Last week, students under the banner of the Million Student March demonstrated on college campuses across the country. There was even a demonstration at UF, although only about a dozen marchers actually showed up. Regardless, the collective demands of the protestors were clear: tuition-free public college, $15 minimum wage and the cancellation of all student debt.
These three demands speak to the undeniable fact that times are tough for millennials. Rising college costs are troubling. Young people my age are strapped with crushing college debt — debt that cannot be written off even in bankruptcy. And if the federal government believes it should set a minimum wage, the wage should be changed to match the economic conditions of the times.
Yet this is not the case. Because Congress does not update the wage regularly, the current minimum wage now is worth less than it was in the 1960s. All of these issues are important concerns indeed.
That being said, I find myself disliking the Million Student March. While I applaud the marchers for attempting to improve financial conditions for young people, I find their collective demands for solving these problems counterproductive and, quite honestly, not that well thought-out.
Let’s dig deeper into why each demand isn’t viable:
With regards to forgiveness of college loans, my basic quarrel with this demand can be summed up in one question: How will we pay for it? The overwhelming response: Tax the rich. But here’s where things start to get hairy. OK, you want to tax the rich, but answer these questions: By how much will you raise the taxes of the rich? At what income level is someone considered to be rich? Do you know the rich already pay a lot in taxes?
And even if we soak the rich and impose a 100-percent tax on incomes more than $1 million, that only gives us about $616 billion in revenue. Of course, at that point, the rich will relocate to another country — an oversight not really touched on by the marchers. But, point being, the current total amount of student loan debt is $1.2 trillion, and taxing the rich at 100 percent won’t accomplish any one of the movement’s three demands. Where will the rest of the money come from? Will it be from the average taxpayers like you and me? I have yet to hear a good answer to any of these questions.
Free education: I understand more progressive, humane and worldly European countries have cost-free tuition. But their education, and let’s use Denmark as an example, is not free. Taxes pay for free education. More specifically, a 56-percent income tax, a 25-percent sales tax and up to a 180-percent tax on cars pays for it. No American would support taxes this high. Still, keeping tuition low is important — and UF is doing a fairly good job with this compared to other schools. But realize our low tuition is paid for by taxes. As always, free things aren’t really free.
Fifteen-dollar minimum wage: Once again, I am sympathetic to raising the federal minimum wage. But $15 is too much. Many workers will be laid off due to such a dramatic rise. And liberals agree with me. Uber-liberal economist Paul Krugman, of all people, thinks a $15 minimum wage would be disastrous. When the likes of Paul Krugman think this is a bad idea, it’s probably not sensible.
Before you write angry letters to the editor, realize I sympathize with the marchers — so much so that I’ve mentioned it numerous times in my column. I realize hard-working people are struggling because of these issues. Many of them are my friends. Yes, the larger concerns of the marchers are valid and on point: The economy is still leaving many people behind. But, raising the minimum wage to $15, forgiving student loans and making college free aren’t the ways to go. In order to solve these pressing issues — which must be solved — more thought needs to be given to the economic considerations and the realities of our time.
Michael Beato is a UF political science senior. His column usually appears on Mondays.
