Sadly, education seems to have become an evil vicious cycle that serves as little more than a way to trap young people for a couple of decades.

The system that now exists is such that you can't even get an interview for something much above a minimum wage grunt job unless you "have a college degree." So we're sold on the idea- much as you were- that we just "have to" if we want any alternative to getting out of the low level grind.

Meanwhile, the cost of a college education has increased by 2.5 times the rate of inflation over the last 30 years. The days where you could realistically "work your way through school" are long gone. Unless you're a trust fund baby or happen to have a "rich uncle" you pretty much HAVE to take out loans. So you're hosed. We have two kids (26 and 29) who are gainfully employed but they are buckling under the weight of their education loans. And that's just messed up!

On top of which, now that everybody has a college degree, it no longer gives you an advantage, so you don't even have any sort of guarantee that you can get a good job! Our oldest is a seasonal parks and rec maintenance worker, for Pete's sake!

And here's where I think it will come back and bite us in the butt: 30 years ago, when you were 26 or 30, you were starting to save to buy a house. Starting to perhaps invest a little, with an eye towards (early?) retirement. Now? Not only will home ownership start dropping (causing a housing glut) but people will be ill prepared to ever retire.

I know it's a popular perspective (especially here on "liberty oriented" Steemit) to condemn the government and insist that the answer to our ills is the capitalist system and private enterprise. I have to wonder, though; whenever certain basic human services (education, health care and prisons come to mind) are allowed to be "for profit" it seems that the users of those systems end up getting the short end of the stick.