<story><title>Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn</title><url>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/feature-germanys-great-tuition-fees-u-turn/2011168.fullarticle</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>saool</author><text>I wish the debate focused less on cost-benefit analysis and on ways to engineer a just &amp;quot;chargeback&amp;quot; using loans or taxes and more about the idea that maybe people should be encouraged to pursue education just for the sake of it, to become free men and free thinkers, regardless of whether they&amp;#x27;d be economically better off by taking electricity at trade school just to quickly join the assembly line at Volkswagen so that they can make money to buy a bigger plasma TV. &amp;#x2F;rant</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ahomescu1</author><text>&amp;gt; [...] just for the sake of it, to become free men and free thinkers [...]&lt;p&gt;You&amp;#x27;re assuming that one can only be a free thinker or a free man after 4 years of university, as opposed to the ignorant slaves that are the rest. What makes you believe this?</text></comment>
<story><title>Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn</title><url>http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/feature-germanys-great-tuition-fees-u-turn/2011168.fullarticle</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>saool</author><text>I wish the debate focused less on cost-benefit analysis and on ways to engineer a just &amp;quot;chargeback&amp;quot; using loans or taxes and more about the idea that maybe people should be encouraged to pursue education just for the sake of it, to become free men and free thinkers, regardless of whether they&amp;#x27;d be economically better off by taking electricity at trade school just to quickly join the assembly line at Volkswagen so that they can make money to buy a bigger plasma TV. &amp;#x2F;rant</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>virtue3</author><text>This was the case at one point in time.  But only the independently wealthy could afford to do this.&lt;p&gt;As much as I wish your sentiment could be true, it&amp;#x27;s just not realistic in an economically driven world :&amp;#x2F;</text></comment>