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SevenDeadlies's avatar

Why does this remind me of tariffs as a negotiation strategy.

Jordan Weissmann's avatar

You're not crazy. I very nearly made the same comparison in the piece, but thought I'd be getting a little too deep in the weeds.

David Locke's avatar

Imagine being 18 years old and faced with the option of borrowing a 6-digit sum to study as an undergrad, at a university teaching within the alternative-fact fantasy of fascism.

Would you take on this debt, for the privilege of being inculcated?

If this "compact" were adopted, how long will it take before autodidacts begin outnumbering degree holders, among Americans educated here?

What a question!

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Comment deleted
Oct 17, 2025
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Jordan Weissmann's avatar

I run through some of the issues in this piece below. But basically, the federal government can't tell a a private business or institution to censor someone else's constitutionally protected speech, then threaten retaliation if they refuse. So if they say: "Can this professor, or you're losing federal funding" that professor very well may have a first amendment claim.

https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/am-i-a-big-fat-hypocrite-on-speech