Why does JD Vance hate higher education?
American colleges and universities are the envy of the world. The American higher education system is an important driver of the economy.
There are those who sneer at the educated. They only expose their insecurity.
In JD Vance, Donald Trump has chosen a running mate who has publicly stated that he sees colleges and universities as “the enemy.” Ironic, because Vance is both a college grad and a graduate of the elite Yale law school.
Your doctor? S/he is a college graduate. The bridge you drive over was designed by a college grad. The buildings you work in, the cars you drive, the planes you fly in? All designed by college grads.
You know what the Bolsheviks did? They attacked and killed the intelligencia. Those bodies in the Katyn forest massacre? The Polish intelligencia. Who did Mao sic the masses on during the Cultural Revolution? The intelligencia.
This is how you know the despots. They destroy the educated in order to enslave the masses.
When universities are the enemy
When we condemn ourselves to educating only the wealthy, we are setting ourselves up for failure. In 1969 we put a man on the moon. Many of those who contributed to this effort were educated thanks to the GI bill. Now we have a spacecraft stuck in space due to mechanical problems and our latest attempt to land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon ended in failure.
@Mark,
Good thing we don’t only educate the wealthy in the US. Neither my wife nor I came from wealth, and our daughter wasn’t from wealth either. All of us came up in public schools and state universities, as did most of our siblings.
Also too:
Massachusetts residents 25 years of age or older who do not already have a college degree can earn an associate degree or certificate for free at one of the Commonwealth’s 15 public community colleges.
https://www.massbay.edu/massreconnect
Joel,
I commend you, wife and daughter on your accomplishments. Anecdotal evidence doesn’t translate to scientific evidence.
I cannot help to question if an advanced education is attainable for the majority, why do we have such a student debt crisis in this country. Does that debt crisis translate to many bright disadvantaged people forgoing higher education. I have no concrete facts to support my argument, just wondering.
@Mark,
The majority of Americans haven’t graduated from a four-year college or university, mostly by choice. College isn’t, and never has been, for everyone. As for the “student debt crisis,” an important reason is that unlike all other types of debt, education loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.
The cost of college has certainly risen, but few American students pay the top line rate. There has been an increase in the number of students taking out loans. And there has been an increase in the number of students attending college. It is a testament to the value of American higher education that so many people pursue it in spite of the barriers.
But to return to the topic, JD Vance’s attack on higher education isn’t because he believes it should be more affordable, it’s because he believes colleges and universities aren’t inculcating the sort of right-wing propaganda that he valorizes.
Joel:
The most aggressive opponent to student loan relief up till recently was Joe Biden. I have posted any number of times on student loan debt and have found him to be the lead in many of the bills negating “any” relief. In 2005, he helped to end the last relief fig-leaf of relief.
As far as JD Vance? Yale should revoke his degree due to blatant ignorance.
“Yale should revoke his degree due to blatant ignorance.”
Same with Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh, while they’re at it.
We have a student debt crisis because even the cost of public colleges has risen. In the 1970s, state school tuition was rarely as high as $1K. A friend of mine went to grad school at UCB and the in-state student tuition was $400 a year or about $2500 now. It’s almost $7000 now.
JD Vance went to Yale Law School. As Shakespeare put it, he scorns the baser rungs by which he ascended.