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The Achilles’ Heel of Modern Education: Its Purpose Was Never to Give You the Life You Want
We were taught from childhood that education can change your destiny.
But reality slaps us in the face.
In China, as of July 2025, the unemployment rate for urban youth aged 16–24 has reached 17.8%, the highest in the past 11 months, with 12.2 million graduates flooding into the job market. Back in 2023, this figure once soared to 21.3%, and some independent scholars estimated the real number might have been closer to 46.5%. This isn’t education changing destiny — this is the devaluation of degrees (SCMP).
The U.S. is no better. In March 2025, the unemployment rate for recent U.S. college graduates hit 5.8%, the highest in a decade (outside the pandemic). Even by June, it hovered around 4.8% (Yahoo Finance). Worse still, 41.2% of graduates ended up in jobs that don’t even require a college degree. In other words, after four grueling years, many are competing for the exact same jobs as high school graduates (Business Insider).
Why is this happening? Because the purpose of the education system was never to give you the life you want.
