Economics is pretty simple at its core. Someone “A” wants goods or services, someone else “B” produces those goods or services, and “A” pays “B” an agreed upon price to obtain what “A” wants.
Supply and Demand – what is wanted is produced and what is produced is purchased. When one produces something, be it a product or a service, one wants compensation for it; that is, you want to be paid for what you make and/or do.
This is true just about everywhere. How that exchange takes place is the difference in economic systems.
In Capitalism, the exchange is usually pretty direct. I buy my food from a store who buys it from a farmer. The store acts as an intermediary between the producer and the consumer and charges a markup on the price for this service.
Education is a service provided by teachers. The schools are the intermediaries who take a percentage of the cost to provide a place for this service, as in the store example above. That is how buildings, supplies, and administrators are paid whether for K-12 schools or for advanced education.
All goods and services must be purchased. Someone must receive compensation in some form for what is produced to meet the needs or desires of others. Everything has a price.
For education to be “free” for students means the students do not pay for the service they receive. But if they do not pay for it, someone else must. The teachers will not provide it for nothing; the educational institutions will not provide a building or learning center without compensation.
This is what I mean when I say “nothing is free.” That is a universal truth. Nothing is free. Someone pays.
So if someone says health care and education should be free, what they are saying is that the consumers should not have to pay for the goods and services they receive. But SOMEONE has to pay for them. So, in fact, what is being demanded by the Democratic Socialists is that someone else (you and I) must pay for goods and services that we (you and I) do not receive. And we have no choice in the matter.
Coming around full circle then, you expect to receive compensation for the work you do but some of that compensation is taken away and given to someone else who had nothing to do with the work you did. How is this fair?
I hear all the time that “the rich” will pay for it. Well, some of the “rich” are the people who are in Congress who make the laws that make them rich.
I also have people tell me that “Christians” should provide for the poor, thus Socialism is being Christian. No, that is a complete falsehood. Socialism is a government construct. Jesus never said “steal from others and give to the government in the hope they will distribute it fairly.” He said each of us must take care of the poor, naked, and hungry.
Socialism is stealing – taking without compensation. It is not some high moral standard of caring for the needy as some claim. There is nothing moral about stealing.
I would love to see a candidate or party some day come out and promote the true caring for our neighbors. I would love to see a platform that teaches how good it is to feed the hungry and clothe the naked – not by force but by the very good nature of doing so. In this way, everyone can be fully compensated for the goods and services they produce, but they will voluntarily take care of their needy neighbors.
Morality comes from the heart, not the government.
