On the other hand, should a populist regain control of the executive, the baleful eye of the state could prove rather bad for the universities.
Want those federal student loans and research grants? Better keep administrative costs down to 5% of budget. Oh, that means you have to fire 90% of administrators? Guess those vice-deanlets of DIE have to go then, sorry.
Yeah, yeah, I'm LARPing. Under the current regime that won't happen. A guy can dream though.
In the meantime, the universities are beclowning themselves so badly that a degree is increasingly seen as a black mark in many circles. And what happens if the USD loses global reserve currency status? The ability of the feds to distort markets and enforce social engineering policies is predicated on the ability of the Fed to print unlimited money that people treat as money.
The solution isn't to struggle for control in the pig pen. It's to render the pig pen irrelevant. Meaning: it won't matter that the state controls the universities if the universities are made surplus to requirements for core functions of knowledge production and instruction. Given that the universities have become an unwelcome environment for genuine scholars, who are increasingly building out an ersatz academia on the Internet, that is probably an achievable goal. If the ersatz academy can offer more interesting material, more reliable knowledge, and cheaper instruction, it will outcompete the dinosaur institutions and their DIE zampolit.
The Founders seem ahead of this curve. Virtually all such licensing is done by the States. If a half a dozen large states "Just Say No" and set reasoned licensing/credentialing rules in place, they not only will get all the best practitioners of whatever art, craft or science is being credentialed, but the others will eventually have to follow. Eviscerating the Feds by asserting State's Rights as some of the governors (especially DeSantis) are now doing seems the best path forward as long as the Supreme Court is still populated by people who want to follow the Constitution.
"... as long as the Supreme Court is still populated by people who want to follow the Constitution" That, sadly, is no longer a certainty. Or even likely.
True that. It has been surprising in deed that they've done so. The role of the court is not to legislate, that is clear. Due I suppose to our education system, too many people do not understand the courts role, and look instead for the court to do what legislatures have not done. To promote this absurdity terms like "liberal justices" and "conservative justices" and "constructionist justices" (the most absurd) have been created to confuse and confound.
It is truly sad that so many believe that a judge or justice who rules based on the law as enacted or the constitution as written is anything other than "competent". That is the courts role.
True... This said, there are in fact ways that already allow for this to occur. A license is just permission to do that which is normally illegal/unlawful. And as recently as a month or so ago, EPA v W. Virginia (or reverse that) once again lays down the fact that they don't have any business telling the public what to do.
And on a side note, college was worthless back when I went, 98-02 ... And it has gone sharply downhill ever since. Running two businesses as I do, with 50+ workers of various capability reqs, I honestly avoid hiring anyone who graduated 2010 to present. Generally speaking, they just don't get it... I'd rather spend time training someone who didn't go to college the skills they need, I get far less baggage this way and very capable workers who are grateful for the chance I took with them. College is nothing more than a piece of paper stating "I know how to conform", unless they have some something very specific such as engineering.
What all of these regulations have created is an invention of work that otherwise no one would need, but because code, statutory law, and regulations have been created, it becomes necessary but not needed.
The invention of work is why most manufacturing has gone overseas.
One day soon, we will all know how to unincorporate and conduct (private) trade and end their perceived control over our lives and our businesses.
You just gave us another frightening glimpse into the future. The next round of loan forgiveness will be conditioned on proper conduct. Being up to date on vaccines, not appearing on any watch list for attending school board meetings, etc. . . .
Universities are the perfect embodiment of the type of credentialing system that the crypto people refer to as Proof of Stake. The credential is seen to have value through the attestation of those in the credentialing system and the perceived value of the collective reputations of those in the system. In other words, it is ultimately a confidence game.
The alternative in the cryptographic world is Proof of Work, which is akin to what Gato has done here on Substack and other social media. He has demonstrated through actual work a level of expertise that is apparent to any who care to investigate. This is the divide - the perception of expertise or the demonstration of expertise.
