Words from the web
About 250 people, mostly students, took to the streets of Pittsburgh last week as part of the nationwide Million Student March. The marchers demanded free tuition at public colleges, canceled student loan debt and a guaranteed $15-an-hour minimum wage for all campus employees. Do you think any of the complaints are valid? If so, is marching in the streets the right way to go about changing the system? Do you have any advice for the marchers?
“We could do tuition-free schooling, just gotta stop funding illegal wars in the Middle East, giving money to Israel and bailing out corporations.”
“If we give in to $15 per hour for campus employees, the burger flippers will want $15 per hour for something that they should not get more than $5 per hour doing.”
“Don’t let them have loans, then they wouldn’t have to pay anything back.”
“Get jobs, stop living on daddy’s and momma’s money and volunteer at any local shelter.”
“Join the Army. Make your bed, pay for your own cellphone and car insurance, visit nursing homes!”
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
“Nothing is free. If it’s worth having, it’s worth working for. They want all these freebies off the backs of other people who are working, let them work for it!”
“Kids … just kids. I remember the protests some kids acted out at Manchester College in the ’60s. They accomplished absolutely nothing, they looked like a bunch of buffoons and they wasted their time and the time of the local police, who kept them from hurting themselves. If the media would stop covering this crap, it would end just as quickly.”
“Since when did America turn Communist?”
“When these young socialists grow up see if they think the same.”
“Why do they think you can have everything given to you? Work for it!”
“Unrealistic demands by people who have no idea how things work. If they get it for free I am going to demand a refund. Oh wait, I didn’t mind working two full-time jobs and taking loans when needed. I learned at an early age you appreciate it more when you earn it versus having it given to you.”