Education has only positive influence

In my last column, I attempted to explain how education is of vital importance to our community.  Because of its high importance to the community, education should be among the most protected institutions in Utah. For these reasons, I adamantly oppose the major budget cuts proposals to Utah State and other schools of higher learning.
    In this article, I’ll oppose the views of my friend, Micah Strait, and his belief that the opposition to budget cuts by students and faculty is a selfish act that will be detrimental to Utah’s future. I assert that just because a person acts out of self-interest does not make the act bad for the individual or the community.
    James Madison and many of our nation’s Founding Fathers believed men will naturally seek after their own interests. We can see the result of these beliefs in our Constitution. There is, or at least there is supposed to be, a separation of powers between the branches of government. A bicameral legislature has the opportunity to counteract itself. There are many elected positions which provide voters the opportunity to reject their leaders. The role of governance itself has been split into two parts – the national government and the state governments. All this was done to prevent one person’s self-interest from overriding the interests of others.
    The success and stability of our government lies largely in its ability to control the self-interest of its participants. Throughout history, and even in our modern era, we can see that when a government does not have the ability to check itself before it wrecks itself, a dictator will climb into power. Hitler and Stalin stand as examples. We should not think the American mind is inherently superior to the German or Russian mind and that is the reason our government has displayed such tenacity. Rather, it is the ability of the government to prevent any person or group from gaining dominion over others.
    It may be argued that religion, education and other forms of moral instruction have an ability to overcome self-interest, it is not something we should trust to counteract human ambitions because these acts are largely voluntary and even if a person participates in them does not mean that they actually believe them or that they will always act in accordance with sound moral principles. The best thing to do is not to put some faith in man’s ability to control himself, but instead to provide channels for self-interest which serve both man’s self-interest and the community’s interest.
    Education is a channel which provides a net positive result for both the individual and the community.  The interest of the individual is well-provided for, and the community gains as the individual gains.    For an example, we’ll use a student, who in the interest of gender neutrality we’ll call the gender ambiguous name of Kris. Kris really wants to become a wealthy entrepreneur. Kris knows that in order to achieve this goal that obtaining a business degree from Utah State is probably a necessary prerequisite. Kris’ primary motivation is to live a life of luxury and has little concern for other Utahns. Kris attends Utah State and obtains a business degree. Soon after, Kris receives large amounts of capital from a number of investors and starts a restaurant chain. A few years later, Kris’s business has been successful enough to allow the purchase of a large home and a fancy car. Kris’ self-interested concern for wealth has been fulfilled. However, others have benefited. The investors who provided the initial capital have been paid back and Kris’ business also employs a large number of people from every segment of society. College graduates are needed to help run the business and less educated people are needed to provide the services essential to the business. In this situation Kris has not only achieved a luxurious lifestyle, but also provided a number of jobs to a wide segment of society.
    From this simple example we can see that self-interest and community interests can be channeled to meet the needs of both. Education is one of the opportunities for both the individual and the community to achieve common interests.

This editorial is the second installment of a four-part series and was written by Richard Kelly, a graduate student studying political science. Comments can be sent to richard.kelly@aggiemail.usu.edu.