This s the strongest argument against free college i've ever seen...and its got me conflicted

[Ghost Utmost]

So when you first hear the idea that we would provide college for free...


You didn't think to yourself "who the fukc is gonna pay for it?"


It always sounded stupid to me just like universal basic income or any other concept that promises free stuff with no plan to pay for it


Glad this is becoming clear. It's a universal law that there's no free lunch

 

[Shogun]

The "liberal" side of college is all window dressing. They're the most ruthlessly capitalist institutions we've got.

 

[FAH1223]

So when you first hear the idea that we would provide college for free...


You didn't think to yourself "who the fukc is gonna pay for it?"


It always sounded stupid to me just like universal basic income or any other concept that promises free stuff with no plan to pay for it


Glad this is becoming clear. It's a universal law that there's no free lunch

To make public universities tuition free it costs about $70-80 billion per year.

Federal government is spending $4 trillion right now. Military spending went up $150 billion with no debate or any ask of where the fukk the money is gonna come from.

we can easily do this but it’s about priorities

 

[Professor Emeritus]

So when you first hear the idea that we would provide college for free...


You didn't think to yourself "who the fukc is gonna pay for it?"


It always sounded stupid to me just like universal basic income or any other concept that promises free stuff with no plan to pay for it


Glad this is becoming clear. It's a universal law that there's no free lunch

To make public universities tuition free it costs about $70-80 billion per year.

Federal government is spending $4 trillion right now. Military spending went up $150 billion with no debate or any ask of where the fukk the money is gonna come from.

we can easily do this but it’s about priorities

Trump already handed out $28 billion to farmers just to offset his stupid trade war and wants $75 billion for a wall.

Republicans passed Medicare Part D that was already up to $50 billion/year by 2008, almost all straight to drug company profits, no one asked "how are we going to pay for this?"

Trump tax cut cost $270 billion in its first year, nobody asked "how are we going to pay for this?"

Trump already handed out $28 billion to farmers just to offset his stupid trade war and wants $75 billion for a wall.

And of course the elephant in the room is $750 billion/year in defense spending, like FAH1223 said already $150 billion more than when Trump came into office, and there was ZERO debate.

There is far more than enough money for this. The question is priorities. And we as a nation have decided that the military-industrial complex, big corporations, and rich people's pocketbooks are more important than poor people's education.

 

[Ghost Utmost]

Defense spending

Is the single most factor that even allows America to be a invulnerable space where you have the leg room to be "free"

Its literally ahead of any other consideration because whatever America is is made possible by an undefeatable army.

Crops. Farmers. Pretty essential to global functionality.

And so forth.

Your student loans aren't that heavy to the geopolitical structure. People actually sign their names on loan papers and know exactly what the figure is before they agree... then eventually decide that they have been abused.

So like... if you just refused to go to school. You think they will miss you? They will realize they needed you all along?

They wouldn't even notice. Colleges turn people down.

So do something else that doesn't require college.

Free college sounds like a huge beni to the person getting free college

But functionally ... if it costs dough to run a college, then it takes dough coming in. Its just simple math.

To make public universities tuition free it costs about $70-80 billion per year.

Federal government is spending $4 trillion right now. Military spending went up $150 billion with no debate or any ask of where the fukk the money is gonna come from.

we can easily do this but it’s about priorities

Trump already handed out $28 billion to farmers just to offset his stupid trade war and wants $75 billion for a wall.

Republicans passed Medicare Part D that was already up to $50 billion/year by 2008, almost all straight to drug company profits, no one asked "how are we going to pay for this?"

Trump tax cut cost $270 billion in its first year, nobody asked "how are we going to pay for this?"

Trump already handed out $28 billion to farmers just to offset his stupid trade war and wants $75 billion for a wall.

And of course the elephant in the room is $750 billion/year in defense spending, like FAH1223 said already $150 billion more than when Trump came into office, and there was ZERO debate.

There is far more than enough money for this. The question is priorities. And we as a nation have decided that the military-industrial complex, big corporations, and rich people's pocketbooks are more important than poor people's education.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Defense spending

Is the single most factor that even allows America to be a invulnerable space where you have the leg room to be "free"

Its literally ahead of any other consideration because whatever America is is made possible by an undefeatable army.

Crops. Farmers. Pretty essential to global functionality.

And so forth.

Total bullshyt. TWO OCEANS is what allows America to be an invulnerable space. NO ONE has even tried to invade America, and no one will, because there are TWO OCEANS in-between us and everyone else who matters.

Dwight Eisenhower, a fukking military general in WW2 who knows more about what it takes to keep this country safe than anyone, warned America against the "military-industrial complex" that was trying to capture all the spending like crazy. Do you not believe him?

We added $150 billion/year in spending since Trump became president. Did that magically make us more secure somehow? North Korea was on the verge of invading until we put in that extra buck fitty?

Our defense spending is at the level of the next 10 highest-spending countries combined. The VAST majority of that spending is pork designed to benefit political constituencies and wealthy defense contractors, foreign interventions meant to control corporate financial interests in other countries, and responses to terrorists who objected to those exact foreign interventions. NONE of that shyt is necessary to secure American freedom.

