Wikipedia Commons
This is VICE Impact's weekly series, "Slay of The Day," which takes a look at unique social media posts that left us shook and enlightened how we think about advocacy in the digital age.Last week we looked at a blogger who highlighted a quote from MLK throwing shade towards certain philanthropies taking a weak stance to actually solving social problems. This week we return to Tumblr, the internet's quirky battle ground for social justice warriors and fandoms to duke it out over who can be the most woke.In the post below, Tumblr user "The Concealed Weapon" fires shots at the US's glaring issue of college affordability.The post does a good job of refuting basic criticisms of free college, hitting on common excuses that people give for denying others a right to higher education. It also hits hard on the relationship between college affordability, employment, job discrimination based on race and poverty. All these factors contribute to a pattern of inaccessibility that makes it difficult for people to move up in terms of social mobility.According to the Urban Institute, a research institution that specializes in economic and social policy, in 2012 the tuition and fee prices for lower-middle income students that attended a public four-year-in-state college had accumulated more than $30,000 in debt. The cost of tuition compounded by massive amount debt and low-paying jobs after graduation has left many people with expensive degrees and little money.Where this blogger gets it slightly wrong, is that these ideas are limited to conservatives only. In reality, this issue goes beyond party lines and even some liberals aren't behind free college. While there isn't much likelihood of a free college bill moving on a federal level, local leaders in states like Rhode Island, and New York have faced resistance turning this radical idea into a reality.As TheConcealedWeapon points out, rising costs of tuition and insurmountable debt make higher education less attainable but blaming poor people for the cycle of poverty isn't what's needed to make a difference on the issue.There you have it, and please be sure to join us next week for the best of the online nitty gritty. And let us know YOUR favorite online slays @viceimpact or email impact@vice.com
Advertisement