Is Elite Overproduction Really a Problem?

In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about ‘elite overproduction’. Basically, the theory is that too many people are going to college, while there aren’t as many jobs that require college degrees. As a result, many college graduates are not getting the well-paid jobs they expected to get. This phenomenon has been blamed for everything from increasing unhappiness among young adults, to political polarization and even the rise of wokeness in the 2010s. However, I think the question we need to ask is, is so-called ‘elite overproduction’ really a problem at all?

First of all, as a libertarian-ish person, the whole discussion about elite overproduction sits uncomfortably with my commitment to freedom and free markets. Specifically, if unemployment or underemployment among college graduates represents a problem of ‘elite overproduction’, often with the implied ‘solution’ that fewer people should go to college, then that sounds like Soviet-style planned economy thinking to me. If people go to college and spend money or take on debt doing so, they did that voluntarily, as a result of their own cost-benefit calculations. Whether there are jobs that pay well at the end of it is a matter of supply and demand, and I think this is something people just need to accept. Knowing that there might not be a well-paying job at the end that would justify the cost or debt incurred, some people might still choose to go to college. That’s their freedom. Some people might not. Again, that’s their freedom. Importantly, in this case, everyone is making their own cost-benefit calculations based on supply and demand dynamics. And a society that is truly comfortable with having a free market economy should be totally comfortable with this process, whatever the outcome. The process of people realizing that college education doesn’t necessarily come with a high paying job, and basing their choices on the new information available, is basically all a natural process of market dynamics. It really shouldn’t be thought of as a crisis. Of course, the people who are looking at all this as a ‘crisis’ are probably not really comfortable with what a market economy entails. If that is the case, then they should be enlightened as to the benefits of a market economy, both in terms of freedom and efficiency.

The other thing I have noticed is how the whole narrative of ‘elite overproduction’ is especially common in right-leaning circles, contrary to their supposed commitments to market capitalism. This could partly be because some parts of the academic humanities are ideologically very left-leaning. And by very left-leaning, I don’t mean being committed supporters of the Democrats or Labour. I mean actually far-left, as in fully embracing postmodernism and critical theory without much questioning. And I do fully share this concern about bias in certain sections of academia. However, I think the solution is for society, as a whole, to get more intellectual, and not less. And from what I see, many people on the political right effectively want society to become less intellectual, which is why they want fewer people to go to college. Many right-wing influencers have been quite open about their belief that, besides Doctors, Lawyers and members of certain other professions, most people don’t need to go to college. This, I strongly suspect, has to do with their political objectives. Since the Trump era began, Republicans have been losing highly educated voters, and gaining non-college educated voters rapidly. Populist-right parties in other Western countries have also replicated this pattern of support. As the right moves further and further towards populism and away from old-school conservatism, becoming more anti-intellectual becomes good self-serving politics for them. However, I fear that the turn away from intellectual discussion will only polarize our cultural and political landscape even more. Which, again, would actually help the populist right, but harm society as a whole.

While the far-left bias in certain parts of the humanities needs to be fixed, I think this can be best done by actively challenging their premises and arguments, on an intellectual level that makes it truly convincing. One reason why the far-left is so confident of its beliefs is because nobody has quite made the most convincing case against their arguments. However, this is only because everyone else is too distracted to focus on it. Moreover, from my own experience debating far-left ideas in the past decade, I believe that the populist right actually wouldn’t want too many people seriously attempting to argue against the far-left, even if we could win. This is because the kind of successful argument would also defeat the populist right’s worldview and political stances, and instead uphold a moderate and likely classical liberal politics. I believe it is ultimately genuine intellectual inquiry that will lead to a moderate culture and politics, and practical consensus building that is based on objective and scientific evidence. This is something that both the far-left and the populist right don’t want, but something that will definitely benefit society and humankind.

Finally, I think the whole attitude that college, or any form of further education that goes well into adulthood, is inherently for elites, really needs to change. Education is just getting more well informed about stuff. And getting more well informed is both a right and a duty of everyone in a healthy democracy. Some people might get a well paying job as a result of pursuing further education, but that shouldn’t be its primary value or expectation.

TaraElla is a singer-songwriter and author, who is the author of the book TaraElla’s Political Theory of Everything and the Moral Libertarian book series. She is also the author of her autobiography The TaraElla Story.