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Why should I pay for the fire department when my house has never caught on fire? Why don't we instead have the fire department directly bill the property owners after they put out a fire?

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That analogy doesn’t make a lot of sense unless you have some people choosing to live ankle deep in gasoline. If that were the case then, yes, they should foot the bill to put out their perpetual fires.

They aren't "perpetual fires". They are a one time decision that we convinced people to make after we have spent their whole lives telling them it was the only way to become successful. We have repeated for decades that going to college will earn someone an extra million dollars in lifetime income. We then asked most people to make this decision before society has deemed they are mature enough to vote in elections, smoke cigarettes, or rent a car.

Yes, my analogy ended up being a stupid system that doesn't make sense. That was my intent. Asking 17-year-olds to make decisions about taking on 6 figures of debt is also a stupid system that doesn't make sense.

If people willingly burned down their houses, that analogy might begin to apply.

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