What does a college education get you?

By Karl Gessler

People often say, “You get what you pay for.” I don’t doubt that they are right. But I am still surprised at what people pay for.

I recently joined a volunteer group that entered a college campus to offer free education. We provided a large display of pictures of the subject matter, complete with verified, historical, and scientific data and documents. We offered this educational service at no cost to the students. What did they learn from this free service? I don’t know. But I can tell you I learned from their university campus.

Across from our free display stood a group of 30-50 college students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, whose tuitions I can only guess amount to tens of thousands of dollars per year. It is not for me to tell other people if their investments are sound. I can only tell you the exemplary counter-arguments these high-paying students articulated to us volunteer educators.

The free education we provided, courtesy of the Center For Bio-Ethical Reform, consisted of the history of genocides with the corresponding arguments for justification. The list of genocides committed throughout history included: Rwanda, Nazi Germany, African-Americans in the Southern United States, among others. We added to the list: the pre-born child. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines genocide as: “the deliberate killing of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group.”  And the UN General Assembly Resolution 96 states that the crime of genocide occurs “when racial, religious, political and other groups have been destroyed, entirely or in part.” (emphasis added) We argue that the targeted group is the pre-born child. In my estimation, this is a pretty high-level, intellectual argument against the practice of abortion. This kind of thought-provoking argument is what I would expect to receive through a college education.

What kind of intellectually stimulating rebuff did we receive from the paying education customers who opposed our position? I will tell you some of the fascinating arguments that we heard for a literal four hours without pause. Combined with various forms of “booty-shaking,” distributing condoms, and lewd gestures, we heard these chants: “More Gay Sex! More Gay Sex!” and “Pre-martial sex! Pre-marital sex!”. Some of the protestors wrote essays against our arguments, including the following: “Keep your hands off my pussy!” “Pro-lifers have a shrimp dick!” and “Jesus was a gay liberal.” What precisely these arguments had to do with the issue of genocide went over my head. But what do I know? I was only educated at home by my parents for twelve years without any higher learning. I never had the benefit of professional education.

I have to say, as an outsider to the halls of higher learning; I do have difficulty dealing with these arguments. And as my time on the university campus progressed, I felt more and more out of sorts. The counter-arguments took an even greater form of intensity when the students offered the stimulating rebuffs: “F*** the Kids!”, “Kill the Babies!” and “Kill the parents!” I truly stand in awe of their university education.

While on campus, I did spend some time talking to the “Progressive Student Alliance,” who assured me that I was part of the “working-class” oppressed by the landowners. I can’t help but think he is right. After all, I could never afford to be living on that sprawling, shiny, multi-billion-dollar campus as he was. I have lived comfortably in poverty all my life, and I could only ever afford free education. I have never even been a tenant on the properties of university land barons, much less the leader of a “student alliance” in the mighty halls of education. Yet, I do wonder why he was on the campus instead of me. I also wonder why these young progressive students couldn’t see that the baby in the womb appears to be in the position of powerlessness against adults who already have an excess wealth of life in comparison. Oh, the things I fail to understand due to my lack of professional education!

As we cleaned up our unimpressive free education display, one university student told me, “I will see you in Hell!” I guess Hell is more of a progressive institution that welcomes people of all classes? Either way, I told her that I wasn’t going. I may be ignorant and poor, but at least I am free to make my own choices. And there’s that word again: “Free.” They say that ignorance is bliss. Judging by my free education, I think it is true.

Karl Gessler is a long-time CBR supporter and volunteer. He lives with his wife and children in western North Carolina.