Ignorant and Free

Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, it turns out, had it all wrong. It was Jefferson who famously wrote that "if a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be," and it was Franklin who described the goal of education as "consisting of an inclination joined with an ability to serve mankind, one's country, friends and family." Jefferson founded the University of Virginia and Franklin the college that became the University of Pennsylvania in an effort to make tangible this vision for higher education in a democratic society. To their efforts and those of others we owe the creation of the distinctively American education in the "liberal arts" -- that is, education aimed to maximize the benefits of living in a state of freedom -- and the formation of a higher education system that is unique in the world.

What Jefferson and Franklin missed, apparently, is the fact that higher education is instead a commodity whose value can and should be measured chiefly or even exclusively in economic terms. Peter Thiel, PayPal founder, tech entrepreneur, hedge fund manager, and billionaire, has drawn much attention for arguing that higher education is at present a "bubble" along the lines of the housing market and tech stocks because "people are not getting their money's worth, basically, when you do the math." (Since Franklin wrote about virtually everything, I have been searching for his essay on the value of tech stocks to a flourishing democracy. I haven't found it, but I assume I will.) He has drawn even more attention for his recent creation of the Thiel Fellowship, a program that offers $100K to each of 20 budding entrepreneurs under the age of 20 -- provided that they drop out of college to pursue their financial dreams. And, perhaps, create along the way a company or two in which Mr. Thiel's hedge fund might invest.

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