A robust public higher education system? “We’d love to, but we can’t afford it.”

The word “can’t” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

The ability to afford something is often a choice. I can afford a $50 hamburger, in the sense that I could spend $50 on lunch without triggering financial catastrophe. But I refuse to pay $50 for a hamburger because it’s much more than I think a burger is worth. And if I were to try to buy a $50 hamburger daily, it would do me real financial damage (not to mention nutritional damage) over time. One day wouldn’t matter much, but a new habit would.

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