There's been this super awful discussion about poverty and education going on here. Let me give you all something to think about.

If you gate-keep the humanities from ppl with less money and tell them they must get "practical" degrees, you are telling ppl several bad things:

1. You don't really realize that the humanities are viable and have lots of earning power because you are still following the propaganda from the Reagan admin in the 1980s.

2. You are telling ppl with less money you have a right to control their lives with your taxes and their paths. That's repulsive.
3. The "your" money comments when you discuss taxes is a giveaway to both your snobbery and a complete misunderstanding of taxes.

This one deserves a bit more commentary. "Your" money was made living in "OUR" society. You benefited from living in "OUR" society. So, you aren't recognizing that benefits and only congratulating yourself on "your" earnings.

Humanities are things like art, critical thinking, history, languages, sociology, therapy, communication, writing, debate, literature, media productions. This education path leads to many many lucrative fields, but money is not the only benefit.

The other benefits include being able to think critically about issues, know where these issues are placed in historical context, being able to suss out and debate these issues. And for the creative arts? Most of you wld have languished w/out them during the pandemic.

During the Reagan admin, the Republicans started a push to limit education because an uneducated public is easier to rule. Not govern. Rule. They went right for arts and humanities for a really good reason. They didn't want ppl to put things in historical context.

They didn't want ppl to think critically. They didn't want ppl to have joy and hope because those things are dangerous to someone who wants to rule absolutely. A dictator can rule your body, but they can't rule your mind. It means eventually they will fall then.

So, this idea that "I won't pay for 'vanity degrees of the wealthy'" is a disgusting idea born from that era and not a true thing. It's not real. Your taxes are not paying for any vanity degrees. The wealthy pay for their own goddamned education.

And there are no "vanity degrees." And btw, please never say women go to school for their "MRS. degrees." Please no. That's from the 1950s and ignores that most women who went to college were desperately trying to be independent. It was mostly a false statement all along.

That statement was used to denigrate women in the workplace and keep them out of male-favored jobs. And that reasoning of "Well, you'll get married, have kids, and leave, so why give you that promotion" needs to be round canned forever.

When you tell ppl with less money they aren't being "practical" and that their choices are limited, you are harming their souls. I really believe this. Also, you're trying to create an agenda where the idea of where your money goes is more important than where my money goes.

I don't want my money going to a bunch of tech programs only. Absolutely not. After all, by your own arguments, it's MY money, right? So, I shld get a say in its dispensing, yes? Tech programs are fine, of course, but alone, as the only avenue? No.

Finally, you are saying that only the wealthy deserve creativity. Only the wealthy deserve artistic expression. Only the wealthy deserve to be historians and holy shit, can you see a problem there?? Only the wealthy get to learn critical thinking. Only the wealthy.

You may mean well. You may feel you're doing ppl in poverty a favor by gate-keeping your taxes to "practical" programs. But instead, you're creating a societal barrier to ppl coming out of poverty forever. And you're removing them from the culture, forever silencing them.

You're making ppl servants. You're not lifting ppl up. And also, you're statistically incorrect in your judgments.

You're falling for a Republican talking point from the 1980s. Stop, please.