I was pretty taken-aback reading the discussion that followed an article on the college financial aid system in the USA Today. The argument from a surprising number was essentially that “the government doesn’t exist to pay for your education” and “gee, think of that, having to earn the money to pay for school before attending,” or – of course – “save by cutting corners.” One poster (MidAmerican) had one particular gem:
Find ways to cut costs by not getting spinners put on your car.
I couldn’t resist stepping in.
The average cost of a four-year degree is approx. $40K. That is a lot of corners; it’s cheaper to rob the rich, actually …. Education is among the better democratizers of our society, and refusing it — not based on ability, but wealth (when the industry itself requires of a student more than almost any uneducated worker makes in those very same four years) – is a sly snobbery masking classism. Ivy Leaguers with pappy’s fat-pockets and the rest of us.
Not to mention your — MidAmerican [Orignal Poster] – stereotypes are urban non-white generalizations, when the reality is that the only option for anyone uneducated is to work at, say, KFC — or invest their efforts in other, less legitimate industry. Those wheels come from your Lexus, big guy.
Think of it this way, sirrah: you’re going to end up paying in the end, your taxes might as well spare you the ire of all those you would designate subalterns.
Idiot.
Michael Schofield 