Rico 1

Pedro Rico
The Issue of Education
As many know, we are at a critical time in rethinking our political system.
Bernie Sanders now demanding that access to education is a right and not a
privilege is starting to turn the gears in the minds of many Americans who
have been struggling under the fray of high cost, such as the ridicules high
interest rate of student loans; that debt is impeding on peoples right to
pursue happiness that others have been profiting off misery and it goes
against a utilitarian way of life when so few have so much and so many
have so little. Bernie Sanders a democratic socialist from Vermont, has
entered the presidential race of 2016, his primary concern is the welfare of
the American citizens. He is concerned that our country has benefited large
corporations that have not paid their fair share in taxes that their hands have
been involved in the political system for too long. The same way our country
regulates (by dividing) church and state is the same way he wants to treat
corporations; by removing them out of our political system so politicians
cannot benefit from big money, in which they can have an unbiased opinion
when it comes to the welfare of the people. There has been a lot of confusion
and misinterpretation of socialism and many Americans have a negative
view of it. That it is a system that will take money from working people and
the inevitable fear is that youll run out of other peoples money. This
fearmongering has led to citizens being misinformed and stigmatized,
separating ourselves from the government by claiming that we are, far more

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free than any other country. On the contrary, our country has several
programs that are socialistic at its core, for example social security, public
schools and etc. My main question is how do we start perpetuating the idea
of free access to higher education? And what are the issues that might arise?
Well some say that providing free access would lead to the decline of student
success, due to the easy access and availability. Andrew P. Kelly is the
director of the Center on Higher Education Reform and a resident scholar in
education policy studies at American Enterprise. His biggest concern is that
allowing free access to higher education would hinder student success, by
allowing many students who arent prepared for college would lead to
crowded schools and underachievers. That if students are truly struggling to
pay for school, that there is already money allocated for low income, and
middle class students that virtually pay for everything. And his belief is that
by allowing these underachievers to attend we would lose innovation and
motivation for those who want to receive a higher education, and that
allowing free college schools would have to start turning many away or start
implementing a cap of how many students can attend. However, The
American Enterprise which is a conservative think tank have a lot invested in
privatized schools and they specifically target low-income families with
reforms like school choice which gives families alternatives to publicly
provided schools. Scholarships tax credits, which allow individuals or
corporations to receive tax credits toward their states taxes in exchange for
donations made to non-profit organizations that grant private school

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scholarships. This is precisely the problem in how we view education. The
claims that there would be a lack of motivation and innovation due to less
competition is a farce, and it appeals to fear, and that, cost is a way to
weed out those who arent committed is a hasty generalization of a group of
Americans who cant afford tuition.
In contrast, Bob Samuels claims that the biggest reason for dropout
rates is due to cost, about 30% of Americans actually graduate from college
or universities. Samuels (an author and the president of the University
Council) argues that higher public education should be free, and that our
government needs to focus less on funneling money into privatized schools
and invest into public education. That allowing accessing to education will
increase an educated workforce and enrich a community. Samuels point is
that if we were able to provide higher education to 18-24 year olds, we
would reduce the unemployment rate by 2 million people, and fewer people
would be in need of governmental assistance. In other words, Samuels
believes by providing free access to education and relieving them of debt it
would allow graduates to be productive and they would have more money to
spend to stimulate the economy.
Samuels stresses that these for profit schools that have low graduation
rates, with our current system, inevitably mean people pay more, and as a
result these institutions produce fewer graduates. I dont think anyone can
argue that higher education isnt an essential tool for social mobility, and
because of the mentality of keeping education unaffordable graduation rates

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are at its all-time low. With the rising cost it has become more of an inherited
privilege, while the gap of uneducated Americans grows larger. The
opportunity for citizens to attend college is shrinking and the cost of
education is effecting lower-income Americans the hardest. Research (from
the Hechinger report) shows that Americas colleges and universities are
quietly shifting the burden of their big tuition increase onto low-income
students, while many higher-income families are seeing their college costs
rise more slowly, or even fall. Which brings me to my next topic the problem
with the monetary system.
Darius Moravcik a young entrepreneur interviewed two members of the
Venus Project, Jacque Fresco and Roxanne Meadow who propose a new way
of life, free from the constructs of the monetary system, politics, and wars.
Declaring earth and all of its resources the common heritage of all of the
worlds people. Jacque claims that the most essential thing to do now is to
get rid of the monetary system, for it isnt capable of providing a high
standard of living for everyone and it cannot ensure the protection of our
planet because the motive behind the monetary system is profit. He
suggests that we move towards a resource based economy, and utilize
existing resources rather than money to provide an equitable method of
distribution in the most humane and efficient manner. It is a system in which
all goods and services are available to everyone without the use of money,
credits, barter, or any other form of debt or servitude.