This is perhaps the biggest divide in our country these days. There are those who still believe the major institutions (in this case those that provide credentialing) are legitimate and those who do not.
To further the crypto analogy, the "old school" model, the credential represented a dedication of resources - time, money, sacrifice. The advanced degree (well the one that abbreviates piled higher and deeper) as much as anything signifies the ability to stick to it for a long time. You dedicated so much of your personal resources and that infused some value. At least in the easy subjects I studied, like physics and engineering back a few decades when i was still doing that crazy stuff.
The University I attended is now getting tons of government dollars for some bio defense lab. When I spoke to the president of the university about how wrong I thought it was that they were mandating vaccinations he basically said there was nothing he could do… That is because he’s beholden to the government. And rather than actually stand up against something illegal he just caved.
All of this is true, and awful enough, but what really pisses me off is I saved/invested and paid my sons way through an Ivy League school with no scholarships. That was a lot of discretionary income I didn't get to use on myself (I've got no vacation home, been driving the same car for 20 years, etc.) Why should people who didn't sacrifice get a free ride?
All that tuition money funds fancy buildings and lots of administrators. The amount spent on teaching staff has risen no more than inflation, and in many cases less. Fewer professors are tenured and many are adjunct with pittance contracts.
This was always going to be the outcome after the GFC. They made a choice then on hyperinflation. The banks who raked in billions of "profit" all those years during the housing bubble, didn't set anything aside for rough times, paid the top execs millions as bonuses, were bailed out instead of being nationalized and then broken up into regional banks after years of receivership. Why wouldn't they forgive student loans as enticement to vote big gov? The rubicon was crossed, all conclusions for future events have been set by precedent.
What was the first thing that happened in 2020? Bailouts again and this time even bigger then 08. Boeing who created a subpar plane that killed people while they knew it was subpar, had spent billions on buybacks the preceding decade since 2008, was bailed out again in 2020. Many here prob don't remember that because they were distracted by a "bigger" issue. You're in the looting phase, the empire is done and the carcass is being picked over by those who can. Everything else is collateral damage.
Why else proclaim that thing that up until the early 2000's was "great" IE America, is now terrible and always was terrible and therefore we must tear down everything that people once thought was great about it? Because they know its done, the outcome for most "regular" people in the future is going to be worse then the recent past and you might as well "kill them softly"! Great movie by the way if you haven't seen it.
You must choose between what you "believe" in and your 401k, your home ownership, you clubs, your friends, basically life as you known it. Which is more valuable to you? We either all hang separately by a death of a thousand cuts (current situation) or we all hang together and defend what we believe ;)
I think the colleges should be required to underwrite (co-sign) loans for any student they educate. Anything the student doesn't pay back, for any reason, comes back to the college.
That would engender the sort of responsibility that would change things.
But then again, that means the Deep State loses the ability to control everyone.... naaah, it will never happen. Fun to think about though, isn't it?
Most degrees could probably done in about half the time too. Also now that we have computers I’m not really sure why any university costs more than another university. We could make the education fairly similar across-the-board. The idea of a university not accepting credits from another one is another big scam.
1969 through 72: I also worked through college. Summer factory work, and a car wash and a few other part time gigs. college was affordable then so I paid as I went. I did not graduate because life got in the way. I worked for myself ever since. I learned the most about work from the jobs I had while being a college student.
I agree, I tell my daughter, we have other options. I've got the 200K we can do something else, even buy real estate and manage it. She can do better. I think college is no longer a good value, for those who actually have to pay. It will eventually become worthless for those who don't. Eventually they won't even want it for free.
I tried it in the mid 1970's and it did not work out too well. Work insisted that it take priority over school and school insisted that it take priority over work. When I lost my job due to layoffs, I found I had another rude awakening in store. In Michigan, if you are taking classes you are NOT eligible for unemployment as the rules state you must be available for work 24/7. If there are any exceptions I am not aware of them. Back then there was an actual person to talk to at the unemployment office. Now it is all computer and GOD HELP YOU if you give the wrong answer! So much for going to school to get ahead in life. I was actually told by the unemployment counselor that if I stayed home and had children out of wedlock I'd be much better off in terms of getting help. So my advice is to those who are considering working their way through school to make sure ahead of time that you are not shooting yourself in the foot, especially if you don't have anyone (parents) to fall back on.
