[bashtoni]

Higher education improves society as a whole. It should be paid for from general taxation, and available to all. Humanities subjects are just as valid a topic of study as STEM.

A couple of generations ago these were uncontroversial statements, now most people think you are crazy for suggesting such a thing. I think you can trace a lot of the problems in the western world back to this.

[onlyrealcuzzo]

Lots of things benefit society and don't cost $40k per year per person in subsidies - mainly to the upper middle class.

[lux-lux-lux]

Strange how I never see this line deployed against the mortgage interest deduction or health care for wealthy retirees, both of which are considerably more expensive.

Subsidizing college education, at least, has a reliably positive ROI.

[onlyrealcuzzo]

> mortgage interest deduction

By far the worst offender.

> health care for wealthy retirees

Theoretically, they paid into the system to get their dues.

> Subsidizing college education, at least, has a reliably positive ROI.

There's evidence at the State level, at least in many states, it does not pay for itself.

[triceratops]

Then at the very least college debt should be dischargeable in bankruptcy the way people can walk away from their mortgage.

[bsder]

Agreed. The idiotic law not allowing college debt to be cleared by bankruptcy is the primary reason why college has gotten so expensive.

[votepaunchy]

Then treat college debt like any other loan instead of subsidies backstopped with government bailouts.

[gottorf]

> Strange how I never see this line deployed against the mortgage interest deduction or health care for wealthy retirees

For what it's worth, I see arguments like this all the time. Might just be the corner of the information ecosystem you hang out in.

> Subsidizing college education, at least, has a reliably positive ROI.

Maybe it did in the past, where the greatest marginal gains were. Does it still hold true now? Over a third of the US has a bachelor's degree. Is there a reliably positive ROI to society in taking that third to, say, half?

[gottorf]

> Higher education improves society as a whole. It should be paid for from general taxation, and available to all

> A couple of generations ago these were uncontroversial statements

I don't believe those strong assertions you're making were uncontroversial at any time, and are likely objectively less true now than they were in the past.

[triceratops]

You're both right. College is beneficial to society. And it costs way too much to deliver right now.

You could copy-paste these statements to describe American healthcare vs European healthcare and get a very different reaction. Even though it's true for that field too.

Why the actual fuck does a humanities degree cost anywhere near as much as an engineering degree? Literally all you need is some professors and a space to teach in. You could run them in co-working spaces, parks (weather permitting), or coffee shops ffs, with no administrative staff or other bloat. (For real: small seminars in a coffee shop or a public park would be dope)

Education is beneficial to society and making it cheaper makes it more widely accessible. You and the person you responded to actually agree on a lot.