[krichman]

Having education available to everyone is a net gain for society, like having public roads. Also, the "lazy poors" "stealing" your money to educate their children have snatched up the slightest fraction of what the wealthy extract from the economy, so I don't see why that's the problem to focus on if your concern is "entitlements".

> Were it not for government control of education, education would have already undergone the same kind of massive transition that has happened to every free-market industry: much better, much cheaper, much more widely available.

Yes, like the for-profit prisons.

[javert]

> Having education available to everyone is a net gain for society, like having public roads.

I completely agree. A better example is food, clothing and shelter. Those are available to most people without government coercion. We could easily handle the remainder with charity, if it weren't for government programs that breed endemic poverty.

> Also, the "lazy poors" "stealing" your money

I did not say any of that, and I definitely don't think about it that way. I don't think poverty is a problem of laziness, but of ignorance. And I don't think the poor are stealing from me. If anyone is, it's Republicans and Democrats, with broad support from the middle and upper "classes." But I don't even think of it that way.. it's more of a societal decision. And we have a much better society, in many ways, than most of those in the past, so overall, I'm pretty thankful.

> Yes, like the for-profit prisons.

That's a highly government-regulated industry, so it's not a valid counter-example. The prison system is corrupt for the same reasons the finance system is.

(I wouldn't have any problem with prisons being completely government run, since prisons are a function of law enforcement, which is a necessary and proper function of government.)

[krichman]

I misunderstood you, sorry.

I disagree that the problem is the government exactly. The problem tends to be administration is allowed to capture a great deal of government spending. That's the reason the free market does better in certain cases, it doesn't tolerate middlemen with no significant function (or overpriced function).

I'd like to have education be free for anyone that wants it well into the university level, but it's probably correct that having the government pass out checks isn't the right way to do it. But allowing it to be free market seems like it would exclude poor people from good opportunities, sacrificing them to improve it for the middle class.