Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for free college education for all.

Why hasn't any politician proposed this before?

Oh wait, they have.  Karl Marx wanted free education for all.  He was going to teach the little idiots the joys of high taxes, big government, excessive regulations, and a powerful state to create a new utopia on Earth.

Bernie Sanders is totally different, though.  He's going to teach the little idiots the joys of high taxes, big government, excessive regulations, and a powerful state to end global warming and racism.

Naturally, this idea will win all kinds of support from colleges and universities.  For administrators and professors, this means more raises, more benefits, and more paid vacations.  The students at these schools will be able to avoid out-of-control school costs being forced on them by their administrators and professors wanting more raises, more benefits, and more paid vacations.

(Shouldn't the "poor working men" Socialists at our colleges and universities actually be poor?  Or is that too much to ask?  But I digress.)

Administrators, professors, and students need to be reminded that the world owes them nothing simply because they exist.  Even if there is a right to education, there is no right to higher education and everything that would entail.

Some say our government is $14 trillion in debt.  Some say our government is $20 trillion in debt.  The only thing that can be said for sure is that our government can't afford anything it's promised to do so far.

And now they're going to double down on that promise?  This is absurd.

If the government is going to give us all a "free" college education, how far does that go?  Are people who already have some level of college education entitled to be reimbursed?  It hardly seems "fair" to make a previous generation pay for their college and the college of the next generation as well.

Will taxpayers also be on the hook for room and board?  Or just tuition?  How about transportation costs to and from the school?  How about books?  How about other learning materials like computers, iPads, musical instruments, etc.?  What about overseas or cruise ship classes?  Exactly how much will the taxpayer be on the hook for?

How much of our hard work will Bernie and his friends help themselves to so they can get re-elected?

If college is "free," can people choose to go to any school they want?  Are schools going to be forced to open their door to anyone who wants in?  Or will they still be able to deny would-be students?  Can we all go to Harvard and Yale?  Or does "free college" mean low-grade community college for all?

Again, it doesn't seem "fair" to make people who wouldn't be allowed to Harvard and Yale to have to pay for those who can.  If the peasants and commoners are being forced to pay for a road, it's reasonable for them to expect to use the road.  If we're asking them to pay for the school, is it reasonable to assume they are allowed to use that school?

Ivy League schools would probably tell us they only want "the best and brightest."  (Stanford just let in some kid who wrote #BlackLivesMatter 100 times on his application, so we can debate just how "best and bright" their standards are.)

Intelligence is genetic in nature.  To deny stupid people could be viewed as a form of discrimination against the disabled.  Government institutions (which all these schools would suddenly become) wouldn't be able to legally do that.

Or maybe they would.  Our government is known for its stupid, ill conceived ideas.  It's composed of Ivy League know-nothings who, instead of being educated, were just told they are educated.

What about students who go to college just to party, flunking all their classes and never showing up for tests?  At what point do we tell them they're done?  If students have a "right" to college, can we ever cut them off?

How about students working on worthless majors like art history?  Our society needs doctors and engineers.  We don't need more art critics.  Can we who are paying for all of this dictate what kind of professionals we're going to get?  Or are we just going to pay the ever inflating bill without ever having any say over what we're getting for our money?

These are the questions that need to be answered before promising people free college education.

But these questions are hard.  They require thought and analysis – things which are anathema to the average college student of today.  Places of higher education are supposed to teach critical thinking, but they are derelict in their duties.  Instead, colleges are teaching empty feel-good notions and warm fuzzies.  Chants that sound good on the protest line – things like "Free College for All."

Jeremy Meister is a writer in the Midwest.  His email is meister@windstream.net.