Scott Walker, Don't Become One of Them

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker never got a college degree. He says it is one of his biggest regrets in life. It weighs on him so heavily that his spokesman recently said the Governor is now considering going back to school to finish his degree, in advance of a possible 2016 presidential run. 

But is a college degree a necessary qualification to be a good Governor or President? Is a “credential” the same as a “qualification?”

As the old workplace saying goes: “The A students report to the B students, and the drop-outs run the company.” This truism rings especially true in America, which somehow became the richest, most powerful, most entrepreneurial and successful country in world history–with barely 30% of Americans holding a bachelor’s degree at its highest point (today).  When America first became a super-power, that number was around 4%. When Americans first walked on the moon, it was less than 10%. When America was founded, our first President George Washington did not have a degree. Abraham Lincoln, whom many consider to be our greatest President, only spent about a year of his life in school. 

That is not to say that education is bad. But, before Governor Walker goes back to school, he should consider the following.

In his column “What Kids Now Learn in College,” author and intellectual Dennis Prager–who created Prager University to “undo the damage” caused by college–outlines the lessons that Scott Walker, the student, is likely to be taught on an American university campus today:

“The United States is no better than any other country, and in many areas worse than many.”

“On the world stage, America is an imperialist country, and domestically it mistreats its minorities and neglects its poor, while discriminating against non-whites.”

“God is at best a non-issue, and at worst, a foolish and dangerous belief.”

“Israel is a racist state, morally no different from apartheid South Africa.”

“Patriotism is usually a euphemism for chauvinism.”

“Big corporations are bad. Big unions are good.”

“The American Founders were sexist, racist slaveholders whose primary concern was preserving their wealthy status.”

“The Constitution says what progressives think it should say.”

“The great world and societal battles are not between good and evil, but between rich and poor and the powerful and the powerless.”

“Big government is the only humane way to govern a country.”

If Governor Scott Walker had completed his college degree, he might not be the Scott Walker we know today.  He might be the kind of leader who believes that the United States is racist and imperialist, that successful people and corporations are bad, that big unions are good, and that big-spending government is even better. 

In other words, he might wind up sounding like the parade of Harvard grads–now in charge in Washington DC–who have made American foreign policy a laughingstock. This while taxing and spending America to its first-ever credit downgrade and sticking the American people with the worst so-called “recovery” in American history, and the largest amount of debt in world history.

By contrast, Governor Scott Walker–without a college degree–has managed to cut taxes, balance the books, eliminate Wisconsin’s entire budget deficit, give $1 billion back to the people, and inspire 94% of job creators to say that Wisconsin is heading in the right direction. 

Meanwhile, outside of Wisconsin, only 24% of Americans say that America–headed by Harvard grads–is headed in the right direction.

As William F. Buckley famously observed; “I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.”

This is not to say that higher education makes one ignorant or incapable of leadership.  However, as Ronald Reagan once famously said of the liberal intellectual elite; it’s “not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”

So, a bit of friendly advice to Governor Scott Walker, as he considers going back to school: don’t let them knock the sense out of you, Governor. Don’t let them turn you into one of them.  

Mark Meckler is the President of Citizens for Self-Governance, which created the Convention of States Project.