Framing here’s a bit off. You shouldn’t have to go to school - sure… as a requirement… but the big thing that’s completely being missed (as we have been taught that college is for “fancy” jobs) is that in other decent countries… there is no cost to it.

Advanced educated populaces are seen by non - “authoritarian-run-shit-holes” as something that makes a country more economically competitive in an increasingly global job market.

Whether it’s being paid to learn on the job training with a welding apprenticeship subsidized by taxes, or being able to go to medical school via tax-subsidized funds that don’t create artificial barriers to entry for the poor for no other reason - it’s a good thing for advanced education (and pre-school and every other form of education) to be publicly funded.