VICE: What Happened To The Middle Class

[msomnipotent]

Well I'm sorry but the cost of shelter needs to free in order for school to be truly free by your definition. Even if I'm paying 1 dollar/month on rent, one can still argue that 30 cents out of that dollar goes to the public school their kids attend.

Anyone can have access to public education in the U.S at a subsidized cost since it's socialized if you guys want to play around with semantics.

The point of the post to show that people in the developed world having easy access to public schools.

I'm not defining anything. I'm stating that even though we already pay property taxes for "free" public school, we still pay a lot. I have paid over $200 this month for extra fees, not including any of the multitude of charity and fundraisers they have every month.

[Singuy]

I'm absolutely serious.



You are gifted a car at no explicit cost to yourself, but there is no free car.

Just as... there is no free lunch. Ever. Because someone has to pay.

Definition of "free" : Without cost OR PAYMENT

Everything has a cost doesn't mean everything has a payment.
So come back with your insults after you change the definition of free into "Without cost AND payment".

[Nutria]

Everything has a cost doesn't mean everything has a payment.

Opportunity costs don't have payments. Environmental costs (pumping soot into the atmosphere or dumping PCBs into a river) don't have payments.

But sending someone to college "for free" absolutely does have payments: from taxpayers (or bond purchasers).

[snafu]

Looking at this from a financial perspective...

[Singuy]

Opportunity costs don't have payments. Environmental costs (pumping soot into the atmosphere or dumping PCBs into a river) don't have payments.

But sending someone to college "for free" absolutely does have payments: from taxpayers (or bond purchasers).

You must be fun at parties

Taking a simple English word way out of context to explain the obvious in which has nothing to do with the word.

I'm foreign so forgive me for misunderstanding the word "free".
"Free" school/tuition: the individual attending is exempt from payment. Sure someone else paid for it, but the individual attending didn't so it's free to the individual.

There are no english words that describe a school/car/tangible goods that doesn't have any production cost because this word will never be used since nothing is created out of thin air.

Hope you don't teach your kids your definition of free because that'll just get him punched in the face for being annoying.

[Nutria]

You must be fun at parties

[snip]

Hope you don't teach your kids your definition of free because that'll just get him punched in the face for being annoying.

I know when to keep my mouth shut about what topics (politics and religion at a party), and "fundamental economics on a savings advice" forum is not a "keep quiet" time.

[Nutria]

I'm foreign so forgive me for misunderstanding the word "free".
"Free" school/tuition: the individual attending is exempt from payment. Sure someone else paid for it, but the individual attending didn't so it's free to the individual.

You're looking at it from the individual point of view, while I'm looking at it from the macroeconomic/policy POV.

There are no english words that describe a school/car/tangible goods that doesn't have any production cost because this word will never be used since nothing is created out of thin air.

This is why the acronym TANSTAAFL appeared.

[snafu]

In other countries, parents/guardians/extended family pay school tuition as opposed to a charge on taxes for the public system. We've not had a child in any type of school for several years but nearly half of our property tax goes to the school system. Even our universities get publicly funded grants and supports of some type, deemed 'for public good.'

[Nutria]

In other countries, parents/guardians/extended family pay school tuition as opposed to a charge on taxes for the public system.

Which other countries don't have universal public schooling?

Afghanistan and Liberia come quickly to mind, but none of those which are considered First World.

[Singuy]

You're looking at it from the individual point of view, while I'm looking at it from the macroeconomic/policy POV.



This is why the acronym TANSTAAFL appeared.

When people describe something as free, only the individual point of view applies. Free is an adjective describing something as payment exempt . An item can only be described as "free" if this item also has a payment counterpart (or else the word "free" as an adjective is useless)

No one describes fire fighters as free because payments are always exempt. Schools are not always payment exempt so you can use a word such as "free school" to describe schools that does not require any additional payments as contrast to schools that do.

So no one use the word "free" to describe "cost free". Schools can be "free" to the individual but no one said they are cost free.

[disneysteve]

When people describe something as free, only the individual point of view applies.

Exactly. When I say I got something for free, I mean I didn't pay anything directly for it. Obviously, I understand that it didn't materialize out of thin air and somebody paid for it. It just wasn't me.

This thread has gotten way off the original topic of what happened to the middle class.

[Nutria]

When people describe something as free, only the individual point of view applies. Free is an adjective describing something as payment exempt . An item can only be described as "free" if this item also has a payment counterpart (or else the word "free" as an adjective is useless)

No one describes fire fighters as free because payments are always exempt. Schools are not always payment exempt so you can use a word such as "free school" to describe schools that does not require any additional payments as contrast to schools that do.

So no one use the word "free" to describe "cost free". Schools can be "free" to the individual but no one said they are cost free.

Well, people should think of the costs involved in "free stuff". It'll make them more conscious of where their money goes, and that fits right in with the fiscal prudence fostered by this site.

[disneysteve]

Well, people should think of the costs involved in "free stuff". It'll make them more conscious of where their money goes, and that fits right in with the fiscal prudence fostered by this site.

Now that's actually a really interesting point. Again, off topic for this thread but would make for a good discussion.