Tuition Fees Rant Revisited

I'd like to view 2011 as a year with fresh hope, but hope is for the affluent. Students who voted for the Lib-Dem's have been betrayed by so-called British democracy. Always flawed through implementation, democracy isn't the voice of the masses; it's merely opportunity for accomplished liars and cheats to swindle their fellow humans. Yet, although we are all aware of the expenses shame of the MP's, in the autumn elections the UK public still bought into the fiction that there might be some relationship between what they vote for and what they receive. More fool them. The only way that democracy can be made fair is when changes to law are held to public vote. If MP's could be trusted, perhaps proportional representation can work, but currently all we have is proportional deception.   The coalition was quick to bring in sweeping changes and austerity measures, not the least of which, the massive hikes in tuition fees for students. Shortly thereafter, these changes were given further support from the House of Lords. Certainly too rapidly for any real consideration of the opinions of students who were protesting against these very motions.  However, although swift to impose the burden of austerity measures onto the poor, the coalition has resisted bringing in a new tax on bankers' bonuses. Yet now, even charities are calling for increased taxes on bankers' bonuses to protect their organisations from funding cuts. So the banks which caused the economic collapse in the first place appear to be the most protected from the impact of any changes.  Even worse, according to the new rules, if the student debt is not cleared by 30 years after graduation, it will be wiped out. Banks are loathe to offer Mortgages that last longer than 25 years, yet the government is simply all too keen to impose a lifetime of debt onto the poor and struggling masses.  So what hope do students have now of ever entering the property ladder? And students currently in early years of an undergraduate degree now face being raped of the possibility of even completing their University education as they will likely be unable to afford to even complete their degrees. What hope does 2011 bring them? The reality that they’ve now lost a year or two of their lives? That the student debt they have now accrued will now have been for nothing as the find themselves forced to drop out to enter the workforce, a few years and thousands of pounds behind their peers?  And after imposing a lifetime of debt and ruining the lives of so many, will the increased tuition fees even benefit the system? According to Higher Education Policy Institute, these changes would achieve marginal savings if any at all!  But what is £9000 to a bank? Any self-respecting city worker would be offended by such a paltry bonus. Yet where do the banks recruit fresh applicants? Universities! So for years, the banks have profited from recruitment of graduates whose education has been funded by the tax-payer without any obligation to support this system. (Well, presumably there has always been some moral obligation but the soul-sucking city types can hardly be expected to have morals). So perhaps some of the increased burden of tuition fees beyond the funding capability of the government should be imposed on, and borne by the banks - the architects of this scenario? But the spineless coalition can’t even fathom increasing taxation on bankers’ bonuses let alone imposing some burden of the austerity changes to the gravy train of the city. Apparently change is a burden for the poor.  These new changes are of no benefit; they will significantly damage the UK education system, and instead of being rushed into law, should be thoroughly reviewed to ensure some modicum of equality to the proposed changes. I hope 2011 brings in an air of reflection absent from 2010 because I cannot see any hope for peace in the UK without due consideration. So again, I'd like to view 2011 as a year with fresh hope, but what I see fills me with despair.