Mon 13 Nov 2006
I have been hoping to have time to post this for a couple of weeks now. In America Alone by Mark Steyn 
When one contemplates the demographic catastrophe, it’s easy to say, well, maybe we should reduce the tax burden on young fertile adults, make it easier for them to afford to buy a home and start a family. But the economic argument is in the larger sense marginal. In traditional rural societies, children were a necessary insurance for one’s old age: by the time you were too stooped and worn to plough the field and hunt for dinner, Junior would do it for you. Today, when you’re stooped and worn (and, in fact, long before that point), the state steps in to take care of you. Reconnecting nanny-state populations with cross-generational solidarity requires much more than the marginal tax breaks the Portuguese government announced or the nine thousand bucks the Russian state is now offering for second children. The most important action in reaquainting individuals with a larger sense of life is the one that governments recoil from: shrink the state.”
“That gets closer to the nub of the matter. It’s not just a question of tax breaks and affordable housing. the chief characteristic of our age is “deferred adulthood.” All over North America and Europe there are millions of people going to college for no good reason. Certainly, there’s no reason why the sum of knowledge the average American has accumulated by the time he’s completed a bachelor’s degree should take twenty years to inculcate…”
“The state and its citizens would be better off if we gave students a terrific high school education and then let ‘em get on with earning money so they can afford to have two or three kids in their twenties instead of one fertility-treatment special delivery in late middle age. It won’t be easy to do that, particularly in America, where schools are a bastion of over-unionization dedicated to expanding thier privileges and protections at the expense of their pupils.”
“In the end, it’s not about cash: after all, materialism and self-gratification are why Eutopians gave up on the future in the first place.”
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*The state and its citizens would be better off if we gave students a terrific high school education*
Gave? I dont think so…… IMHO (hah) there are too many children going to (public) high school for no good reason!
To be educated is a privilege (not a right) and it requires effort and vision.
Basically, I’m in your camp. Taxes are a burden, but this younger generation must understand the issues and vote appropriately. However, do not rely on the public school to teach them about economics and government. If one does, one is likely to produce a socialist.
Comment by Dana (November 14, 2006 @ 4:09 am )
Basically, I agree with you, Dana.
But I do think the point still stands with most public school students that they don’t “all” need to go to college cheapening a college degree to the point it is less than an old time high school degree.
Boy, it would be great if education was still considered a privilege since it doesn’t really take place under any other circumstances.
Comment by Cindy (November 14, 2006 @ 8:19 am )
Sounds like a good book for the family to read together and discuss!
Comment by Margaret in VA (November 14, 2006 @ 8:21 am )
Good post. I’ve often been seen as elitist for saying we don’t need the State U at [anywhere but the main campus] because it cheapens the degree. When too many incoming students take JR High level remedial courses, what does “college” mean? My grandmother[who I will admit did go to college to be a teacher] learned more Latin, history, literature, and German by the end of 8th grade than any College student [except maybe those majoring in one of the subjects] does today. AND she learned it so well she remembered it in her 80s!!! Back now (sadly) in PS my kids don’t remember what they’ve learned the week after the “lesson” is done…..SAD
Comment by Lisa (November 14, 2006 @ 8:39 am )
Living near a university town, we see this all the time. It is so sad to see otherwise sane parents go deeply into debt for their kid’s education. One of my best friends (neighbors from years ago) just paid over $160,000 for their oldest child’s college degree and he is still not sure what he wants to do with his life. He is teaching math to the poor this year. (He could have studied math at the college near us for about $10,000 for four years as his Dad is a professor and he could have lived at home.)
Over and over, we are seeing young people who could get an excellent education at a Big Ten school cost their parents untold dollars if nothing else, because they want to “leave home” and these parents are willing to dish it out. Amazing…
My son could not hear the teacher at his Jr. College math clas yesterday (he is taking for high school credit) because two boys behind him were talking all through the class. He told me at least one of these boys is only in the junior college because his Dad will pay his rent as long as he attends, he has no plan of study (and he disrupts class for those who want to learn).
Sigh…
Comment by Brenda N (November 14, 2006 @ 3:47 pm )
I just got my copy of America Alone and am looking forward (in a way) to reading it. Mark Steyn’s columns in NR have been a big encouragement to me during this pregnancy-makes me feel like being pregnant at 43 is doing a good thing . Now if someone would only clean my house…..
Comment by Eva Blake (November 17, 2006 @ 6:01 pm )