MIKE ROWE defends - and encourages - dirty jobs. And he's right. While I most definitely needed an advanced (graduate level) education to pursue my professional career, the doctorate wasn't necessary; it was both a personal triumph and financial loss.

I tend to lean somewhat toward this quote from Lazarus Long:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, built a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

While I'm nowhere near as good as a 'dirty job' professional, I can do - and have done - carpentry, plumbing, electrical wiring, fencing, ditch digging and many other of the dirty jobs required to keep America running smoothly.

A liberal education is most certainly a nice-to-have (and I encourage it), but it is neither necessary or sufficient for a life well lived.