Absolutely. Read Thomas Sowell's "Vision of the Anointed" if you want to know more about 'them.' It is an informative and eye-opening read, if you've not already read the book.
It is a huge FU to the working class who did not take on debt to go to any college and all those with only a high school diploma. You are going to forgive debt to those who think we are deplorable, racist, misogynist bigots, who want to turn our kids trans and sell out America to globalists, who want me to eat insects?
I don’t know who you are mr. el gato, but yer brilliant!
Would the “eye care” grift be a smaller . simple example of this?
Once insurance started paying for eye care (Yey! “Free!”) prices went up, you had to always get exam first, you still pay out $$ for a pair. More $$, less freedom.
Yes! So much of our economy is leveraged. All kinds of useless interlopers getting in on the action. Vet care is another. Costs skyrocketing but don’t worry—there’s pet insurance
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been struggling to articulate the natural consequences of this plan to friends and family. Now I can share your articulation! Joe appears to be making more progress toward “free college for all” than Bernie even dreamed of!
the reunion i went to a few years back will be my last. i just find nothing of value there anymore.
80% of my friends are desperately grappling with the question of "where in hell can i send my kids to college"? many went to ivies and stanford and schools of similar stature and just do not want their kids exposed to what these schools have become.
there is a massive opportunity for a school who figures this out to start collecting a serious clan of the best and brightest, but for adaptation to occur, we must have freedom to experiment, and that is exactly what government money destroys.
Yes, hubbs is a grad in political science from Michigan State & went to UVA for his law degree. He has often told me how marxist (I refer to it as “regressive”, not “progressive”) his profs were at being so “effusive” over their indoctrinating views & he did NOT have an answer in his mind to the contrary. (This was late 60’s & early 70’s) We do not ”train & teach” our children in “apologetics” (whether it be in Christian views or “world views” in general.) We have in varying degrees abdicated our instruction to our offspring to the educational “system”. I was reared by the most discerning, common-sense Christian (Dad) I have ever met. He despised the news outlets & hated mob conformity & grew to distrust politicians. He reserved his greatest disdain for TV evangelist charlatans. He told me at age 17 that if I wanted to go to a SUNY school it would be completely on my own dime.
But, he gave me a list of ten schools (private, several Christian) that he would pay my tuition completely if I wanted to attend them. This was toward the end of the Viet Nam War & the country was changing. He kept his word, and I got a fabulous education in practical Christian philosophy & practice. It was the love & deep concerns of my father & ultimately embracing of the love of Christ that won me over. I have never once regretted not going to a “status” school. How did a man who had lost his mom to cancer when he was only eleven, was sent off to live for several years with an Uncle & Aunt, got in fights, struggled with some poverty issues...end up being the wonderful provider & discerner he was? He attributed it to the books he read (Horatio Alger, as an example... as a child) & later the Bible, & NOT reading Bertrand Russell, Hemingway, JD Salinger, Nietzsche, Marx, etc. but replacing them with Dr Francis Schaefer’s writings, writings by Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Charles H Spurgeon, Charles Dickens, the list is long. He served in WWII, was skilled in many of the trades, became a Civil Engineer with no college education, just self-taught & taking exams & passing required tests for state employment.
I think Hillsdale is doing this. They take zero federal dollars. My eldest is considering going there after the Navy (if he doesn't just go directly into private sector job, which seems likely, since the Nuclear Power guys are highly recruited after service.) They give full ride scholarships (private endowments) to service members even though they will not accept GI bill $.
There are some schools doing just that. Refusing government money and charting their own course. Hillsdale College and Grove City College are two that come to mind but I think there are a few others. It's only a trickle now.
As more and more parents and students seek our such an education, this trend will only grow.
