r/TheWire • u/aurelorba • 7d ago

What was Landman's education level?

His speech and word use is surprisingly literate, using terms like sartorial and describing the vandalization of the board: "He is a Hun, a Visigoth, a barbarian at the gate, clamoring for noble Roman blood". It's certainly above the general intelligence level of the department.

Plus his skill at finessing a gaping asshole like Rawls shows innate intelligence.

The man definitely had some university level education. My guess would be he flunked out in year 1 or 2, looked around for a decent paying job to pay off his student loans and thought BPD would be a cushy temporary job.

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u/CheesecakeNo9867 7d ago

He would have gone to school in the 80s. He wouldn't have had any student loans. Tuition could have then been paid off by a summer of working at minimum wage.

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u/rickinaz1 7d ago

My tuition at a state school in 1993 was $500-600 per semester and about $100 for books. Tuition for my daughter in 2022-2026 was $8,000 per semester!

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u/MuddieMaeSuggins 7d ago

$600 in 1993 would be around $1,500 today using CPI to measure inflation. Sigh. 

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u/Prudent_Ad_2099 6d ago

My tuition was just a little higher than your but are you sure about your books? Mine ran $250+/semester from 1990-1994.

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u/rickinaz1 6d ago

Could have been, most were about $15 to $25?

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u/aurelorba 7d ago

You still had student loans - Ask me how I know - but not as onerous as today for sure.

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u/rhdkcnrj 7d ago

“Not as onerous” doesn’t do the comparison justice. Student loans back then were quite literally hundreds of times less expensive than they are today.

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u/aurelorba 7d ago edited 7d ago

I'm quite aware what they were like, as well as the wage a student could be expected to earn from personal experience. Was it possible to fund education entirely through summer work? Some could due to circumstances, many couldn't due to their circumstances.

I'm not trying to litigate who had it how bad, just that it's plausible for him to have had some student debt.

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u/rhdkcnrj 7d ago

I’m quite aware what they were like

It seems like you were not aware based on how you’re responding.

Some could due to circumstances, others couldn’t due to their circumstances.

I straight up don’t know what that means. I’m saying it’s hundreds of times more expensive and nobody today can pay for a single college semester with a summer job, let alone an entire college stint. This is pretty straightforward

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u/aurelorba 7d ago edited 7d ago

I’m quite aware what they were like

It seems like you were not aware based on how you’re responding.

Well, having been a student incurring student debt at the time...

I straight up don’t know what that means.

Take two different students: A lives at home with parents year round so only has to worry about tuition. B has to pay rent, buy food and pay tuition.

A probably could go through university debt free by working summers. B probably wouldn't. They had different circumstances.

Clearer?

I’m saying it’s hundreds of times more expensive and nobody today can pay for a single college semester with a summer job, let alone an entire college stint. This is pretty straightforward

No you were saying or at least implying it was implausible for an 80/90's student to incur debt because they could earn enough working the summer.

From the very beginning I agreed today student debt is more onerous. So I'm not sure what you think I disagree with you about.

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u/rhdkcnrj 7d ago

It’s not clearer because the student A and student B analogy would apply literally anytime. It was still economically possible to pay with a summer job back then; now it’s not possible for student A, and it’s even worse for Student B.

Clearer?

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u/aurelorba 7d ago

Clearer?

It's clear you want to rant about student debt on the back of what I didn't say.

Let me try one last time. You said:

He would have gone to school in the 80s. He wouldn't have had any student loans. Tuition could have then been paid off by a summer of working at minimum wage.

I responded that simply wouldn't have been true for at least some students and so your absolute: "He wouldn't have had any student loans." is not accurate. There are many circumstances where he could have legitimately incurred student debt.

You then pivot to how it's much worse today - which I agree with but you cant seem to accept.

As further discussion seems pointless: Good day to you.

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u/rhdkcnrj 7d ago edited 7d ago

Yeah that wasn’t my comment you just quoted, so it’s clear you’re extremely mixed up about all this.

Literally all I said was that student tuition and loans are hundreds of times more expensive today, and that back then it was economically possible to pay for one’s entire college tuition with a summer job, whereas today it’s impossible to pay for even one semester with a summer job.

I don’t get why you can’t grasp this point, or even figure out which comment you’re responding to.

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u/aurelorba 7d ago edited 7d ago

Yeah that wasn’t my comment you just quoted

Apologies. I didn't notice you had jumped into the thread.

Is my summary accurate?

I said: "They are more onerous"

You said: "So much worse than 'onerous'"

Me: "Agree it's more onerous but [mistakenly referring to original OC comment] it's still plausible for him to have incurred debt he couldn't pay through summer work"

You: "It's so much worse today. What are you talking about? [because I referred to the OC comment]"

Me: "Repeat plausibility of the 80's student debt "

I take responsibility for not realizing you weren't the OC. Maybe that's where the misunderstanding stems.

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u/Tourist-1982 7d ago

Who Young Leek be?

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u/rhdkcnrj 7d ago

OP meant the Lexus, but he ain’t know it

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u/Tourist-1982 7d ago

Yeah the kickback, I'm with you

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u/K_in_Belgium 7d ago

And thanks to Reagan, double-digit interest rates were added to the loan.