Link to full article at this link:   
      
    http://newamericamedia.org/2013/07/the-breaking-point---   
    sacrificing-all-for-the -sake-of-education.php   
      
    The author's point is student loans, my point is the cost of   
    education and putting that burden on the students. She went to   
    Harvard, for which reason I don't have a lot of sympathy for   
    her. She could have gone to a state school for a lot less money.   
    However, the point is valid in any case.   
      
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
       "The Breaking Point" - Sacrificing All for the Sake of Education   
      
    San Francisco, CA   
      
    When I got my acceptance letter from Harvard, my parents decided   
    they would stop at nothing to afford the expense. Raised in   
    ...   
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
    My comment:   
      
    For a lot of families that has been the way of things for a very   
    long time. A generation ago that meant significant sacrifice for   
    lower income families. Today that means great sacrifice, and   
    often failure to make it through, for families at all levels,   
    below the upper class.   
      
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
    My parents have worked harder in the past ten years than they   
    ever have. My mom will turn 63 this month and is a bus driver;   
    my dad is in his 50s and working in tech, which is a difficult   
    field to be in if you're no longer young. He recently asked me   
    to recommend a brand of eye cream because he says he needs to   
    look like he's in his 30s for at least another 15 years.   
    ...   
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
      
    My comment:   
      
    I know what she means. I worked in "tech" for, well, almost all   
    my working life. In the last few years new management, who did   
    not appreciate the value of experience, did their best to drive   
    the older workers out of the company. Only because we had a   
    union were we able to hang on. And don't believe the EEOC is an   
    effective deterrent to age discrimination, they are minimal at   
    best.   
      
    However, that is the only real problem working in "tech", as   
    it's a job you can do until you drop, it's not all that   
    physically demanding, and the knowledge part is not that hard to   
    keep up with.   
      
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
    My maternal grandmother, who lives here in San Francisco, was   
    born to a family of Mexican migrant workers in Candelaria,   
    Texas. Her parents died   
   ...   
    After the war she worked as a waitress and put her kids through   
    St. Agnes School in the Haight Ashbury. It was just a few months   
    ago that she finally stopped waitressing at Bill's Place, a   
    little after her 91st birthday.   
    ...   
     ----------------------------------------------------------------   
      
    My Comment:   
      
    She doesn't make clear if her grandmother liked working, or had   
    to. I suspect she didn't have to with a daughter married to a   
    Sun Micro-system worker. Even after he lost his job, they could   
    have afforded her. If Harvard meant she had to continue working,   
    then grand-daughter should have found a good, cheaper school.   
      
    We have top students from all over the world studying   
    engineering here at the University of Toledo.   
      
    In any case, no one should *have* to work that long. That's why   
    we have social security. Social security is a good thing.   
      
     ----------------------------------------------------------------   
    Then came the breaking point. My second year at Harvard my dad   
    lost his job at Sun Microsystems and my family quickly moved to   
    sell the house   
    ...   
     ----------------------------------------------------------------   
      
    My comment:   
      
    Sorry, Harvard is not worth that mush, IMO. Not unless you are   
    headed to a top level job, which she was not, as below.   
      
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
    I graduated from Harvard in 2005, and thanks to them have no   
    student loan debt.   
    ...   
    As for the answer, I don't know. I have freedom and choices,   
    but Harvard didn't give me those - that was my family. I've   
    been able to take a series of jobs that didn't pay much because   
    I don't have a mountain of debt on my shoulders. And if I feel   
    like I have options, it's partially because I didn't have loans   
    dragging me down before I even got started.   
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
      
    My comment:   
      
    A series of jobs that didn't pay much with a Harvard degree?   
    Like I said, not worth that much.   
      
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
    I didn't have to shoulder the expense of college on my own, and   
    neither should anybody who wants an education. We either believe   
    in investing in our future workforce, or we're content with   
    forcing people to fend for themselves in a world where that's   
    increasingly impossible.   
    ----------------------------------------------------------------   
      
    My comment:   
      
    No one should have to shoulder that burden alone. For Harvard, I   
    don't care how much of a loan you have to take, they have   
    endowments for students who can't afford tuition.   
      
    State schools were established to educate those who cannot   
    afford the private schools. That is what they should do. Before   
    WWII it wasn't even necessary to have a high school diploma. By   
    the VN war it was necessary, but a college degree wasn't. Today   
    post high school education is necessary, at least community   
    college level and heading for a full college degree.   
      
    Education has been a government responsibility in this country   
    long before this country was founded. It needs to be recognized   
    that it still is. If we have uneducated young citizens, blame   
    those who refuse to provide the education they need.   
      
    And it ain't gonna be free. It will have to be paid for, but the   
    price of an ignorant citizenry will be much higher.   
      
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
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