What is the next generation's Tang? Will they even have a chance to know?

So its probably been awhile since you've seen or heard Tang.  It really is an awful drink, not sure if they still make it.  But to me, it is an example of what I fear may be ending.

Tang came about as part of space exploration.  A time in the late 50s, 60s, and 70s where our country encouraged exploration and innovation.  At the time, we had the best colleges in the world, the pinnacle of education for all countries to follow.  The space race and associated technologies drove decades of innovation for numerous areas including faster cheaper technology.

But now, as many of us are parents, or eve becoming grandparents, its becoming evident that the costs for education in the United States are a runaway express train. 

There will be generations of students who must choose whether they want to be faced with crippling debt for their first years or decades in the workforce, all for the supposed dream of getting an education. 

There are others that must contemplate whether the cost benefit of the education that they desire is worth even to going to college for?  Is my art history major ever going to be worth the 200k that I might spend in 2020-2024 to go to school?  Some may argue it isn't and that isn't a loss.

But what it starts to bring up is the decline of our civilization by not educating our people.  When you begin to restrict access to education, the civilization begins to crumble from within.  Discouraging or limiting research, innovation and critical thinking begins to effect the economy as the job creators become more and more limited.

So we can sit here and admire the problem, push it forward to our kids and their kids.  But the reality is that the greed that my generation has shown and the laissez-faire attitude towards keeping educational costs in check will affect more generations than we can begin to think about.  For those of you who are Christians, or even fervent Tea Party Admirerers, you may relate to the quote from Jesus "Forgive them, for they know not what they do". 

In a perfect world, our generation would suck it up, give back the 60 inch plasma to pay 2% more for education each year, find solutions to the ancient methods (In Illinois at least ) of funding education through means other than property tax. 

If you can find a politician who has the testosterone to push that agenda, hug them.  Because the next person running for office will use that platform against them. 

Well I better quit writing, Hillybilly Hand Fishing in on the 60 inch and it looks so good in HD.