Though founded by Baptists, Hillsdale 'only recently has re-affirmed its commitment to Christianity,' resulting in a faithful but diverse mix of students and faculty:
The stated purpose of the university (to educate) has been usurped by the university's practical reality to protect the flywheel of endowment growth, RE ownership, expanded workforce and through that a tax exempt status.
Let's not forget to mention that the university industrial complex is the only industry funded by 6 figure unsecured loans to teenagers.
Just read your link and subscribed. I’ve had the same conversation with close friends (I live in the oppressive state of Washington) and they all respond like your neighbor. It’s so sad. They think they’re educated, but they’ve chosen to follow the wrong doctrine and are now committed and loyal to what they’ve “learned.” I don’t know that they will ever see the truth.
There is a red pill out there for everyone. Our job is to help the 'normies' come along, a little at a time, as best we can. Often the best thing we can do is just be there, when they finally realize they've been sold a useless bill of goods by those they trusted.
They say hell hath no fury like a scorned lover. I think a more modern adaptation might well be, hell hath no fury like a scorned leftie.
When I went to university (1972-75, Washington U St Louis Engineering) and grad school (77-79, MIchigan Business) both schools were around $4500 all-in per year. WU is private and I was in-state at Michigan. Back then my folks and scholarships paid for my undergrad, and I paid myself for grad school, and it was eminently practical to do so. I think I got a pretty decent education back in those days too. There were few government grants and loans would come from the school or your local bank. Who were happy to give you a loan, if you were studying something like engineering, business, law, medicine, nursing -- any career that was actually a career.
Then the government got in the game, and guess what? TSHTF, just as Gato describes. Always and forever it will be this way, I pray that some day (soon) we will figure this all out before it is too late.
I told my kids, I won’t pay for four year undergrad, and I won’t endorse you taking on debt for it. I *will* pay for experiential programs, or in-state commuting, if you really want.
They are both pretty indifferent-planning to have lots of adventures first. But they’ve never been to school, really, either.
On the other hand, should a populist regain control of the executive, the baleful eye of the state could prove rather bad for the universities.
Want those federal student loans and research grants? Better keep administrative costs down to 5% of budget. Oh, that means you have to fire 90% of administrators? Guess those vice-deanlets of DIE have to go then, sorry.
Yeah, yeah, I'm LARPing. Under the current regime that won't happen. A guy can dream though.
In the meantime, the universities are beclowning themselves so badly that a degree is increasingly seen as a black mark in many circles. And what happens if the USD loses global reserve currency status? The ability of the feds to distort markets and enforce social engineering policies is predicated on the ability of the Fed to print unlimited money that people treat as money.
alas, of course, then some agenda driven loon or other will win again and all loans will be forgiven if you join the party as a thought police intern.
so long as this power remains in place, we're all going to be wrestling over control of this greased pig.
we all get filthy and the pig just likes it.
Yep.
The solution isn't to struggle for control in the pig pen. It's to render the pig pen irrelevant. Meaning: it won't matter that the state controls the universities if the universities are made surplus to requirements for core functions of knowledge production and instruction. Given that the universities have become an unwelcome environment for genuine scholars, who are increasingly building out an ersatz academia on the Internet, that is probably an achievable goal. If the ersatz academy can offer more interesting material, more reliable knowledge, and cheaper instruction, it will outcompete the dinosaur institutions and their DIE zampolit.
Except you won't have the license you need to work be it cut hair, lay tile, trim trees let alone law or medicine.
The Founders seem ahead of this curve. Virtually all such licensing is done by the States. If a half a dozen large states "Just Say No" and set reasoned licensing/credentialing rules in place, they not only will get all the best practitioners of whatever art, craft or science is being credentialed, but the others will eventually have to follow. Eviscerating the Feds by asserting State's Rights as some of the governors (especially DeSantis) are now doing seems the best path forward as long as the Supreme Court is still populated by people who want to follow the Constitution.
Excellent point.
