I Should Have Been More Clear

The State is a Monopoly in Higher Education Issues

That was the headline the Daily Cal selected for my letter to the editor. Perhaps I should have been more clear, since that wasn’t what I was trying to argue.

The State is the largest source of monopoly power because it has a monopoly on force. It uses that monopoly to create other monopolies, such as K-12 education and the prison system. Ricardo Gomez urged people to strengthen the size and scope of the State in many areas. I thought that his boogeyman, privatization, is actually the best way to move forward.

My letter wasn’t really about higher education, but it still matters. It crowds out other Universities through its existence. It uses stolen money to hire teachers and offer services on an unfair playing field. Did I mention it transfers wealth from the have-nots to the will-haves?