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His belief is that people dont need money, rather they need free
access to their personal needs, without stressing out about, financial
security or having to appeal to a government bureaucracy. And with a
resource-based economy, money will become irrelevant.
Jacque is on the right track when he claims that money is the main
culprit on environmental policies and poverty affecting many around the
world. However, it doesnt give us an immediate solution to affordable
education, but keeping in mind that money is a mere a construct and that it
isnt an essential means to provide a good life, but rather we need free
access to personal needs. Keeping this value that humans require access to
their personal needs, and that we are hindering on their right to pursue
happiness. We can now argue that education needs to be affordable and
accessible for everyone and anyone who wishes to enlighten themselves.
Richard Eskow, a writer, former Wall Street executive and radio
journalist, says that, Social progress is never a straightforward, linear
process. Sometimes society struggles to recognize moral questions that in
retrospect should have seemed obvious. I believe that education is right for
all mankind and by denying them access to it, by making it unaffordable you
are impeding on their right to pursuit happiness and prosperity. We live in a
society where money is the main culprit that infringes upon human rights,
how can we progress as a civilization let alone a nation if we continually put
money before the people. He explains with the rising cost it has become
more of an inherited privilege, and because of that he claims that the likely

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hood of a young person in the U.S. going to college if their parents attended
upper secondary education are just 29%. The essence of Eskows argument
is that, the opportunity for citizens to attend college is shrinking and the cost
of education is effecting lower-income Americans the hardest. And because
of this America is seeing more and more young citizens with no post high
school education than other developed countries. The OECD also has found
out that, we rank 14the in the world in the percentage of 25-34 year olds
with higher education (42%). Eskows point is that by investing in education,
our citizens will have a better quality of life, having a strong educated
workforce that will promote better and well informed communities, that will
fuel our democratic society. Yet some readers may challenge my view by
insisting that Ive been avoiding the question on how are we going to pay
for this? well ultimately we would have to implement a tax, not on the 99%
but on the wealthiest members of our society.
For example, Emily Foster a writer for the Campaign for Americas
Future (CAF) which is an American nonprofit progressive political advocacy
organization. Foster reports from an interview with Capital & Main that
Robert Reich an economist (and former secretary of labor of Bill Clinton) is
calling for free higher public education and debt-free college. Reich believes
that reinventing education is one of many ways of saving the economy, for
example, implementing policies that stop endless testing, limit classroom
size, increase federal funding and services, have optional technical training,
and increase teacher pay.

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Reich believes there are various options that the government can
provide a tuition free college education for all Americans. For example, Reich
advocates for Sanders, College for All Act which would raise taxes on the
wealthiest members of our society who have never been as rich as they are
now. Whose effective tax rates are extraordinarily low relative to what they
were 10 years ago, 30 years ago, 50 years ago. . . Foster also explains that
the organization Opportunity to Learn campaign agrees with Reich and that,
when appropriate investments are paid for with well-structured tax
increases they result in significant positive net impacts to a states
economy. The Opportunity to Learn Campaign has provided easy to read
Fact Sheets detailing exactly how to solve Americas education crisis; they
give three ways to do so: first one, is to implement a millionaires tax
provision, which would be a 1 percent increase to tax rates on incomes
exceeding 500,000. . .. states would collectively raise around $8 billion in
additional annual revenue. As for the other two they include a progressive
income tax provisions, and sales tax provisions. Foster also mentions that
Sanders has a similar tax plan known as the Robin Hood Tax, in which a Wall
Street speculation fee could raise hundreds of billions a year. Foster
advocates that debt-free college should be the norm. it is in numerous other
countries across the world. And that higher education is one of the most
powerful indicators of sustain economic growth and reduction in poverty and
inequality. To build our middle class and boost our economy, it is necessary
to provide young Americans with education they deserve. I would have to

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agree with Robert Reich that this is a utilitarian issue, that the rich should
have a moral obligation of providing the most to future generations of this
country by paying their fair share in taxes.
While there is plenty of people who believe that education shouldnt be
free because it devalues degrees lessens motivation and innovation there
are also plenty of other people who believe that education isnt a means for
profit but rather a way to enrich our communities improve the quality of life.
The monetary system has failed to feed the hungry, educate the mind,
shelter the poor and clothe the naked its time for us to move away from
money as a means for ones happiness, its time for us to fight for our rights
to free access to our personal needs, without the stress of, financial security
or having to appeal to a government bureaucracy. And that providing free
access to education will allow those who cant afford it, to contribute back to
society. That our country could allow every mind the equal opportunity to
create a better life regardless of their social class; the fight for
affordable/free education will not be easy nor will it be something that can be
accomplished in a year or two, it is something that we must all stay
consistently on top of, and the first step of achieving this goal is to raise
taxes on the rich, who have benefited from a system for far too long, which
has destroyed the middle class from achieving economic stability. In addition,
Donald Trumps tax plan, which he unveiled at the New York Economic Club,
would create huge tax breaks for the rich, and only much smaller tax breaks
for low- and middle-income families. The analysis was done by the D.C. think

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tank the Tax Foundation. It estimates that under Trumps plan people earning
$5 million could save a staggering $800,000 on their taxes each year. In
conclusion, the majority of the people need to rise up and demand taxation
on the rich and multinational corporation, if we continue to raise awareness
and fight on, we will see improvements in the lives of all.

Work Cited
Eskow, Richard Free Higher Education is a Human Right. Campaign for
Americas Future. 19
March, 2014. Web. 11/24/16
Kelly, P. Andrew. Tuition Is Not the Main Obstacle to Student Success.
Educationnext.org.
Web. 11/24/16
Moravcik, Darius. What is the Venus Project? The Venus Project. 1 January,
2013.
Web. 11/24/16
Samuels, Bob. Why All Public Higher Education Should Be Free
Huffingtonpost. 18

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November, 2011. Web 11/24/16
Foster, Emily. Robert Reich Joins the Call for Debt-Free College.
Ourfuture.org. 6/12/2015.
Web. 11/24/16
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_choice