A big missing piece in this conversation is the fact that there's essentially two ways to save on a national multi-decade scale: either you have easy to exploit

A big missing piece in this conversation is the fact that there's essentially two ways to save on a national multi-decade scale: either you have easy to exploit oil reserves that you save for later, or you convince the next generation to build stuff for you later in exchange for things now. That's the fundamental driving force behind a lot of insane pro-debt policies, especially student loans and mortgages. If you want the college situation to get better, attacking the idea of retirement is the way to go. That, and suing places like fire departments that require a college degree for no relevant reason.