Imagine we cut our spending in half. We'd still spend more than any other nation on Earth. Which one would attack us? It would be completely nonsensical and they wouldn't have a chance. This is a TERRIBLE talking point.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Anecdotal I know but colleges in my country are free and the facilities are excellent at least where I used them.

And since the US’s economy is about 100 times the size of ours they shouldn’t have any issue doing this if they actually commit to it.

They spend dumb shyt on students. We had maids cleaning our rooms for us and all-you-can-eat dining hall just so students rate the "campus experience" highly. None of that shyt necessary for adults getting an education but it expensive as fukk.

Aye we had none of this but the actual courses where high quality and it was free.

I’d rather that than any extra American bullshyt.

Tuition can be made free easily. Issue is the cost of these universities has doubled, tripled, quadrupled in the last 2-3 decades.

Also, the USA needs to subsidize technical and vocational training big time.

Yup, and a lot of college costs are just overpriced bullshyt. I noted both of these quotes in the, "What does everyone in your industry know but no one is willing to talk about?" thread.

I was in the student loan industry. There are so many rent-seekers & middlemen involved it would be cheaper to just give people $ to go to college, even if you account 4 people who “waste” the money & never show up

Ok, seriously, I was an #Adjunct-Prof. for 6 years, & thought: "I wonder what parents'd think, if they knew all the $ spent on college goes to Admin,

* Out of control admin costs

* Advertising and recruiting costs meant solely to steal "top-scoring" students from other colleges in order to improve online rankings

* Ridiculous facility costs meant to improve student rankings of "campus experience"

* Tons of profiteers in the student loan industry

* Tons of profiteers in the standardized test and AP industry


All things we claim are more important for America (and which are funded by the American government) rather than making it affordable for poor kids to get an education.

 

[Ghost Utmost]

Total bullshyt. TWO OCEANS is what allows America to be an invulnerable space. NO ONE has even tried to invade America, and no one will, because there are TWO OCEANS in-between us and everyone else who matters.

Dwight Eisenhower, a fukking military general in WW2 who knows more about what it takes to keep this country safe than anyone, warned America against the "military-industrial complex" that was trying to capture all the spending like crazy. Do you not believe him?

We added $150 billion/year in spending since Trump became president. Did that magically make us more secure somehow? North Korea was on the verge of invading until we put in that extra buck fitty?

Our defense spending is at the level of the next 10 highest-spending countries combined. The VAST majority of that spending is pork designed to benefit political constituencies and wealthy defense contractors, foreign interventions meant to control corporate financial interests in other countries, and responses to terrorists who objected to those exact foreign interventions. NONE of that shyt is necessary to secure American freedom.

Imagine we cut our spending in half. We'd still spend more than any other nation on Earth. Which one would attack us? It would be completely nonsensical and they wouldn't have a chance. This is a TERRIBLE talking point.

here's what you want

"Take some money from here and there and pay for ME some college"

But since YOUR college is non essential to anything except your own well being, it's in no one's best interest except your own.

I know they got you all hyped up about free shyt but this just ain't the universe for it

TWO OCEANS huh

TELL THAT shyt TO YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN FRIENDS

Kept them all nice and safe didn't it.

You realize Britian is an island and at one time they had a GLOBAL EMPIRE. In fact, they traveled to all the places they conquered via

TWO OCEANS

 

[Professor Emeritus]

here's what you want

"Take some money from here and there and pay for ME some college"

But since YOUR college is non essential to anything except your own well being, it's in no one's best interest except your own.

I know they got you all hyped up about free shyt but this just ain't the universe for it

TWO OCEANS huh

TELL THAT shyt TO YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN FRIENDS

Kept them all nice and safe didn't it.

You realize Britian is an island and at one time they had a GLOBAL EMPIRE. In fact, they traveled to all the places they conquered via

TWO OCEANS

You're trying to be extra stupid today. You're trying to go back to the 1700s and unconnected tribes fighting with sticks to make your point? Do you have any idea how slowly the Brits moved forces across that ocean? You think we're just gonna let someone else's navy spend a couple years building up 500,000 troops on California's coast without doing anything about it? Britain was landing armies having only to beat tiny local groups or often not being opposed at all, building shyt up until they had a major colony in place there, and THEN going to war with the big hitters. They weren't just sending entire forces across the ocean in one fell swoop, they didn't have close to that capacity.

Even if we cut our spending in half we'd still be the most militarized nation on Earth, but you want to suggest that someone gonna come across the ocean (With what fukking navy? Are you aware of who even has a forces-moving navy like that besides us?) and invade a MORE militarized country than their own? And then occupy it with...who? what? how?

Great fake dialect too, I'm sure you practiced that one before posting here. You seem completely ignorant to the fact that a more educated populace is a massive asset to a nation and its economy. Crime drops, development increases, economic growth increases, technological competition with other nations improves, infrastructure improves, better politicians are voted into office, there are a LOT of national advantages to having a more educated population.