Originally Posted by spence
For the first 70 years of our history we were still primarily a nation of farmers, and as you've stated higher education was mostly for the elite. The majority of colleges founded early on were short-lived religious based institutions that served a particular sect rather than a local population.
Yes, free and independent people will do what is necessary and beneficial.
The influx of government spending which started in the last 1/2 of the 19th century and continued into the 20th was a direct response to a transforming industrial base as well as shifting demographics.
Yes, the Feds joined (unconstitutionally--but that's ok) what the States were already starting. The States and local districts were, and are, still providing nearly all the money.
These macro trends (like conflicting civilizations, these are not going to be resolved by K-12 or higher education. If the educational institutions of the the conflicting civilizations have different philosophies--which is probably why they are conflicting civilizations--the resolution may take place in a different arena. radical advances in technology Our private sector in conjunction with State run institutions have done this quite well or transforming economies Our free market is no slouch at this.) aren't going to be solved by States providing local educational assistance alone, and the free market certainly isn't going to solve the issue. These are national issues and in some cases might require national solutions.
The Federal "issue" was intended originally to be defense, foreign relations, and interstate commerce, the last of which has so distortedly been "interpreted" that it covers all of life. If the Federal Government isn't checked in its intrusion in State affairs (probably too late) then, indeed, all issues will be national issues.
Is education too expensive? Sure it is, And Federal loans, grants, and tax credits will ensure that it stays expensive. but I don't need Glenn Beck's chalkboard to understand this. Unfortunately, our education industry has failed to the extent that a great many do need the chalkboard to understand why. Has government exacerbated the issue? I'd think it has, although that alone doesn't invalidate the benefits...
The benefits would be validated if the Federal Guv could have stayed at a low key, well directed "assistance" level" with which it started. But its intrusion has grown too large and undirected. Aid is no longer for "useful" degrees, but for whatever your heart desires. And its money has a powerful influence against the true diversity of thought. Not to mention the pernicious choosing of winners and losers in the Federal give-away lottery which is growing at an unsustainable rate. Let the people keep money that is now spent to cull votes. Let the States compete for business, for educational excellence, for good, free market, constitutional governance, and let the Feds maintain a powerful national defence with an open but guarded relation with the rest of the world, and we might have what the founders envisioned.
Put simply, I'm not sure America would have been able to rise to dominance during the 20th century had we not had the infrastructure to enable the people to keep pace with the opportunities.
K-12 is another issue, one I don't have time for this morning...
-spence
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