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A group of protestors stopped by our office today. It was funny how they mimic the Sixties in their protests, though the times are far different.
I was in college back then. Don’t let anyone kid you, going on a protest march is a lot of fun. These marchers — under the aegis of an NC State group, though who knows who else is stirring the pot — looked like they were having a great time. They got to vent their frustrations and feel as if they were confronting power, without, of course, the slightest danger of suffering any harm.
What I found most interesting was the chant, “No cuts, no fees, education should be free.”
Well, of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The only question is how something is paid for, and how well we can see those costs. Professors don’t work for free. Classrooms don’t get built for free. The dorms don’t get heat and running water if they don’t pay for them. Someone has to pay.
The taxpayers? Well, eventually these students will have to pay taxes too.
Modern liberalism hides the costs — at least for awhile. But the bill always comes due.
I don’t think most leftists, including these marchers, understand that.
In fact, those marchers who are indeed students may be cheated by the education system — not because it charges so much, but because it hides the real costs, including the time spent studying, if those studies fail to equip a student for life, or for a career. They’ve spent thousands of dollars and some key years of their lives, and wind up with little. Meanwhile the education bureaucrats collect their paychecks.
They’ve been misled about what the real costs of college are. They are venting their frustrations in the wrong direction, however.