But this has been undermined by the national political party that now controls the legislatures of most states.
"... as long as the Supreme Court is still populated by people who want to follow the Constitution" That, sadly, is no longer a certainty. Or even likely.
True that. It has been surprising in deed that they've done so. The role of the court is not to legislate, that is clear. Due I suppose to our education system, too many people do not understand the courts role, and look instead for the court to do what legislatures have not done. To promote this absurdity terms like "liberal justices" and "conservative justices" and "constructionist justices" (the most absurd) have been created to confuse and confound.
It is truly sad that so many believe that a judge or justice who rules based on the law as enacted or the constitution as written is anything other than "competent". That is the courts role.
Indeed, credentialing is the key to the kingdom. Crack that nut and the game changes. This is something I've been thinking about for a while:
https://barsoom.substack.com/p/how-to-kill-the-incompetocracy
True... This said, there are in fact ways that already allow for this to occur. A license is just permission to do that which is normally illegal/unlawful. And as recently as a month or so ago, EPA v W. Virginia (or reverse that) once again lays down the fact that they don't have any business telling the public what to do.
And on a side note, college was worthless back when I went, 98-02 ... And it has gone sharply downhill ever since. Running two businesses as I do, with 50+ workers of various capability reqs, I honestly avoid hiring anyone who graduated 2010 to present. Generally speaking, they just don't get it... I'd rather spend time training someone who didn't go to college the skills they need, I get far less baggage this way and very capable workers who are grateful for the chance I took with them. College is nothing more than a piece of paper stating "I know how to conform", unless they have some something very specific such as engineering.
What all of these regulations have created is an invention of work that otherwise no one would need, but because code, statutory law, and regulations have been created, it becomes necessary but not needed.
The invention of work is why most manufacturing has gone overseas.
One day soon, we will all know how to unincorporate and conduct (private) trade and end their perceived control over our lives and our businesses.
Just sayin'...
You just gave us another frightening glimpse into the future. The next round of loan forgiveness will be conditioned on proper conduct. Being up to date on vaccines, not appearing on any watch list for attending school board meetings, etc. . . .
As ALWAYS!
I tell you what happens is War
Universities are nothing more than a multi level marketing scam. The system attracts professors and administrators of the same ilk as hucksters.
2nd biggest grift in history next to the Scamdemic.
Universities are the perfect embodiment of the type of credentialing system that the crypto people refer to as Proof of Stake. The credential is seen to have value through the attestation of those in the credentialing system and the perceived value of the collective reputations of those in the system. In other words, it is ultimately a confidence game.
The alternative in the cryptographic world is Proof of Work, which is akin to what Gato has done here on Substack and other social media. He has demonstrated through actual work a level of expertise that is apparent to any who care to investigate. This is the divide - the perception of expertise or the demonstration of expertise.
This is perhaps the biggest divide in our country these days. There are those who still believe the major institutions (in this case those that provide credentialing) are legitimate and those who do not.
To further the crypto analogy, the "old school" model, the credential represented a dedication of resources - time, money, sacrifice. The advanced degree (well the one that abbreviates piled higher and deeper) as much as anything signifies the ability to stick to it for a long time. You dedicated so much of your personal resources and that infused some value. At least in the easy subjects I studied, like physics and engineering back a few decades when i was still doing that crazy stuff.
Well said
Yeah the author mentioned "health care". Cartelized and financialized decades before and the results are fantastic /s
The University I attended is now getting tons of government dollars for some bio defense lab. When I spoke to the president of the university about how wrong I thought it was that they were mandating vaccinations he basically said there was nothing he could do… That is because he’s beholden to the government. And rather than actually stand up against something illegal he just caved.
🤮
If anyone needed more reasons to ditch the woke universities and head to trade school, this is it…
Exactly
All of this is true, and awful enough, but what really pisses me off is I saved/invested and paid my sons way through an Ivy League school with no scholarships. That was a lot of discretionary income I didn't get to use on myself (I've got no vacation home, been driving the same car for 20 years, etc.) Why should people who didn't sacrifice get a free ride?
