Germany just eliminated tuition, while Americans are drowning in $1.2 trillion student loan debt.

[Democrats Ramshield]

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Written by an American MBA expat living in Germany.

Germany has just joined other nations of the Continental European Union to eliminate all university tuition, as a human right. So it is that we find ourself as part of the neo
feudalist American state that has left Americans mired by contrast in $1.2 trillion in student loan debt, in what must be described as state supported student loan slavery. It should further be noted that the modus operandi of student loan enslavement is consistent with the anti-democratic model of what may only be described as the United States of oligarchy, where a recent Princeton university study, that has since gone viral from Princeton, has declared the United States is no longer a democracy, and is in fact become an oligarchy. To which this article notes it is an oligarchy that has mired the American people in $1.2 trillion of student loan debt. This has become so onerous for the American economy to bear that it is now become a threat to the US economy itself.

TMC ByBrendan JamesPublishedApril 18, 2014,
"A new study from Princeton spells bad news for American democracy—namely,
that it no longer exists".

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[hlthe2b]

1. American Exceptionalism!!!!!

Pretty soon we will be "exceptional" only in that we will rank at the bottom for industrialized countries on any number of critical measurements/variables.

[Centrist1984]

2. Misleading IMO

I would say that this is misleading for a few reasons:

1) For one, I would argue whether "free" tuition is a human right. Tuition requires the labor of others to finance it. It is funded by taking the labor of others in the form of taxes. As such, it can never really be "free" and such can never really be a human right. Rights are abstract things, such as right to life, liberty, privacy, property, religion, speech, etc...not goods and services

2) It is easier for a country like Germany to spend money on such a thing because they do not have a large military like the United States, as their security, like most of Western Europe, has essentially been subsidized by the U.S. for the past 60+ years. The U.S. doesn't have this option to reduce military spending greatly for the time being.

3) Germany's education system functions a lot differently than here in the United States. If you mess up in the German educational system, you don't have many options. It isn't like here in the U.S. where you can goof off through elementary school and high school, then go to a community college to get your grades up, then apply to a decent university, get your degree, and have a decent job/career. In Germany, children are split off into separate tracks starting around the 5th grade, that determine which way academically they will go. It is difficult to switch from one track to the other once this is done. There is no community college system in Germany like we have here in the U.S. They have some type of community colleges I think, but they are much more limited in comparison to here in America.

"Free" tuition comes with a price.

4) There are a few reasons for why tuition in the U.S. costs what it does. There is no reason for tuition to cost so astronomical. One reason was back when the government began subsidizing it. Subsidies for those who are truly in need I think are fine, but the subsidies were enlarged excessively, which led to then universities increasing their tuition. Government countered by providing ever larger subsidies. Colleges responded by further increasing their tuition. Government responded continually by trying to increase subsidies ever more, to the point that now, we have gone from a country where one could work their way through college to being a country where one has to take on a crap ton of debt to get a degree.

Another reason is this view that "Everyone should go to college and get a degree and anyone who doesn't have a degree is to be looked down upon as a lesser citizen." This has had the effect of diluting the value of a college degree and also has led to a lot of people obtaining degrees that really are not able to pay for themselves. A degree needs to always be viewed as an investment, unless one is wealthy and can pay for it easily. But otherwise, one needs to make sure the degree will allow one to get a job that will allow one to pay for the degree.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Are you familiar with the inflated cost of higher education in the USA? nt

[Centrist1984]

11. Not sure of your point?

I would think so but not sure of your point...?

[xocet]

6. According to your opinion, a college education only has a value if it leads directly to a job.

Do you really believe this? In your opinion, what are the ramifications of having and living in an unintelligent, uneducated society?

Also, how do you feel about evolution?

[Centrist1984]

9. Education is very important

I agree wholeheartedly that education is very important. But a student is supposed to get the base amount of education to be an intelligent citizen in elementary school and high school. College was historically for more specialized education. But in terms of things like basic economics, civics, history, government, reading, writing, literature, math, etc...all of that a student is supposed to be learning in elementary and high school, and thus should be plenty intelligent enough to vote by the time they graduate. In addition, people learned basic functional skills too, ranging from basic sewing, to basic wood and metalworking (wood shop and machine shop class), etc...many of those classes have been done away with now. So people had lots of functional skills and classical education knowledge when they graduated high school. It isn't supposed to be like today where we have people graduating high school who cannot even really read or write, and even among the educated people who graduate high school today, many have no practical skills (couldn't do basic wood work, metal work, etc...to save their life).

Not everyone needs college to make a living. For example, tradespeople, such as machinists, mechanics, plumbers, etc...can make a decent living too, but they do not need a university degree. As for evolution, I believe in evolution.

[ck4829]

7. Great argument for using taxes to pay for tuition

Another reason is this view that "Everyone should go to college and get a degree and anyone who doesn't have a degree is to be looked down upon as a lesser citizen." This has had the effect of diluting the value of a college degree and also has led to a lot of people obtaining degrees that really are not able to pay for themselves. A degree needs to always be viewed as an investment, unless one is wealthy and can pay for it easily. But otherwise, one needs to make sure the degree will allow one to get a job that will allow one to pay for the degree.

Wouldn't a wealthy person getting a degree that is easy to pay for take away from the value of a college degree of a poor person?

Sounds like we need to get wealth out of higher education.

[Centrist1984]

10. A person has a right

IMO, a person has a right to go and get a degree in whatever they want so long as they can afford it and meet the entrance requirements.

[ck4829]

13. Money vs Rights, which one wins though?

[raccoon]

8. Who says?

"The U.S. doesn't have this option to reduce military spending greatly for the time being. "

[Centrist1984]

12. Foreign policy

Our current foreign policy obligations prevent us from doing so. It is the U.S. that underwrites global trade and global security, that keeps the sea lanes open, and so forth. As it is, we really don't spend enough on defense, but the money just isn't there at the moment. If it wasn't for the U.S. defense budget, it would be very unlikely that all those European countries would be able to have the large social welfare states that they have.

[Blue_Tires]

3. They're way ahead of us

[Democrats Ramshield]

5. Everyone, please feel free to share my article on Facebook and Twitter

Last edited Wed Oct 8, 2014, 10:34 AM - Edit history (1)

Thank you.