Recently Markos posted a diary that pointed out his belief in the fruitlessness of universal higher education as part of the Democratic platform. His concern was that people wouldn't buy into it because they would perceive they have nothing to gain from it. Sure, there will be folks that argue that they didn't get a free education so why should anyone else, but that shouldn't be an obstacle for doing the right thing. Putting aside the obvious facts that the cost of higher education has far out paced inflation so younger people have a higher financial burden, and that an increase in the numbers of people with college degrees has decreased the value of a diploma, there are some good reasons why this idea makes sense for those who may be too old to be primary beneficiaries of it.
Firstly, let’s think about the wrongheadedness of Kos’ “me first” understanding of political policy. We are Democrats. We are the Party of “Us”. As a white straight male, this Party offers nothing to my selfish demographic needs. However, this Party offers as lot to my well understood selfish reliance on society. Believe it or not, I get that I live in a society, as do all of you, and we are all affected by what goes on in our society. We are not Republican, we do not believe in the “rugged individual” myth of this country. We care about more than our own problems, and recognize the difficulties facing our friends, families, and neighbors. We are the Party of Us, and we should never try and couch our policy ideas as a kinder, gentler, version of Ayn Rand’s misanthropic philosophy of selfishness. Someone needs to be the one that argues against the self and for the society, and THAT should be US!
“But..but..but..how to we placate Markos’ ‘me first’ political dogma?”, you ask. Ok. Here is a simple lesson in economics. The largest asset for most people in this country is their home. The spend a lot of money paying paying for it and building up equity. Planning on equity to fund a retirement is like a single person painting a spare bedroom for their first child: it’s a exercise in futility until it is realized. Maybe you will someday have a boy, maybe someday you’ll have a girl, and maybe you just wasted two weekends inhaling latex paint fumes. This is equity. Your beautiful, equity filled, single family home requires someone to buy it in order for you to realize the equity you have built up in it.
“So?????”, you ask. So, you need the next generation that currently is saddled in college debt to buy it. Imagine how much you could have afforded for a house payment with a debt of $30K still outstanding. This becomes what in economics is called a “barrier to entry”, and that barrier decreases demand for the housing market. Boomers and early Gen Xers are going to find this out real soon. The people that should be buying a house and starting a family, can't afford to buy that house or start a family because their GOVERNMENT OWNED DEBT, is preventing that.
What’s the answer? It is simple: universal higher education, with a twist. The way that you sell this idea (to selfless. clueless, Randians like Markos) is by adding debt forgiveness to previously held loans. Since it is GOVERNMENT OWNED DEBT, it can be forgiven with the caveat that the money being forgiven be used to purchase a first home. This frees equity for soon to be retirees, helps increase housing prices, and encourages new home building. Win, win, win for the economy and for universal higher education (Yea!!!! Free Markets! Let’s ignore the Federal governments influence!….eye roll)
Lastly, I want to again reiterate, that we are the Party of Us. In spite of my argument to placate the “me first” crowd, we need to abandon the idea that any of our policies should be specifically marketed to individuals based on selfish interest. We need to stand by the truth that governments are a creation of society, for the purpose of furthering a society. No better example of this is how inept the Party of Self is, it can't govern because it’s core belief is antithetical to the purpose of governments.
Kos and I grew up during a period where the glorification of the self overshadowed the purpose of societies. We watched as Reganites held power for years and the old Democratic coalitions collapsed. The knee jerk reaction was to adopt their selfish philosophy but just be less racist, sexist and homophobic. That was dumb because we missed what they were really selling. Think of this: What do Republicans really argue for the most? They argue for a return to a period in our country’s history when society and citizenship were the most important things in people’s lives. Yes, there was the undercurrent of racism, sexism, and homophobia, but they brought most people in with stories about how neighbors used to help neighbors.
Here’s the rub: times have changed. The local grocer, baker, and tailor, were lost thanks to “free-market” ideology. Millennials get that. They are the ones that have started bringing those thing back to their towns. I know many young people that have opened restaurants, coffee houses, thrift stores...etc., and when I ask them why?, they all say to build a community. The future is ours, but only if we give up on the tired, 80’s/90’s political philosophy of “what’s in it for me”. That rule no longer applies. We need to return to a Party where: “There are those that look at the things they way they are and ask why, I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”.