> Many of these institutions of higher education are entirely or partially funded with taxpayer money. This is a tell. I should have seen it coming. Another "y

> Many of these institutions of higher education are entirely or partially funded with taxpayer money. This is a tell. I should have seen it coming. Another "you didn't build the ROADS!" guilt trip. As if a big part of the rationale behind all government-funded activities (wealth redistribution) was to promote the importance and preservation of the state, not what the citizens couldn't do for themselves. The same goes for the "freedom isn't free" bullshit. A "security" argument could have just as easily been substituted for the "education" argument. Citizens all around the world are paying double for this self-aggrandizing propaganda, some with a mountain of subsidized student loans, others with their lives. The fundamental goals of government (that I think that most people could get on board with) are to provide law and order, and if it has the resources, promote the general welfare. If the welfare is being promoted and increasing by other means, why do we need the state to continue that role? The pie is growing in the form of a piece of technology that is improving your life, and the private sector doing more, more efficiently. Just because the guy next door struck it rich in some risky investment or startup doesn't mean you were made worse off or will be made worse off. The sooner we can stop flirting with that flawed, quick-fix socialist thinking, the better off we'll all be.