we dont want you to die, we cant milk you for money if you die. We can milk you for money if you go into debt tho and this kind of debt has special rules that say it will never go away no matter what.
What do you want? To not be allowed to sign a contract until you’re 50? Yes. You can go $40k+ into debt at 18 on school. Or a car. Or a house- all of which you are “encouraged” to do. Of the 3 the house and the education are the most theoretically wise long term investments- but if you want to buy a rundown shack in the worst area possible- who do you want to stop you? People like to wax poetic about “deciding their future.” You don’t get to decide your future. It happens. You make decisions that shape your future. Who you date or marry, how you spend your money- and with college (or not), how you plan to make your money. Plenty of folks do just fine in life without ever going into debt for school- or even ever going to school. You’re going to struggle for awhile. Most people do. You’re not likely to be able to have the lifestyle of a 50yo while you’re in your 20’s....
... you know who used to “travel?” Rich people and folks who joined the military. Most other folks that wanted to travel had to wait until they’d become financially established. My father was 40 years old when he bought his first new car- because he couldn’t afford it until then. I’ve still never bought a new car in my life because $30-60k or more for something that loses half its value the moment I buy it isn’t something I feel fits my budget. The boomers left an unfair hand for those who cane after. They stacked the deck and messed up the housing market and the job market and more. But people can’t blame boomers for everything, and we can’t expect the government or anyone else to make all our choices for us.
You have to make the best choices you know how at any given time- and love with the consequences. Everyone has somewhere they want to go in life or something they want to do- a lifestyle or whatever things they want. What says the most about you is figuring out how to get those things the best way for you. And it’s true that 18yo kids aren’t known to be the best at making choices- so how would it make any sense to add booze which is known for making even the most experienced and wise make bad decisions?
I mean the issue this post points out is the fact that it should NOT cost $40k to go to college. Im French, I paid a 800euros a year to attend college because I was in a public engineering school. And some of our best schools are public, so it's not the shitty schools.
So the alcohol question aside, the problem here is the cost of education. It being so prohibitive is really problematic.
I would agree that it is... but it doesn’t cost $40k to go to college in the USA. almost every city of any size has a college, in fact many non profit public colleges have tuition of around $900 USD, and costs can often be brought down further by attending a community college first to eliminate prerequisites and credits. That’s without any tuition assistance for low income or grants and scholarships. But America does need to work harder to make it so that more people can attend higher learning if they wish. Independent studies confirm that the United States turns out some of the highest caliber technical professional graduates in the world. More scientists graduate from American schools than any other country. So there is also a question wether turning out MORE graduates is the right answer or if turning out BETTER graduates is.
In overall competence US graduates rank around tenth place world wide. So while the US has advantage in certain Fields, the United States isn’t the best. The overall best is Japan- where university costs start at a minimum average of... $40,000 a year. So the cost of education in the United States isn’t so insane- but for what is being charged the US should be giving a better education to those who do graduate. So if it is a question of cost- one just has to sacrifice quality and go to a less renowned school- although often a “less known” school produces graduates of as high or higher caliber as fancy schools- you just don’t get the fancy name on the diploma.
The government is not gonna baby your finicial decisions. You could potential make thousands of dollars off a loan if you know how invest, or you could go into debt. In the case of college, you're investing in yourself, and if you were a bad investment then thats your problem. Drinking, on the other hand, is guaranteed to ruin your brain chemistry permanently if you get drunk before your brains had a chance to develope. tl;dr the government is there to prevent you from hurting yourself and others, not to stop you from making bad decisions.
So the alcohol question aside, the problem here is the cost of education. It being so prohibitive is really problematic.