Communism and education

[El brody]

Me and my sister were discussing about communism and she told me that what the whole point of studying as a doctor if you gonna get paid the same amount as a janitor. Can somebody explain to me what should I said about that?:confused:

[Lokomotive293]

I would never want to be treated by a doctor who is in just for the money. Money as an incentive is really overrated, anyway, imo. I remember when I was a child, people would always ask us "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and we'd all say something like "Doctor", "Teacher" or "Firefighter", and when they asked us why, we'd say "Because I want to help other people." or something similar. Maybe, if money didn't play such a big of a role in our lives, a lot more people would stay that way and simply do what they love. Also, studying to be a doctor is very hard, and you can make a lot more money a lot easier, so if money was the only incentive, why do people become doctors nowadays?

[Blake's Baby]

Yeah, after the revolution, I want to have a relatively shitty menial job, like a binman or a sewer-cleaner, not one that means I get to meet lots of interesting people and help them. Because I am an anti-social idiot.


(please do not think I am saying that binmen are in any way inferior or less useful than doctors here, it's all somewhat satirical, but I hope the point is clear)

[tfb]

I would have loved to become a doctor but I got interested in it too late and I had already spent the money I had for education on something else. I wouldn't have had enough to become a doctor, though, anyway.

If education had been free, I would have tried to become a doctor or do something else in medicine.

Also, is being a janitor really any more appealing to anyone than being a doctor, even ignoring the salary?

[Tim Cornelis]

Someone with the intellectual capabilities of becoming a doctor would get zero satisfaction from doing the work of a janitor. Being a doctor is mentally challenging and helping people may be rewarding. Point out that people like Isaac Puente, Che Guevera, and Jonas Salk were doctors/medical experts who weren't in it for the money. Point to Doctors Without Borders, a volunteer network of doctors. Point out that Cuba has the highest rate of doctors per 1000 people yet doctors in Cuba make less than an average salary.

[Parvati]

In a certain conception of a communist society (which is mine ^.^), nobody will be a janitor full time. All the clerks jobs will be shared between every person able to work - and by abolishing the parasitarian jobs of capitalist society (like everything relating to bank, bailiffs, advertising, insurances, etc etc), you've got more person than today to do less jobs -only the socially useful things.

After this, because some human activities are more complicated - like medicine - we can think that those who study it must work as doctors full time. But if school is completely and really free and accessible (as elementary and high school do not act as an institution of class reproduction anymore, but more as a community where kids grow and develop their full potential), you could think that a lot of people will chose to study medicine. And because those children will be raised in a society where being a doctor is "helping the others + making science", two pretty cool things, I don't think that the money issue is still going to be a problem.

[CommieTroll]

From each according to his ability, to each according to his need

The profit motive will be forgotten in a Communist society, the entire argument of ''why should someone get the same as me if I work harder'' is one leftists hear too often, mostly from the right, is it fair that a CEO of a corporation exploits the workers of that company with surplus value when he barely lifts a finger?

[OHumanista]

I don't know about everyone else, but I think the whole point is...
You would get to do what you really wanted to do as opposed to what is profitable or "prestigious".
A guy who really wants to be a doctor would do it anyway because it's his dream not because it pays more (and you get to be called a doctor). In a communistic society it would be even better as no one would be in a profession for these absurd reasons we have in capitalism, all of our doctors would be people who really love their profession, they wouldn't be doing it out of convenience and influence.
I am one of those persons who suffers because of the current system. I want to be a writer and a historian. But unless I write a best-seller I can hardly live off any of these two.

[Erratus]

By that logic why isn't everyone in colloge to get the same, most lucrative degree? As a college I only check to see if there are any jobs available and if they pay enough to keep my afloat. I don't want to make a lot of money but do what I love. And I know that all the advisor say that too. Honestly, one of the worst things in life is waking up and going to a career that you hate. No matter the size of the paycheck, if you hate the job, you hate the job. Also, a nice thing about a communist society would be that you wouldn't have to worry taking on massive debt to get a degree that won't get you a job.

[Misanthrope]

If people just study for money why do we have theoretical physicists and the like? Some people like to learn, crazy eh?

Also wages wouldn't exist so the whole idea of "payment" is irrelevant. Your sister is an ignoramus and sounds like a know-it-all.

[Nox]

Me and my sister were discussing about communism and she told me that what the whole point of studying as a doctor if you gonna get paid the same amount as a janitor. Can somebody explain to me what should I said about that?:confused:

Well, you don't get 'paid', your sister is trying to apply a capitalist concept to a communist society, which doesn't normally work.

However, a better example would be a teacher and a janitor, here in the UK teachers get paid fuck all, probably around the same as a janitor. So, why do people become teachers? I want to be a teacher, and money isn't a factor in my decision at all.

[NewLeft]

I was interested in becoming a doctor until I realized that less than 1% of those admitted into med school were from a working class background... I have no chance. I doubt Norman Bethune cared about how much he was paid. Would love to become a doctor and practice for free if it were possible.

[SocialistTommy]

Why work as something just for money ? There needs to be job satisfaction too.