Recently, various news sources have reported how students on several college campuses have been protesting and making demands for free tuition, forgiveness of all outstanding student debt ($1.2 trillion dollars), $15 per hour wages for students working on campus and a safe space so they don’t have to listen to anyone who disagrees with them (that pesky First Amendment).
When asked who should pay for that, the response is always someone other than them — the rich (although they can’t define who is rich), businesses (presumably because they make money selling products to students who can’t do without anything), or the government (presumably because this country owes them).
If I, as a taxpayer, am expected to pay for their college education, is it too much to ask that colleges and universities teach students about personal responsibility, financial acumen and the right to respect views opposed to their own?
I suspect that I will be called a racist, homophobe, chauvinist or similar derogatory name for daring to disagree. But I am just a person who believes that success comes from hard work and personal responsibility, not from demanding that others guarantee your success.
Shawn Bell, Lewiston
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