Re: union-busting
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:54 pm
What part? Do you think the government does have a right to take from one group to give to another? My guiding principle here is, again, individualism. People are free to live their lives as they please so long as they do not infringe upon others' ability to do the same. This means that people have the freedom to form collective groups, and allow that group to act as a whole on their behalf. However, no group, no matter the size, has the right to limit or disrupt the rights of any one individual. This principle extends to government, and is also the basis of our constitutional republic, which was intended to protect the rights of the minority from the majority.
If you think our economy would not have a better foundation without government subsidization, then that is a little tougher for me to explain.
What do you suppose would happen to our post secondary education system if student loans and financial aid did not exist? I suggest that far fewer people would be attending college at what it costs today. This would put a lot of downward pressure on tuition, because colleges are businesses and they don't like empty classrooms. It would force them to become more efficient and competitive.
From a student's perspective, suddenly he isn't getting free money from the government, he is paying for it himself, so he becomes much more concerned with the quality of the education, as well as what he is majoring in. Does he go for a worthless easy sociology degree and spend four years partying? Or maybe something a bit more likely to pay off in the long run?
Think about that from the other side, with government grants and loans. Everyone can go to college, and a lot of people can go without paying a dime out of pocket. Colleges are well aware of that fact, and as such, they can get away with ever-increasing tuition costs. Not only that, but I know for a fact that colleges intentionally dumb down certain curriculums to keep students progressing through them. When they talk of expanding a program, it is usually by making it easier/more accessible than by making it more rigorous where the education gained is more valuable and of far more benefit to those students who do make it through.
Bottom line, colleges are businesses and the government drastically changes how supply and demand works for it. The result is poorer quality, inefficiency, and higher costs. I have no doubt that it was well intended to send everyone to college, thinking it would make the work force more intelligent and productive as a whole, but what it ended up doing was dumbing down college for the masses and making our education system continue to lag behind much of the rest of the world. There are a lot of people that go to college and shouldn't be there. They would be far better off in a trade school, or working their way up.
If you think our economy would not have a better foundation without government subsidization, then that is a little tougher for me to explain.
What do you suppose would happen to our post secondary education system if student loans and financial aid did not exist? I suggest that far fewer people would be attending college at what it costs today. This would put a lot of downward pressure on tuition, because colleges are businesses and they don't like empty classrooms. It would force them to become more efficient and competitive.
From a student's perspective, suddenly he isn't getting free money from the government, he is paying for it himself, so he becomes much more concerned with the quality of the education, as well as what he is majoring in. Does he go for a worthless easy sociology degree and spend four years partying? Or maybe something a bit more likely to pay off in the long run?
Think about that from the other side, with government grants and loans. Everyone can go to college, and a lot of people can go without paying a dime out of pocket. Colleges are well aware of that fact, and as such, they can get away with ever-increasing tuition costs. Not only that, but I know for a fact that colleges intentionally dumb down certain curriculums to keep students progressing through them. When they talk of expanding a program, it is usually by making it easier/more accessible than by making it more rigorous where the education gained is more valuable and of far more benefit to those students who do make it through.
Bottom line, colleges are businesses and the government drastically changes how supply and demand works for it. The result is poorer quality, inefficiency, and higher costs. I have no doubt that it was well intended to send everyone to college, thinking it would make the work force more intelligent and productive as a whole, but what it ended up doing was dumbing down college for the masses and making our education system continue to lag behind much of the rest of the world. There are a lot of people that go to college and shouldn't be there. They would be far better off in a trade school, or working their way up.
