resistance is not futile...

[Devin Asay]

Dear SEELangers:

Keith Goeringer forwarded a message re Congressional budget-cutting proposals:

<Stuff about "those darn Republicans" cutting aid to higher ed omitted.>

>Sorry for the blatant political skew on this -- I didn't write it, I'm
>just spreading the word.
>

You're right.  This is blatantly political, and as such is a misuse of this
forum.  I don't think any of us would argue with the idea that federal
subsidies of higher ed are useful--heck, most of us in this field in the
U.S. (and probably elsewhere) have benefitted directly from such programs,
whether it be through student loans, critical language grants or other
programs.

You should not assume that just because this is an academically-oriented
list and that we all therefore believe higher education to be a Good Thing
for everyone, that we also *all* believe that government should be the
provider of that Good Thing.  Most of us have had enough experience dealing
with socialist political-economic systems to see the dangers--fiscal,
social, and political--in the presumption that government should be the
provider of all Good Things.

This is certainly a worthy debate, but this is not the forum for it.  It is
the presumption in the original posting that we all do or should buy into a
particular political viewpoint that I object to.

Sincerely,

Devin Asay
Humanities Research Center
Brigham Young University