[cratermoon]

Let's be honest: private sector funding is going to come with as many if not more strings attached that will limit or warp 'true intellectual freedom'. The only way a college could avoid those pressures would be to be completely self-funded and put their endowment money in investments not subject to political whims.

[garrettgarcia]

The article addresses this: "Intellectual freedom is the principle that all individuals have the right to think for themselves, to express their convictions on any subject, and to give their support, financial or otherwise, only to the ideas they choose. When government coercively seizes your money and uses it to subsidize some research program or viewpoint for any reason, it is violating your intellectual freedom."

What is unique about the government funding as opposed to private-sector funding is that government funding comes from money coercively seized from people, and private sector funding doesn't.

[cratermoon]

> coercively seized

I categorically reject that characterization of how government works, but you do you.

[garrettgarcia]

Deny reality all you want, it doesn't change the truth. The fact is that taxes are collected under threat of force.

One need not express an opinion on whether there should be more or less taxation to acknowledge this truth. As you said previously, let's be honest.