The Breakfast Club - IDKMYDE: What Do You Mean FREE COLLEGE??

Episode Date: February 6, 2024

Ever wondered why student loan debt is such a massive burden? On this episode of #IDKMYDE, we're exploring the surprising history behind it. We're diving into the political twists and turns, especially the Reagan era, where free college was deemed a no-go.  IG:   @_idkmyde_ @BdahtTV @blackeffectSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast

Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay.

Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On today's episode of I Didn't Know, maybe you didn't either, I want you to raise your hand if you have student loan debt or debit, as Coco Golf says. Oh, come on. Don't be shy. This is a safe space. I've got $32,000 worth of student loan debits myself. Well, to everyone with their hand raised, did you know that higher education in these United States was once free?

Because I didn't. Up until about 1970, man, higher education was free. And then old Ronald Reagan. See, Ronald Reagan was out in California running for governor in that 1968 race. And he put out some information that says students receiving free education, college education specifically, were parasites and pretty much mooching off of the people. And he also said free college was producing an educated proletariat. And we have to be selective on who we allow to go through higher education because that's dynamite. And I said, an educated proletariat? What the hell is a proletariat? So I went to Google and you have bourgeois people and you have proletariats.

Bourgeois people are people that control the world and your proletariats are your working class people. Us, we're proletariats. See, the reality is this. College was free in the United States until the Republicans took over because they couldn't have all those poor people, black people, getting education and good jobs. You dig what I'm saying?

So they put a loan system in place that would offset that enrollment and people bought in. By 1970, out there in California, Berkeley students paid $300 for the year. That's about $2,000 now. You know how much it costs to go to Berkeley a year now? 40 bands.

See, student debt went up drastically during that Reagan administration. But during that 2007-2009 Great Recession, went up drastically. States made huge cuts in funding for the college systems. Now, Joe Biden was in the Senate around 1972, and he was seeing all these changes. Maybe that's why he felt so inclined to remove some of the student debt. But to be honest, man, that's just a Band-Aid on a 50-year wound that Ronald Reagan started in the late 60s. Pay their way. That was always the goal for colleges to cost so much that everybody couldn't afford to

go. Sort of like a returned pleasure of the privileged, if you will. So who do we have to thank for college debt? The Republicans of the 70s and the 80s to thank for college debt. Thank you, Republicans, because I didn't know. Maybe you didn't know. willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series,

The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love.

I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace for yourself. You're trying your best and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before.

Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.