Talent Funnel

Education is good, application is better.
Back in the day, people knew how to do their jobs.
Even manual laborers had to go through an apprentice process in order to call themselves craftsmen.
Back in the day - under much more harsh conditions - only the best would rise to the top.
Today, many people expect to get paid just for showing up.

Many people fell for the lie that all one needed was an 'education' in order to succeed.
But with high schools handing out diplomas to anyone who just went to class a minimum number of times and universities passing out degrees to anyone who is just barely proficient at taking tests - the ability to solve problems seems to have been lost.
Many universities seem more concerned with increasing their endowments than they are with graduating creative and productive members of society.

What happens is that far too many people imagine themselves as being members of the educated elite when in reality they are just average minions ready to follow orders or the next trend. (These are those who just happened to get through the small part of the talent funnel first.)
By allowing so many people to use diluted credentials as a means to power and resources, we get stuck with answers which are not the solution.
We get stuck with self serving or and/or shortsighted leaders who lack the character to make the hard choices in life.
We get stuck with adults who still think and act like entitled little children.
We get stuck with people who are afraid to tell the truth about others because their own lies and misrepresentations may also be exposed.
Sure, our leaders, businessmen and politicians suck - but, in the end, we get the leadership and representation we deserve.