Hero

[stoutfellow]

Robert F. Smith. Remember that name: he is a hero.

A civilized nation shouldn't need such heroes; but right now, we do. Honor to him.

Comments

[ndrosen]

One may admire Mr. Smith’s generosity without necessarily agreeing that a civilized nation shouldn’t need such heroes. Does that mean that a truly civilized nation would provide full funding for anyone who wanted to attend college at the public expense? Would this be done regardless of the student’s qualifications or willingness to actually buckle down and study, and regardless of what he chose to study? Would a civilized nation do this with taxes imposed partly on people who did not go to college, and had lower incomes than those who did?

Given that the government of even a truly civilized nation would have limited resources and potentially unlimited demands, would the government decide just who could go to college, what these people could study, and what educational institutions would teach? Unless the definition of civilized nation includes being governed by angels rather than fallen mortals, it seems that problems could arise.

[stoutfellow]

There is a long distance between "every college attendee should receive full funding" and "most college attendees should emerge from college with crippling debt". It was not always so; it has only become so in the relatively recent past; and it should not be so.