Life is full of injustices. It is likely that most people would agree on this. These injustices take many forms. Some involve different sides where one side exploits or steals from the other. These kinds of injustices are common and are usually easily identifiable. Some injustices take the form of unfortunate events that do not appear deserved, and they are also labeled as such. For instance, a young child suffering from leukemia appears unjust as we falsely believe all or most other illnesses are the fault of the person suffering. Nevertheless, these injustices are part of life.
Thinking and arguing about these injustices is, not surprisingly, also part of life. In most instances, however, we do not see these arguments evolving into a sound plan to address these issues. People take a very passive approach to their lives. They desire and demand a solution. However, these demands are ironically directed towards the people who are on the other side of the said injustice. This shows us that we cannot solve our problems by appealing to the people who exploit us. No matter how righteous our desires and demands are, we need to understand who is on which side of these issues.
In modern societies, politicians are seen as the voice of the masses through democracy. While clearly there is some level of contribution from the masses, modern democracies are far from direct in nature. The masses are usually stuck in arguing inconsequential subjects while the most pressing issues remain completely unaddressed. For instance, in the United States people spend a great deal of their time on gender issues or homosexual rights, while these issues bear little relevance to majority of the people. This is not to say these are unimportant subjects, but they could easily be resolved with a basic understanding of personal liberties. Nevertheless, the majority of people see these issues as the center of their political involvement.
In my opinion, people should focus on their wealth, health, education, etc. Some will say that people actually do talk about these subjects and in some ways these issues take significant real estate on the news coverage or the political discussions. However, in their current form, we are discussing items that are either inconsequential or entirely unrealistic. For instance, expecting a government to pay for the student loans in a country is neither feasible, nor just. More importantly, it is not even a solution to the problem of expensive education.
Most college degrees these days are entirely irrelevant and certainly do not deserve to be recognized with such a title. A person who likes to visit the library and spends two hours a day reading could easily be more intellectual than most college degree holders. In its current form, college education is simply starting one’s life with a four-year-long party and a massive debt. It is said to help secure a well-paying job, but this is also challenged by the AI revolution. While the situation is so dire, why is it that we do not see a solution from the governments? This is because most politicians are not on the side of their constituents in this matter. They are there to make sure universities maximize their profit, even though these institutions are labelled as non-profit.
Waiting for a solution from the very people who exploit us is not an option. We need to do whatever it takes to counter their agenda. Firstly, students should stop filling those college rooms for irrelevant degree programs. This will reduce the demand for certain universities and therefore bring the prices down. One might think that colleges might not be as profitable as some assume. I would advise people to investigate the compensation packages of college presidents and the compensation of the college professors. One will immediately realize that these institutions do not even pay the professors sufficiently. One might be inclined to think that most of the money is spent on research. This also cannot be further from the truth. Most research is funded by the government, hence by the taxpayer. Keep in mind that a great portion of the taxpayer base does not enjoy the advantages that come from a university education. Research is sometimes funded by private corporations, which is how most university professors run their laboratories.
How do we get ourselves outside of this vicious cycle? One option is to abandon most of the irrelevant college programs. These programs are entirely overpopulated and do not serve any purpose other than justifying the ill-advised four-year party that young people enjoy. Government funding for universities should be limited to the most critical research and the findings of these research projects should be publicly available.
People should be educated to understand that education does not require a formal institution for most fields. College degrees do not imply anything positive or negative in relation to intellect. This will enable people without college degrees to discover the world around themselves. Read about the subjects of their own choosing and educate themselves. It will also allow younger people who wish to become intellectuals to consider alternatives to a college education.
Some people may argue that some level of education is necessary to be able to read and understand anything else that we wish to learn. This is certainly true. However, I would argue that this skill should be given to young people during their high school years not through their college years. College students should be independent and free thinkers. They can seek support from the professors at certain sparse intervals. However, they should not expect direct guidance. This is neither necessary nor feasible. A professor who gives personal guidance to more than sixty students cannot be productive in their area of research at the same time.
From this perspective, college loans achieved nothing but making a few university owners rich. Please do not be fooled by the distractive terminology claiming that universities are not owned and they are non-profit organizations. This is not true for private American universities. If college loan programs are cut, universities will have no choice but to get smaller. They will need to reduce their profit margins. The demand for colleges will collapse and what will remain will be education in its purest form.