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Is this meant to be sarcastic? I suppose it would be possible if you enslaved those with PHDs and unpaid debt, forcing them to teach at universities administrat

Is this meant to be sarcastic? I suppose it would be possible if you enslaved those with PHDs and unpaid debt, forcing them to teach at universities administrated by those enslaved for their debt, built by those enslaved for their debt. Pharaoh had a lot of things for “free,” as did the plantation owners in the US, but the cost of free is pretty much the opposite of free for those who end up doing the paying. And the cost to society is something I’m pretty sure most wouldn’t advocate today.

mschuster91 8y ago
Not GP but he is serious. Look at Germany, we have essentially free university education as well as government assistance with cost of living (Bafög). Only thing you may need loans for is for cost of living not covered by Bafög (e.g. in high rent areas and you do not want to work aside of university), but that's on the low-end range - think 10k, 20k but no 100-200k like in the US. Same for single payer healthcare - we have for most people a single payer system and still we're not a socialist country as US republicans regularly whine and cry every time someone dares to propose a fix to your clusterfucks.
shmerl 8y ago
I'm serious. Society can figure out how to make education free, and not put students in crazy debt for years. If you don't advocate it, you basically advocate debt profiteering.
- techntoke 8y ago
  Lots of people advocate for abusing others because they benefit from it and never see any consequences.
- karlakush 8y ago
  What makes you think we can find enough professors willing to work for free that this would even be in the realm of possibility?
mikeash 8y ago
We already do this for K-12 and nobody had to be enslaved.
- malandrew 8y ago
  When someone takes 100% of the fruits of your labor it is slavery. What do you call it when someone takes 45% of the fruits of your labor?
  - shmerl 8y ago
    Taxes.
  - mikeash 8y ago
    If you’re going for “taxation is slavery” then just say it, I don’t feel like playing games.
  - p49k 8y ago
    It’s called “getting back more than 45% in returns in the form of a functioning and secure society.” That’s not what slaves got in return for 100% of their income.
p1necone 8y ago
As is true of so many other things in the United States, you just have to look at all the other western countries that manage to handle this just fine. Not all have totally free tertiary education of course, but there's a mix of that, along with interest free loans, partial subsidy by the government etc etc. And many of them work very well. This kind of myopic skepticism is so tiring.
- jtbayly 7y ago
  Because tax-payer funded, universal high school worked out so well that we’ve had to supplement it with four extra years to get a similar outcome to the past? You know the definition of insanity that goes doing the same thing and expecting different results?

mschuster91 8y ago

Not GP but he is serious. Look at Germany, we have essentially free university education as well as government assistance with cost of living (Bafög). Only thing you may need loans for is for cost of living not covered by Bafög (e.g. in high rent areas and you do not want to work aside of university), but that's on the low-end range - think 10k, 20k but no 100-200k like in the US. Same for single payer healthcare - we have for most people a single payer system and still we're not a socialist country as US republicans regularly whine and cry every time someone dares to propose a fix to your clusterfucks.

shmerl 8y ago

I'm serious. Society can figure out how to make education free, and not put students in crazy debt for years. If you don't advocate it, you basically advocate debt profiteering.

techntoke 8y ago
Lots of people advocate for abusing others because they benefit from it and never see any consequences.
karlakush 8y ago
What makes you think we can find enough professors willing to work for free that this would even be in the realm of possibility?

mikeash 8y ago

We already do this for K-12 and nobody had to be enslaved.

malandrew 8y ago
When someone takes 100% of the fruits of your labor it is slavery. What do you call it when someone takes 45% of the fruits of your labor?
- shmerl 8y ago
  Taxes.
- mikeash 8y ago
  If you’re going for “taxation is slavery” then just say it, I don’t feel like playing games.
- p49k 8y ago
  It’s called “getting back more than 45% in returns in the form of a functioning and secure society.” That’s not what slaves got in return for 100% of their income.

p1necone 8y ago

As is true of so many other things in the United States, you just have to look at all the other western countries that manage to handle this just fine. Not all have totally free tertiary education of course, but there's a mix of that, along with interest free loans, partial subsidy by the government etc etc. And many of them work very well. This kind of myopic skepticism is so tiring.

jtbayly 7y ago
Because tax-payer funded, universal high school worked out so well that we’ve had to supplement it with four extra years to get a similar outcome to the past? You know the definition of insanity that goes doing the same thing and expecting different results?