In 2009, Denmark
was ranked to be the happiest country in the world while the United States
lagged behind at number 17. This information spread quickly across the U.S.
through news stations that tried to understand why this was so. Perhaps it’s
because half of the population in Denmark commutes by biking, which results in
daily exercise and since exercise stimulates endorphin production, a
neurotransmitter that help make a person happy, it is possible that their
exercise habits could be the reason for their overall happiness and well-being.
But this is nothing compared to Denmark’s low-income inequality and their
social security. Higher education is free and greatly encouraged, and people
rarely go into a career for its money. Students never say, “I have to drop out
because I can’t afford tuition.” Here in America, the total student debt in
2012 has surpassed 1 trillion dollars because the cost of higher education
seems impossible to pay unless a student’s parents are incredibly wealthy.
Because student loans have become one of the largest elements to our worsening
economy, it is the main cause of loss of the American Dream, and the only way
to solve this crisis is to change this country’s mentality and political system.
The cost of education has
become so ridiculously high that the American dream has become unattainable,
resulting in a growing inequality between children born into wealthy families
and children who are born into the less fortunate families. Rich kids in high
school usually receive SAT classes to improve their SAT scores, yet the
underprivileged students have limited resources with little to no classes. At
the same time, colleges and universities evaluate these students as people of
equal competition. The rich kids end up achieving high scores while the poor
ones have to take out loans because their $74 community college classes cost
too much for their family. “While rich kids go off to college, America’s
poor children drop out of school, wind up in the nation’s jails or prisons, or
are destined to live the lives of the working poor – or worse” (53). Children
are the future yet higher education disregards them because colleges seem to
never stop asking for funds. A textbook is always around $200 and tuition for a
UC costs $30,000 a year causing nearly every student that isn’t rich to take
out student loans and have to pay interest on their loans.
It is well known that
America is mostly capitalist, but such a system will never encourage education.
Capitalism is a system where a country’s trade and industry are controlled by
private owners for profit in competitive conditions, but without the fancy
words this is merely a system based on greed. Private ownership means more
money for the individual. Profit becomes more money than necessary, and a
competitive condition easily changes to selfishness because most competitors do
not want to lose. President Woodrow Wilson announced in 1913 “there has been
something crude and heartless and unfeeling in our haste to succeed and be
great” (35). Capitalism generates new ideas and entrepreneurs, but this system
emphasizes individuality instead of teamwork. It is often heartless and cold
because such a structure lacks consideration for others and decreases community
within the nation. Desperation for more money, more success, and more influence
never stops no matter the sacrifice and unfortunately; the sacrifice is the
education of children, of America’s future. A phrases like “I do not want to
help pay for a lazy poor person’s education” is not rare. This gives birth to
the lack of funds for public schools, which makes it harder for every student
to obtain a degree.
There must be a
positive change in tuition fees and more programs to help pay or encourage
higher education. Instead of investing a ridiculous amount of $700 billion in
the military, investing a fraction of that amount is much more useful. Marian
Wright Edelman, a Children’s Defense Fund founder, stated that “the greatest
threat to America’s national security comes from no enemy without but from our
own failure to protect, invest in, and educate all of our children who make up
all of our futures in this global economy” (49). America’s enemies are not
those outside our country, but the lack of affordable education within our
country. At the moment, the free educational system found in Denmark seems
impossible, but, instead, America should implement easily accessible programs
that help inform students of bad loans. The tuition fees for colleges and
universities should be reduced to sensible rate, and their money should mainly
come from taxes collected by the government instead of a vulnerable student’s
empty pocket. It is statistically shown that higher education results in a
higher pay, which means more money goes back to the government to generate this
healthy cycle, therefore there should be no complaint on taxes being too high.
There will never be a perfect
education system that satisfies everyone’s needs, but a system that provides
everyone with the education should be basic. Instead of a greedy capitalistic
country America should have a more unified and considerate mentality so the
young college students don’t have to take out loans and pay them back with such
a high interest. If the cycle were to continue the fate of this country will
spiral down into a chaotic disaster.
Smiley, Travis, and Cornel West. The Rich and the Rest of Us. Hayhouse Inc. New York. 2012. Print
