Why are conservatives against publicly funded higher education?
Conservatives see higher education as a personal, private good rather than a public one. Hence, “user pays.”There are clear personal benefits to someone who attends university. These are not airy fairy soft benefits like “education” or “personal growth,” but cold hard cash dollar benefits in lifetime career earnings. This has been documented over and over again in the US. The argument is that because higher education is a personal financial investment, the person attending should pay for it, not taxpayers.This also feeds into notions of “limited government” and “tax cuts” that are typical planks of American conservative platforms.While certainly debatable, the “user pays” point of view is a consistent, logical, and intellectually honest argument.There are no doubt other factors at play here that are less logical. Conservatives have a long history of distrusting academia."Never forget," he tells national security advisers Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig in a conversation on December 14 1972, "the press is the enemy, the press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy, the professors are the enemy, the professors are the enemy. Write that on a blackboard 100 times." - Richard Nixon recordings confirm popular viewConservatives are often accused of treating poverty as a moral failing of people who lacked personal responsibility. That is, “It’s your own fault if you can’t pay for university.”
Why do conservatives support public education but not universal health care?
Conservative here.I do not “support” public education. It’s scarcely an education these days. Teaches students virtually nothing and confers few, if any, real-world skills. And, in many places, the cost K-12 to do it? Is about equal to sending a student to Harvard for four years. Are students getting that kind of value? Is society benefiting?Not even close. Public school is a history of slow decline. Or, if not decline, certainly rot.Long ago, the public school system writ large made the choice—and continues to choose—to prioritize administrators’ salaries and teacher’s unions (but not-so-much teacher pay) far and above student outcomes, skills, employability, and futures.To illustrate: I have this discussion frequently concerning mandatory pre-kindergarten. It’s actually quite expensive to provide. But liberals and progressives love mandatory pre-kindergarten. It sounds awesome! Who wouldn’t want it? They repeat ad nauseum that it helps these 4-year-olds must ahead “educationally”. Except, it actually really doesn’t. For most students, after a few years into grade school, you cannot discern who hand pre-k and who did not. Which means, whatever “boost” you gave them, it didn’t last. You spent a bunch of money, for nothing. When those kids could have been out playing, and socializing, and doing what little brains are supposed to be doing. (And this isn’t categorically true: some sub-populations show improved scores, but the explanation is that disruptive home-life is more often the issue.)Today, the public school system is mostly daycare. Very expensive, taxpayer-funded daycare. (And you could just give actual, subsidized daycare at far lower cost…)In short, not all conservatives “support” what public education is or has become.Now, the typical reaction is to assume this means we are against education. Which is absurd and asinine. It’s more accurate that conservatives are against a powerful, centralized education bureaucracy and self-interested unions that are irredeemably failing generations of students during their formative years—while some people make a whole lot of money off of the nosedive. And it’s not that earning the money is bad—but they’re not delivering results and they actively oppose institutional and structural improvement.
Why don't conservatives seem to value education?
Because education leads to critical thinking. And critical thinking is dangerous to the conservative agenda.
Why do conservatives think abstinence-ONLY education actually works to decrease teen pregnancy rates when?
I've never heard of ANY Conservative EVER advocating "Abstinence ONLY education", Sarah Palin NEVER said that either...I have only ever heard liberals using this term. And RE: Palin: Bristol was taught regular sex education at her regular high school...She knew what birth control was, she knew that sex makes babies...It didn't help, did it? Teen pregnancy and abortion rates have RISEN exponentially since NORMAL sex education began being taught in public high schools (it's taught in EVERY public high school in America, I challenge you to find me one where it isn't) Despite what liberals believe, this is NOT an education issue, it's a RESPONSIBILITY and MORALITY issue...Until you guys accept that, teen pregnancy and abortion will continue to flourish. Do you seriously believe that there is ANY child alive in the United States above the age of 13, who does not know that sex makes babies, or what birth control is?...Reality check, please. EDIT: When you are prescribed birth control, the doctor tells you exactly how to use it...If you can't figure out how to put on a condom, read the damned box...Talk about "ignorance" BTW: I have a 20 year-old daughter who was taught about these things by ME, not by a public school system...She has never been pregnant, and she doesn't plan to until she's 25 when she feels she will actually be ready for a baby (She started working when she was 17, at 19 she became the youngest supervisor at Citibank in the history of her entire department, she has lived on her own and supported herself 100% since she was 18, she makes good money and has excellent health benefits yet she still feels that she isn't ready for a baby at this time)...She knows how to prevent getting pregnant until she wants to...I also have a 14 year-old son who has shown no interest in having sex yet (and even HE knows about birth control), he's working on other things of interest that could possibly benefit him in a career in his future. His main goal right now is preparing himself for getting a job, not getting laid...If every family taught and supervised their children the way WE have, this wouldn't even be an issue...Obviously, WE aren't the 'ignorant' ones.
What is an example of a conservative view on education?
A Conservative view of education looks like this:-Parents choose where their kids attend, which forces schools to improve. Those that don’t improve are closed. New schools open to attract new students.-The local government controls the school instead of the Federal.-School doesn’t push a liberal agenda. Kids are given the facts, and allowed to determine their own opinion. They are taught to debate and defend their ideas with facts, instead of emotions and insults and simply regurgitating talking points. They are taught that life is hard, they need to work hard to succeed, and that not all ideas, cultures, and efforts are equal.-They are taught the true history of our country, it’s founding, and it’s development. They learn it’s faults, but also all of the wonderful things that we have accomplished.-The government doesn’t guarantee a loan for everyone to go to college forcing the prices to skyrocket.-
Why are some conservatives against contraception and birth control?
Actually, most conservatives AREN’T against contraception and birth control. It’s usually religions that put that down.If anything, conservatives believe that birth control should be the idea that gains ground instead of abortion. If keeping babies from being born unwanted is the goal, it’s cheaper to buy a condom than to pay for an abortion. And if the taxpayer is going to fund babies not being born, it makes more sense to make sure people have access to that birth control.But what about rape and incest, you ask? Most people agree, abortion may be acceptable in those cases. And rape and incest are less than one percent of why abortions are done. You can’t trot out the exception and say it’s the norm.Conservatives don’t always have the best ideas. Neither do liberals. But in the arena of keeping babies from being born, they stress something a lot of people today are trying to avoid….personal responsibility. The government can’t tell you who to go to bed with, what your sexuality is, or how many times a week you can have sex. They don’t have police going door to door making sure everyone is practicing safe sex. That part IS UP TO YOU.You ladies want the old farts in DC to stay out of your vagina? Then quit making them pay for your irresponsibility, and start making better choices to keep unwanted babies from being born.Remember: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.This is what conservatives want.