2 ms·

"Most members of the 9.9% also talk about the amazing virtues of education and go out and build these systems where the educated will succeed. Then we have a sy

"Most members of the 9.9% also talk about the amazing virtues of education and go out and build these systems where the educated will succeed. Then we have a system of financing college where a large majority of people have to buy that. They have to buy that behavior or life pattern. It’s like someone manages to jump across a pit of fire and get to the other side and then convinces everyone else they should do the same thing. Unfortunately, statistically, those following that model are not all going to succeed. It does not make sense to have a society that is either defaulting on student debt or they are so burdened by it they can’t buy houses or take other important steps in life." The path of getting a good, useful education, making decent life decisions, and slowly building up wealth over time via real estate? Ya, that will work for most people. The jump over that fire pit is pretty short. And while some people can't jump at all, a lot can.

alistairSH 5y ago
Unfortunately, statistically, those following that model are not all going to succeed. Except, statistically, most people jumping the fire pit (going to college) do succeed, so making the jump, in aggregate, is worth it. On an individual level, sure, somebody should consider the pros and cons. But from a policy perspective, we absolutely should be pushing some sort of higher education (albeit not necessarily the standard 4-year BA). And I do hate that college costs have gone up as much as they have. My parents paid cash for my and my sister's undergrad. Despite similar incomes (adjusted for inflation), doing that for my son was a real stretch.