Students fresh out of college, six-figures deep in debt, face decades of debt slavery....Government meddling enabled this mess, and the best cure ...is to shut off all student aid programs, offer more online programs at low cost, fire needless administrators, and get rid of bloated pension plans for teachers....
[But the] president wants to throw still more money at the problem. This will do nothing but increase the profits at questionable schools, jack up the pay of administrators, and make more student debt zombies.
Mish Shedlock's latest coverage of the student debt crisis is disturbing at best, and the government-promoted indebtedness of college students and graduates seems to show no sign of stopping. Shedlock points out the irony that Obama's plans to expand incentives for students to take out loans will only further damage the finances of the generation which played a key role in getting him into the White House.
That's a good topic for fall activism on campus (Ahem! YAL chapters), but raising awareness about -- and even changing -- the policies which promote these foolish borrowing and lending habits won't do much for those already $50,000 in the hole.
That's where a Thomas Sowell article, featured on the main page of LewRockwell.com today, comes in. Sowell writes:
Commencement speakers express great reverence for "public service," as distinguished from narrow private "greed." ...What I would like to see is someone with the guts to tell those students: Do you want to be of some use and service to your fellow human beings? Then let your fellow human beings tell you what they want -- not with words, but by putting their money where their mouth is....
Would you like to see more things become more affordable to more people? Then figure out more efficient ways of producing things or more efficient ways of getting those things from the producers to the consumers at a lower cost.
In other words, "[i]f you really want to be of service to others, then let them decide what is a service by whether they choose to spend their hard-earned money for it." And as it happens, though you're not guaranteed an endless supply of tax dollars in the form of a government pension*, if you supply something which the market demands, you'll probably be able to pay off those loans.
*About those pensions: The federal government spent $747 billion on pensions alone in 2006 -- 5.7% of the GDP. That's more than it spent on health care, education, defense, welfare, and interest on the national debt. Something seriously needs to be done about a system where we pay billions of tax dollars for people not to work.
- Blog Policy
- Login or register to post comments
Connect with YAL
to the YAL channel on 
Upcoming Events
-
Info This seminar offers an introduction to the thoughts and thinkers of the...
-
Info The contrast between liberty and power in the history of the...
-
Info The summer’s final Freedom University boasts lectures on the hottest...
-
Info This is an all day, family-friendly convention for freedom-minded folks in...
-
Info Taking RSVP now for a June 30th - July 1st convention.We need to secure...
Pensions in govt are ridiculously flawed. Especially the pensions that are above 50k. All it promotes is people being lazy with saving and investing their money.
I agree so much with the concept that the students have to go out and be a benefit to society. I think the main problem is that the college system usually doesnt teach us how to do that. We are taught how to get a JOB, not CREATE one.
We are going to try a protest on Tuition hikes this FALL! We're asking students to take back all student fees they can (allowed to in the first week only - $81 - 4 different sections w/ threats as to what happens when one pulls out (no student activity fee money for the group)). Our SG president has already been told about this and said it wasn't fair because fees + tuition are separate. I told her this is not the case as it is the SG's job to be the liaison between students and the school - and she'd better start using their resources to advocate for student rights rather than allocate funds to different special interests on campus in order to create a campus culture - which surely would be taken care of regardless of SG's involvement.
This will also involve an open letter to our student newspaper which will most likely accuse the school of allocating funds poorly rather than "the rising cost of education" or "budget cuts from the state." It is morally deplorable that a business can hurt its customers based on whether or not it gets handed a bag of cash w/ no strings attached from the government. It will also have an open invitation to debate this issue publicly w/ any administration member. We are a union college so it should be interesting.
We may also go to each individual RSO on campus and ask how much money they generally receive and see if we can't advocate that keeping their fee money for the year might be more profitable.
Any other additions? Shoot...:
although I do agree that the tuition and fees when I was in college practically went up every semester. It was insane at that pace.
Oh, definitely. Part of the reason that tuition is so high, however, is that government guarantees of loans drive up the price of college. Check out this video from Peter Schiff:
using their resources to advocate for student rights rather than allocate funds to different special interests on campus in order to create a campus culture
http://www.simplyrest.com
"Obama's plans to expand incentives for students to take out loans will only further damage the finances of the generation which played a key role in getting him into the White House." Haha this is so true and it's unfortunate to say the least...
-Emily from The House of <a href="http://www.ohmydogsupplies.com/dog-supplies/dog-bowls/">Dog Bowls</a>
"Obama's plans to expand incentives for students to take out loans will only further damage the finances of the generation which played a key role in getting him into the White House." Haha this is so true and it's unfortunate to say the least...
-Emily from The House of Dog Bowls
Students are going more and more in debt... it's sad and something needs to be done about the price of schooling!
-Jann
The "Patio Umbrella" Queen
It's scandalous the way students have to go so far into debt to pay for their education. No wonder the likes of China, India and Brazil are rapidly over taking our high skilled economy. We'll end up paying in the long run for this short sightedness.
Pete the Animal Flip Flops drop out.
Kaufmann's structures consequently took on a very "mechanical" overall look, often similar to large editions Kaufman Hall Tickets of old-fashioned equipment. The Los Angeles Times' head office is the best example of this.