & they are great for students. No problem. But, let's not get too excited because first of all, they are not only unpaid, they are purchased. I've never heard of an internship costing less than $500 in tuition. Second, I agree it's good to get apprenticeship training, but most internships are a year and no one should work an entire year without wages.
When I finished graduate school, the people who ended up in good jobs actually volunteered for a year and then got hired on. Now really tell me, how many new graduates can afford to volunteer in the first place. It's very unfair to people from small families or dysfunctional families, people who can't just live "at home". That includes the stereotypical man trying to support a family, too. I found it appalling to realize I would never work in my field because I had rent to pay and no one else to support me. The whole reason I went through the program was to make a higher wage. But the only was way to give away my skills for a year or move to Mississippi, or work with children. But, that was not what I bargained for at all. Okay well sorry this is so long but that guest just was way too enthusiastic about quasi-slave labor and he wasn't considering people who have to support themselves or their families.
Even worse, unpaid internships often involve subtle age discrimination, because who can afford to pay tuition for an internship and work without pay? Young people still living at home. Or stay at home spouses maybe. Older working folks could use that position to support themselves. Lots of older people in this economy are back in school, as re-training really does help, and they might like to do an internship too. But without a housing allowance, there isn't much of a way they can participate.
The best way to reduce crime and problems in our nation is to be reasonable to people in the workforce who are trying to get a better life and get away from families with problems like addiction, abuse, or crime. Like think about how unpaid internships with no housing allowance discriminate against people who can't stay somewhere rent-free, like with family. While it is all very nice and well to support white bread families with fun internships, it does little for society except make the well-to-do richer while making poverty/addiction/crime harder to surmount for individuals who want a better life. They can't participate in the internship because their families of origin are not a healthy place to be. The internship could be a paid position or offer housing.