All that tuition money funds fancy buildings and lots of administrators. The amount spent on teaching staff has risen no more than inflation, and in many cases less. Fewer professors are tenured and many are adjunct with pittance contracts.
This was always going to be the outcome after the GFC. They made a choice then on hyperinflation. The banks who raked in billions of "profit" all those years during the housing bubble, didn't set anything aside for rough times, paid the top execs millions as bonuses, were bailed out instead of being nationalized and then broken up into regional banks after years of receivership. Why wouldn't they forgive student loans as enticement to vote big gov? The rubicon was crossed, all conclusions for future events have been set by precedent.
What was the first thing that happened in 2020? Bailouts again and this time even bigger then 08. Boeing who created a subpar plane that killed people while they knew it was subpar, had spent billions on buybacks the preceding decade since 2008, was bailed out again in 2020. Many here prob don't remember that because they were distracted by a "bigger" issue. You're in the looting phase, the empire is done and the carcass is being picked over by those who can. Everything else is collateral damage.
Why else proclaim that thing that up until the early 2000's was "great" IE America, is now terrible and always was terrible and therefore we must tear down everything that people once thought was great about it? Because they know its done, the outcome for most "regular" people in the future is going to be worse then the recent past and you might as well "kill them softly"! Great movie by the way if you haven't seen it.
You must choose between what you "believe" in and your 401k, your home ownership, you clubs, your friends, basically life as you known it. Which is more valuable to you? We either all hang separately by a death of a thousand cuts (current situation) or we all hang together and defend what we believe ;)
So agree.
Yes. Look at the flip that has happened right before our eyes:
Patriotic= Bad
Family values= Bad
Obey laws= Bad
Self supporting= Bad
Question authority= Bad
Independent= Bad
Motivated= Bad
Anti-racist= Bad
Religious= Bad
Involved parent= Bad
Who'd a thunk it? But there it is, promoted by.... "the experts."
What I read this morning: Colleges have billions of dollars in their endowment funds. Let the colleges forgive the $10,000
That must not happen. That wouldn't be another tax on the middle class. Sarcastically...;)
I think the colleges should be required to underwrite (co-sign) loans for any student they educate. Anything the student doesn't pay back, for any reason, comes back to the college.
That would engender the sort of responsibility that would change things.
But then again, that means the Deep State loses the ability to control everyone.... naaah, it will never happen. Fun to think about though, isn't it?
Most degrees could probably done in about half the time too. Also now that we have computers I’m not really sure why any university costs more than another university. We could make the education fairly similar across-the-board. The idea of a university not accepting credits from another one is another big scam.
What happened to kids working their way through college?
1969 through 72: I also worked through college. Summer factory work, and a car wash and a few other part time gigs. college was affordable then so I paid as I went. I did not graduate because life got in the way. I worked for myself ever since. I learned the most about work from the jobs I had while being a college student.
Yeah. I only worked for the man for 1.5 years after I graduated.
Then just went out hustling on my own. One of best decisions in my life
Like. Buttons not working
It’s what I did! But again it cost a whole lot less than it does now.
I ended up with two degrees, but it is literally 20x more now. That was 30 years ago, but still.
I'm seriously debating if college makes sense for my children. Not even sure I'm going to encourage.
I would probably just go hustle myself now. Universities no longer provide much value. The more you pay the less value imo.
I will consider it a victory if I convince all 5 of my children to avoid university! 1 down, 4 to go!
like
I agree, I tell my daughter, we have other options. I've got the 200K we can do something else, even buy real estate and manage it. She can do better. I think college is no longer a good value, for those who actually have to pay. It will eventually become worthless for those who don't. Eventually they won't even want it for free.
