The marketplace responds to the degradation of higher learning

By Tom Quiner

The political Left reviles the marketplace.

For example, they believe laws should be passed forcing employers to pay people what they want rather than what they’re worth. This is what is happening with the $15 per hour minimum wage movement. As it spreads, more and more people are losing their jobs, especially in the food service sector, you know, the very people the ultra high wage is supposed to help.

The marketplace really sucks, doesn’t it?

We’re seeing the same, delicious outcome beginning to manifest itself on college campuses. The University of Missouri is the poster child for marketplace whiplash. Remember what happened there in 2015?

Leftist race agitators took over the college. In the video above, a protestor screams for some “muscle” to drag a reporter out of their “safe space.” The protestors bellowed about “systemic racism” at the university and forced out the president. A funny thing happened to Mizzou when they caved into the churlish mob: it rubbed a lot of people wrong.

Conservative moms and dads didn’t want to send their kids there.

Conservative high school grads didn’t want to go to school there.

So enrollment dropped 25% the first year after leftist thugs had their way with the administration. The decline picked up a head of steam as enrollment dropped 35% the next year.

The university closed 7 dorms and cut 400 jobs.

The marketplace really sucks, doesn’t it?

Nationally, public support for our university system is plummeting with Republicans who know that they are not welcome on most college campuses. Pew Research reveals that 58% of Republicans believe American colleges are NOT a good influence on America. By contrast, 72% of Democrats view higher education as a noble institution.

Interestingly, this plunge in Republican support began in 2015. Then, according to Pew, 54% of Republicans still viewed higher education as a good thing.

Expect the slide in enrollment to become contagious if the Left continues its dominance on college campuses, and there is no reason to expect they won’t. Conservatism relishes the free exchange of ideas. Leftism doesn’t. They label competing ideas as hate speech and suppress it.

As the Left’s opposition to free speech spreads, conservative-minded “customers” of higher education will seek friendlier environs. I anticipate online competition will heat up and cut into enrollments of brick and mortar colleges, degrading enrollment even more with schools who baby leftist thugs.

The marketplace really sucks, doesn’t it?