This is what came in the mail this morning:
WHAT: Roundtable discussion with Gov. Jeanne Shaheen about College
Tuition and Middle Class Debt
WHEN: Tuesday, June 15th
1:45 PM
WHERE: Memorial Union Building, Wildcat Den
83 Main St.
Durham, NH
RSVP: nclemons@johnkerry.com
Gov. Shaheen, the national chair of John Kerry's presidential campaign,
will address the concerns of students and families struggling under George
Bush's failed economic policies. She will highlight John Kerry's plan to
strengthen the middle class by offering young Americans affordable education
in return for national service. To RSVP or for any questions, please email
nclemons@johnkerry.com.
See you there,
New Hampshire for Kerry
You'd think that with a week off the campaign trail, they could have got the invitations out more than a day before. In any case, the following is my admittedly snarky response:
I will not be attending the roundtable discussion of John Kerry's education agenda. However, I do want to share my opinion that since an educated person is ipso facto going to provide service to the nation, I do not agree with the notion that education should be paid for by the student.
While an educated person may expect to receive more money for the services he is empowered by his education to provide, that is not necessarily the case. My husband, for example, was a university professor for forty years and never earned a salary over forty thousand dollars per year.
It is quite likely that if students are forced to "pay for their education" with unpaid or minimally paid "national service" they will be even less inclined to see their careers as one of service to the nation.
Service is not something that should be extracted by force or threats.
If the young people of this country are not moved to serve and defend on their own, then the senior population is doing something wrong--a wrong that cannot be righted by conscripting the young.
What we really need is to reduce our investment of money and talent in military hardware. The problem with military hardware is that, if it isn't used up in warfare, the resources expended on it are effectively removed from the economy (much as gold used to be removed and melted down into idols and gold plate for churches) to be watched over and preserved in storage, but not productive of any good. Warehousing armaments is about as productive as keeping a large percentage of the young male population locked up in prisons and jails.
(Armaments that blow things to smitherenes at least prepare the gound for building something new).
What, by the way, is the Kerry campaign going to do if, for some reason as yet not known, GWB is not the GOP nominee? Phrasing the discussion of higher education in terms of Middle Class Debt is not an indication of forward thinking.
Posted by Monica Smith at June 14, 2004 08:13 AM