Marco Rubio probably should have picked on someone other than philosophers. At the fourth GOP debate on Tuesday night, the Florida senator argued in favor of vocational education by underscoring its paycheck perks. "For the life of me I don't know why we stigmatize vocational education," Rubio said. "Welders make more money than philosophers. We need more welders than philosophers."
Nothing against welders — or vocational education — but that isn't true at all. Matt Yglesias, a Vox writer and former philosophy major, did the research and it turns out Rubio was about $30,000 off. The average annual wage for philosophy majors is $71,350. Welders, on the other hand, only make an average annual wage of $40,040.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Italian senate passes law allowing anti-abortion activists into clinicsUnder The Radar Giorgia Meloni scores a political 'victory' but will it make much difference in practice?
-
Magazine interactive crossword - May 3, 2024Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
-
Magazine solutions - May 3, 2024Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - May 3, 2024
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescueSpeed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in MoroccoSpeed Read
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female presidentSpeed Read
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. saysSpeed Read
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprisingSpeed Read
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
