Oh can we _not_ discuss fairly complex issues in comic strip form? I've yet to see one that doesn't automatically qualify for r/bad{history,economics,philosophy,etc} (I'm looking at you, The Oatmeal)
I get it now - HN is not a place to have an intelligent discussion about things that affect the future, it really is a place for people to discuss technology that really matters.
The comic also assumes that the fact that schools in the US are not free automatically leads to the absence of "an educated population [which] equals a strong, steady state ready for the future", which I don't think can be taken to be true without evidence. Ha, most of the things he states can't be taken to be true without evidence, which is so conveniently missing. Regardless, this comic is shit.
So sure, we can talk about this stuff. But can we have a source not so blatantly targeted at the lowest denominator of the left next time, please?
Too late, now.
I wish that more of the articles from this source, which are nuanced and based on sound research, would reach the front page of HN and gain thoughtful discussion. You can help make that happen.
The one in question is right this moment spurring serious discussion (here on HN, in this thread,) that's no doubt its intended purpose. Which in your analogy makes it not a dictated scheme, but a scetched canvas; ready to be painted.