I did and had help from the old GI bill
I tried it in the mid 1970's and it did not work out too well. Work insisted that it take priority over school and school insisted that it take priority over work. When I lost my job due to layoffs, I found I had another rude awakening in store. In Michigan, if you are taking classes you are NOT eligible for unemployment as the rules state you must be available for work 24/7. If there are any exceptions I am not aware of them. Back then there was an actual person to talk to at the unemployment office. Now it is all computer and GOD HELP YOU if you give the wrong answer! So much for going to school to get ahead in life. I was actually told by the unemployment counselor that if I stayed home and had children out of wedlock I'd be much better off in terms of getting help. So my advice is to those who are considering working their way through school to make sure ahead of time that you are not shooting yourself in the foot, especially if you don't have anyone (parents) to fall back on.
While continuing to churn out graduates who can not read, write or count.
We need to gut the universities not make them more feudal. But that neo-feudalism seems the administrative way.
And think they know more than us
They for sure are more righteous than us.
self-righteous
Yes. My wife describes lefties as having a "belligerent, self-righteous attitude of entitlement."
Pretty much sums it up.
They think they are the leading edge of evolution, aka better, brighter and more intelligent than everybody else.
Absolutely. Read Thomas Sowell's "Vision of the Anointed" if you want to know more about 'them.' It is an informative and eye-opening read, if you've not already read the book.
It is a huge FU to the working class who did not take on debt to go to any college and all those with only a high school diploma. You are going to forgive debt to those who think we are deplorable, racist, misogynist bigots, who want to turn our kids trans and sell out America to globalists, who want me to eat insects?
Here's the easiest, fastest-acting illustration of this economic principle I think I've ever seen:
Brandon Administration announces $7,500 subsidy for electric vehicles.
Auto manufacturers, within DAYS of announcement, raise prices a mean of $7,500.
It isn't even happening gradually or semi-invisibly anymore by being rolled into fees or "warranties" or TruKote.
That's the thing about the Anointed... They don't even bother trying to hide it anymore.
I don’t know who you are mr. el gato, but yer brilliant!
Would the “eye care” grift be a smaller . simple example of this?
Once insurance started paying for eye care (Yey! “Free!”) prices went up, you had to always get exam first, you still pay out $$ for a pair. More $$, less freedom.
Yes! So much of our economy is leveraged. All kinds of useless interlopers getting in on the action. Vet care is another. Costs skyrocketing but don’t worry—there’s pet insurance
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been struggling to articulate the natural consequences of this plan to friends and family. Now I can share your articulation! Joe appears to be making more progress toward “free college for all” than Bernie even dreamed of!
Excellent piece. Thank you for taking the time to write it.
The Ivy League universities are fully demoralized: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-rank-the-top-npc-universities
the reunion i went to a few years back will be my last. i just find nothing of value there anymore.
80% of my friends are desperately grappling with the question of "where in hell can i send my kids to college"? many went to ivies and stanford and schools of similar stature and just do not want their kids exposed to what these schools have become.
there is a massive opportunity for a school who figures this out to start collecting a serious clan of the best and brightest, but for adaptation to occur, we must have freedom to experiment, and that is exactly what government money destroys.
Yes, hubbs is a grad in political science from Michigan State & went to UVA for his law degree. He has often told me how marxist (I refer to it as “regressive”, not “progressive”) his profs were at being so “effusive” over their indoctrinating views & he did NOT have an answer in his mind to the contrary. (This was late 60’s & early 70’s) We do not ”train & teach” our children in “apologetics” (whether it be in Christian views or “world views” in general.) We have in varying degrees abdicated our instruction to our offspring to the educational “system”. I was reared by the most discerning, common-sense Christian (Dad) I have ever met. He despised the news outlets & hated mob conformity & grew to distrust politicians. He reserved his greatest disdain for TV evangelist charlatans. He told me at age 17 that if I wanted to go to a SUNY school it would be completely on my own dime.
