05-03-2019, 04:45 AM
I know from personal experience that higher education and a degree is far from 'useless' sal.
I wouldn't have qualified for most of the corporate positions I held without it and it helped me to establish my own business and make it profitable . It was therefore critical in me being able to care for my mom and assist some of the children in my family to get a higher education.
My parents couldn't afford to pay for college tuition (or bribe university administrators). I worked full time to put myself through college at night, with some reimbursement from one of my employers. It wasn't that difficult.
But, it's different now. These days, an undergraduate degree is equivalent to a high school diploma back in the day, in terms of job requirements. Plus, a lot more colleges and universities cost a fortune and require students to take on massive amounts of debt via high interest for-profit student loans. It's especially problematic that smart young people can't afford to go to medical school as the median age of our population continues to increase.
Even in the least expensive schools, it can seem like a fortune for young people who really want to learn and/or be able to qualify for career positions but don't come from money and would have to work so many hours to pay for tuition that they wouldn't be able to attend classes. It's a real problem for a lot of driven young people, especially those who come from generational poverty.
Anyway, decent health care and higher education should be accessible to everyone in a democracy, even a capitalist democracy/republic, in my opinion. It's essential, actually. If the society is getting weaker, less educated, older, more catered to those who inherit wealth....the middle class erodes, society becomes more divided, and the country becomes less motivated and competitive in the global market. And, those who want elite or premium services should have the option to pay for them directly.
So, to answer your question...............while this motherfucker doesn't consider herself rich and is not giddy about my taxes helping to pay for other people's education, I've already paid hundreds of thousands in taxes that went towards other people's kids getting elementary education and feel okay about that. I'm open to proposals to make higher education more accessible too -- such as Bernie's proposal to fund public higher education via taxing high-risk trade transactions + work study, more tax dollars going to higher education funding and being taken from other areas of the national budget, and/or doing away with the ridiculous tax exemption for religious organizations/businesses and applying that new source of tax revenue to education funding, etc.
I wouldn't have qualified for most of the corporate positions I held without it and it helped me to establish my own business and make it profitable . It was therefore critical in me being able to care for my mom and assist some of the children in my family to get a higher education.
My parents couldn't afford to pay for college tuition (or bribe university administrators). I worked full time to put myself through college at night, with some reimbursement from one of my employers. It wasn't that difficult.
But, it's different now. These days, an undergraduate degree is equivalent to a high school diploma back in the day, in terms of job requirements. Plus, a lot more colleges and universities cost a fortune and require students to take on massive amounts of debt via high interest for-profit student loans. It's especially problematic that smart young people can't afford to go to medical school as the median age of our population continues to increase.
Even in the least expensive schools, it can seem like a fortune for young people who really want to learn and/or be able to qualify for career positions but don't come from money and would have to work so many hours to pay for tuition that they wouldn't be able to attend classes. It's a real problem for a lot of driven young people, especially those who come from generational poverty.
Anyway, decent health care and higher education should be accessible to everyone in a democracy, even a capitalist democracy/republic, in my opinion. It's essential, actually. If the society is getting weaker, less educated, older, more catered to those who inherit wealth....the middle class erodes, society becomes more divided, and the country becomes less motivated and competitive in the global market. And, those who want elite or premium services should have the option to pay for them directly.
So, to answer your question...............while this motherfucker doesn't consider herself rich and is not giddy about my taxes helping to pay for other people's education, I've already paid hundreds of thousands in taxes that went towards other people's kids getting elementary education and feel okay about that. I'm open to proposals to make higher education more accessible too -- such as Bernie's proposal to fund public higher education via taxing high-risk trade transactions + work study, more tax dollars going to higher education funding and being taken from other areas of the national budget, and/or doing away with the ridiculous tax exemption for religious organizations/businesses and applying that new source of tax revenue to education funding, etc.