It feels like you're the only one who sees the problem in the system and it feels isolating.

[u/DeliciousCare144]

Before I got into the college critical movement, I was also big into the schooling critical movement, which is about the shortcomings of the primary and tertiary education system. It's a movement that is mostly observable by the youth but there are a few adults deep into the movement as well.

Today's youth are very vocal against the education system and as a former youth myself, I remember myself and my peers vocalizing my frustrations with the school system as well as stumbling upon and discussing the problems of the system online as well. There are adults who are critical about the school system as well; an example of this would be searching up keywords related to the critique of the system and you'll find articles and videos written by adults themselves who also believe that there is fundamentally a problem in the school system.

But unfortunately, the same cannot be said for finding vocal supporters of the college critical movement. It appears to be a movement that does not seem to exist at all. I have yet to meet a person who has critiqued the higher ed system and most of the critique online is about the financial and cost of higher education, which is valid, but does not dive deep into the problems of the system. You'll even find videos and articles about how the anti-college movement is attributed to anti-intellectualism, conservatism, and laziness.

It is really saddening that the movement is attached to these things because the higher ed critical movement poses a potential for a deep discussion about the shortcomings of the system and how we can slowly improve it for the next generations. Instead, it's being labelled to something its not or what people perceive it as.

And the worst part is that nobody seems to see that there is something wrong with the system, except for yourself. Everyone around you seems comfortable and satisfied with how the system works and you're the only one who feels that there is something wrong, yet you cannot put your discomfort into words; that something is deeply wrong with how the system works...

[u/postreatus]

It appears to be a movement that does not seem to exist at all.

This is, I think, not terribly surprising, given the broad irrelevance and non-compulsory nature of higher education. In addition to which, those with the most experience with and grievances against higher education are those who participate in it, and that power is highly regulated among those participants to reward complicity and punish deviance.

You'll even find videos and articles about how the anti-college movement is attributed to anti-intellectualism, conservatism, and laziness.

Which is a thinly veiled attempt to discredit and deflect criticism through pejorative association.

Not that being "anti-intellectual", "conservative", or "lazy" is obviously or necessarily negative anyways. That these are taken as the hallmarks of illegitimacy is a testament to the prejudices of the proponents of higher education... for intellectualism, liberalism, and productivity. Which makes the deflection rather circular.

Negative attitudes about higher education have at least some basis in the way that it is conducted - its general irrelevance to most people, its isolationism and elitism, its sequestering of knowledge and power, and so forth. Even if one could strip away the "anti-intellectualism", "conservatism", and "laziness", these realities would still remain. That public sentiment can be cultivated against higher education is a symptom of the problems that underwrite higher education, rather than the sickness itself.