But, he gave me a list of ten schools (private, several Christian) that he would pay my tuition completely if I wanted to attend them. This was toward the end of the Viet Nam War & the country was changing. He kept his word, and I got a fabulous education in practical Christian philosophy & practice. It was the love & deep concerns of my father & ultimately embracing of the love of Christ that won me over. I have never once regretted not going to a “status” school. How did a man who had lost his mom to cancer when he was only eleven, was sent off to live for several years with an Uncle & Aunt, got in fights, struggled with some poverty issues...end up being the wonderful provider & discerner he was? He attributed it to the books he read (Horatio Alger, as an example... as a child) & later the Bible, & NOT reading Bertrand Russell, Hemingway, JD Salinger, Nietzsche, Marx, etc. but replacing them with Dr Francis Schaefer’s writings, writings by Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Charles H Spurgeon, Charles Dickens, the list is long. He served in WWII, was skilled in many of the trades, became a Civil Engineer with no college education, just self-taught & taking exams & passing required tests for state employment.
He would’ve appreciated these Substack articles.
Love it! (Like button not working) ;)
Your Dad was a gem of a man and father.
Thank you. Yes, he was by God’s grace & mercy
I think Hillsdale is doing this. They take zero federal dollars. My eldest is considering going there after the Navy (if he doesn't just go directly into private sector job, which seems likely, since the Nuclear Power guys are highly recruited after service.) They give full ride scholarships (private endowments) to service members even though they will not accept GI bill $.
Check out UATX! https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-found-a-university
Also Ralston College.......
There are some schools doing just that. Refusing government money and charting their own course. Hillsdale College and Grove City College are two that come to mind but I think there are a few others. It's only a trickle now.
As more and more parents and students seek our such an education, this trend will only grow.
Though founded by Baptists, Hillsdale 'only recently has re-affirmed its commitment to Christianity,' resulting in a faithful but diverse mix of students and faculty:
https://hillsdalecollegian.com/2018/10/hillsdales-religious-demographics-unusual-christian-school-survey-shows/
Universities typify socialism.
The stated purpose of the university (to educate) has been usurped by the university's practical reality to protect the flywheel of endowment growth, RE ownership, expanded workforce and through that a tax exempt status.
Let's not forget to mention that the university industrial complex is the only industry funded by 6 figure unsecured loans to teenagers.
Yes - exactly - what a scam
Yes, these same "smart" students supported the "vaxxes."
https://markoshinskie8de.substack.com/p/vaxxes-and-why-yoga-instructors-are
Just read your link and subscribed. I’ve had the same conversation with close friends (I live in the oppressive state of Washington) and they all respond like your neighbor. It’s so sad. They think they’re educated, but they’ve chosen to follow the wrong doctrine and are now committed and loyal to what they’ve “learned.” I don’t know that they will ever see the truth.
There is a red pill out there for everyone. Our job is to help the 'normies' come along, a little at a time, as best we can. Often the best thing we can do is just be there, when they finally realize they've been sold a useless bill of goods by those they trusted.
They say hell hath no fury like a scorned lover. I think a more modern adaptation might well be, hell hath no fury like a scorned leftie.
Ditto teacherLori’s comment. Enjoyed your substack. Thank you for posting link. Great painting, btw!
I've known this since always, but there does not appear to be any way to stop it. It seems like it has to go forward until it blows up.
When I went to university (1972-75, Washington U St Louis Engineering) and grad school (77-79, MIchigan Business) both schools were around $4500 all-in per year. WU is private and I was in-state at Michigan. Back then my folks and scholarships paid for my undergrad, and I paid myself for grad school, and it was eminently practical to do so. I think I got a pretty decent education back in those days too. There were few government grants and loans would come from the school or your local bank. Who were happy to give you a loan, if you were studying something like engineering, business, law, medicine, nursing -- any career that was actually a career.
Then the government got in the game, and guess what? TSHTF, just as Gato describes. Always and forever it will be this way, I pray that some day (soon) we will figure this all out before it is too late.
I told my kids, I won’t pay for four year undergrad, and I won’t endorse you taking on debt for it. I *will* pay for experiential programs, or in-state commuting, if you really want.
They are both pretty indifferent-planning to have lots of adventures first. But they’ve never been to school, really, either.