>> Always replace "free" with "I'm paying for you".
Your thinking is flawed in this regard. Sure you are paying "my" tuition fees. But in an either indirect or direct way, you (you as the society, not necessarily you as the single person) are also profiting from my services. And as you are more than a being measured by money, but a human with a cultural background, even studying Akkadian on taxpayer's money might be ok (as long as not everyone does it).
I am a semi-libertarian myself so I get your argument somehow. Then again I am for equal opportunity (not equal outcomes) and providing education for free is a great equalizer and a great way that people can actually live up to their potential (or not, in which case they still need well educated doctors, car mechanics, whatever...). Good education also does not have to be really expensive by itself, it is a matter of organizing. When I hear the big US universities hording billions, I know that there is too much money in the system.
Your thinking is flawed in this regard. Sure you are paying "my" tuition fees. But in an either indirect or direct way, you (you as the society, not necessarily you as the single person) are also profiting from my services. And as you are more than a being measured by money, but a human with a cultural background, even studying Akkadian on taxpayer's money might be ok (as long as not everyone does it).
I am a semi-libertarian myself so I get your argument somehow. Then again I am for equal opportunity (not equal outcomes) and providing education for free is a great equalizer and a great way that people can actually live up to their potential (or not, in which case they still need well educated doctors, car mechanics, whatever...). Good education also does not have to be really expensive by itself, it is a matter of organizing. When I hear the big US universities hording billions, I know that there is too much money in the system.