Do you really think free college, wage/price controls, a green new deal, open borders and socialism will fix America’s problems?
Posted By RichC on March 24, 2019
Maybe it is my age … or just the latest swing to the radical left by Democrats staging themselves for a presidential primary to challenge President Trump in 2020 … but this whole anti-free market socialist tilt has me concerned for the direction of our country. It is no longer the political quarrel over the size of government, how much politicians spend on different programs or even how to fairly tax citizens and corporations … but whether we even want private industry, competitive capitalism OR want a takeover of business by a central government who dictates it all – in other words, socialism.
It is not like the crowd advocating for bigger government, dictating business decision-making and a flat-out takeover of private industry has any evidence that socialism works … but to the contrary, there is plenty of evidence showing just how risky going down this path can be. Even a little commonsense should remind the average American that removing the profit incentive stymies innovation and much of the motivation that comes from the risk and reward of investing, paying for your own choices … including higher education (paying for it ourselves generally makes us take it a bit more serious). The same applies to working hard, if there is a payoff in the end, we tend to be motivated to make better choices. If we all pay for whoever wants to go to college (ie. sleep late, skip class, party, study abroad, etc. for a 4, 5 or 6 year undergrad degree – or even eventually drop out), 
what’s the incentive for someone who knows they are not the right fit for college and instead goes to work in a trade, pays taxes and starts a family out of high school? Wanting government to provide more than a “safety net” does not make economic sense … so think twice before advocating for such a radical shift?
This past weekend, I found a new Libertarianism “Free Thoughts” podcast channel (at least new to me) and listened to an excellent interview from a couple years ago with Ohio University’s Professor of Economics Richard Vedder discussing College: Too Costly, Too Little Learning, Too Much Underemployment. Personally, I thought it was a great question and answer on how government involvement, even with the “best of intentions,” has negative consequences (or as the cynical side of me would say, it always does). If you are at all interested in the cost and outcome of a college education (or believing FREE college is a good idea) … at least listen to the first 30 minutes of this MP3 podcast. Great stuff from an interesting “thinker.”
| College: Too Costly, Too Little Learning, Too Much Underemployment (Free Thoughts Podcast mp3) | 11/25/2016 |
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