Freeper sentiment likes to devalue education because they got by with out.
If the kid learned to write, then he received valuable lessons.
Education and training are great! When I retired from the military I took a job at a university teaching. I taught advanced computer skill (networking and administration) and almost all of my students subsequently got and kept jobs.
It comes down not to getting and education or learning a skill, but rather is that education or skill useful to one’s future? Everyone except the filthy rich needs to have a livelihood providing them with money.
The greater group of people paying taxes (for example, FReepers) are getting weary paying for people not able to carry their own weight when they could and SHOULD.
When I was a little boy, I wanted to be an explorer. There’s just no cash in that anymore. All the Lost Cities of Gold have been found, or found lacking, so I had to learn a real skill.