The Dangers of Government Funded Education.
The Student Loan Payment Pause, started during COVID, is coming to an end on 31 August. This has caused the debate over whether the Government should “Cancel” all student loan debt to ramp up again. With former Ohio State Senator, and current professor, Nina Turner seemingly leading the charge. Even though she refused to debate Based Politics co-founder Brad Polumbo on the topic (or anyone else for that matter) the exchange forced her to acknowledge progressives' real end state on higher education; Socialized college.
As a professor, we know that Nina doesn’t have an issue with people profiting “from knowledge,” just institutions. She wants her paycheck to come from the taxpayers. I’m also sure she knows that the track record for socialist programs in the United States isn’t very good.
History of Socialist Programs
Social Security is essentially a Ponzi Scheme that will one day be eroded to nothing. Especially now that we are seeing less people born each generation. A good Ponzi Scheme needs there to be more investors in the next generation. Not to mention, the rate of return on Social Security has historically been far lower than private mutual funds and 401K’s.
The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was set up much the same way, the younger healthier people will pay for the older people who are no longer working. It also took 10 years to implement. The taxes were levied early on and needed that time for initiation cost. The ACA has failed to do anything close to what it said it would do; make healthcare affordable. In fact it has caused prices to increase.
One disaster program that I know intimately is the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Even after years of this being a top priority, the VA is failing veterans. When I got out of the Army in 2017 I was a top priority VA recipient. Even Still it took me four months to get my initial appointment. At my appointment it was confirmed to me that they didn’t have any of my military records. It took then Senator Johnny Isaksons office to get them transferred over. Even after the VA Mission Act passed I can’t get the specialized care I need because I live too close to a VA facility. The VA was and continues to be a disaster.
Speaking of Education lets look at our oldest social program, the US Public school system. While the US ranks number one year over year in education, our K-12 is falling behind the rest of the world. In 2018 the The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) had the US Ranked 11th in Science, and 30th in Math. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has shown that private school students perform better than public school students in every category. Yet many are still fighting to keep tax payer funds in these public schools, even when we know they are worse. People like Nina want to do that to institutions of higher learning. We know from communist/socialist countries around the world, once the government gets involved with a program it takes away your choice.
Socialist Education
If the Government is paying for your education, you will not have a choice in what to study. Nor will you be allowed to go to school for 5+ years trying to “figure it out.” The field you go into will be dictated on your skills, and the needs in the labor market.
Martha Bueno, Candidate for Miami-Dade County Commissioner District 10, told me about how her father was sent to the Cuban gulags after college because he refused to join the communist party. In Cuba they have an aptitude test, then present you with three options for programs to choose from. Then upon graduation you will join the communist party in that field or be sent to the “work camps.” The same way the US Government will pay off loans in exchange for four years military service. The Government will always get their money back.
Not everyone can have a front office job. There still has to be people in service industries and skilled labor. So if you don’t score high enough on the aptitude test, they will send you to a lower wage profession. In the end, those professions pay for people in higher wage positions to get their education. The same way “canceling” student debt takes the financial burden off those who took loans, but are in a much higher tax bracket, and puts them on those that went into skilled labor instead. Under communism there are still social classes except they are dictated by the government; not through your hard work. Taxpayer funded education would be the same way in the US if people like Nina have their way.
Conclusion
Activists and politicians will try to say that nothing will change in the university system, just the funding of it. When this happens, remember the lie touted by progressives when referring to the ACA “if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.” Taxpayer funded means the absence of choice. While a “free” education system sounds nice, it doesn’t come cheap. Nor does it stack up in terms of performance. Business studies have shown that people are much more likely to perform better when they have a financial stake invested. That is what higher education is. A person makes an investment on themselves that will eventually pay off in the long run. Even with the devaluation of a college degree, a graduate still makes over $900K more in a lifetime than a non-grad. Plenty enough to pay off their debts.