People Explain Which Items Should Be Free But Aren't

Education, especially higher education, is linked to a reduction in crime, substance use, and self sufficiency. As some states are currently providing free community college they are seeing these positive impacts. Even ensuring quality education for children has seen major returns. With every dollar spent on education seeing up to $7 in economic returns, $2 of which use prison costs. In areas with underfunded educational programs the rates of crime are higher. Knowing this, sometimes making things free—for something like education—makes sense both fiscally and socially.

To find out more Guilhermedidi asked Reddit:

“What should be free, but isn't?"

WiFi is a funny thing…

“Wifi at hotels. Keep your little conditioner bottles and give me free Wifi.” ​ColemanOtis

“Wifi is a funny one with hotels. Cheaper hotels tend to include it for free because they are chasing value orientated customers. Fancy hotels don't tend to because they reason that if you are happily dropping a few hundred a night for a room what's a few dollars for WiFi?” Minidooper

“Basically, free water ain't happening because people are wasteful garbage."

“Clean, drinkable water.” Slippedstream

“Funny story, in my country water used to be free. People started wasting so much water that the water grid was basically on the verge of collapse. After introducing water meters and a water bills, the usage dropped by a very significant amount.”

“My local sewage treatment plant still uses only half of it's allocated space after several decades of grid expansions, because they thought it's gonna need that much capacity when water was free. Basically, free water ain't happening because people are wasteful garbage.” kaszak696

Not only helps life quality but it makes solid economic sense.

“Period products and contraception.” atomic_blue

“This. Think how much money we could save as a society by making contraception freely and easily available to poor women and men who lack access but do not want to have children.”

“That's a lifetime of Medicaid, education, and social security fees prevented all for the cost of a birth control prescription and a cheap condom.” Wrong_Coast

Free trials that don’t stay free…

“Free trials on everything. It should be against the law to collect credit card info, contact info, data, etc if they're offering a free trial.” shaka_sulu

“My cousin would use a gift card to sign up for a trial, and then make sure to spend the card before the trial was up. Because some companies will automatically charge you at the end of your trial and make it near impossible to cancel.”

“I simply refuse to give iTunes my updated billing info because I accidentally took the 1 year trial of Apple TV, never used it, and can't figure out how to cancel now. So now I just keep getting emails that they need a new credit card to bill me for that, and I'm like nah, you keep that expired card number.” SmallTowneBoy

Accessibility is necessary and legally mandated.

​“Education for the Deaf and disabled. My son lost his hearing at 18 months from bacterial meningitis of the brain blood and spine and then a secondary brain/mastoid infection. I live in New Hampshire where you are nothing short of f**ked if you're Deaf.”

“It took us 5 years in a lawsuit to finally get the school district to pay for full funding for a school for the deaf for my son (to the tune of 86.7m for k-12). I live in New Hampshire where they do NOT have a Bill of Rights for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children. Deaf children are born with the same ability to acquire language as any other children, and deserve the same chance to acquire language.”

“Deaf children have the right and the capacity to be educated, to graduate high school, to obtain further education, and to pursue a career. To achieve this essential goal, all families of deaf children have the right to appropriate early intervention services as well as quality family educational services. These families have the right to accurate and comprehensive information, including access to state resources to help their deaf children reach their full potential.”

“Deaf children have the right to acquire both English and American Sign Language (a natural visual language). Deaf children can acquire both of these languages simultaneously, with the support of intervention services prior to entering school and reinforced within the school system.”

They continued with their experience…

“Deaf children can fully access education and society. This means every deaf child must have full access to all information, specialized personnel, school programs, social activities, and extra-curricular activities. Communication skills and/or modes by themselves do not equate language proficiency."

“Deaf children have the right to qualified professionals proficient in developing the child's acquisition of language throughout the early intervention and school years. To ensure this right is fully protected, deaf children must be assessed on a regular basis by qualified language acquisition professionals."

“Deaf children require settings that uitilize a critical mass of language peers to ensure age-appropriate development of learning, emotional and social skills.Deaf children require interaction with deaf adult role models to internalize their self worth and visualize their potential."

"Deaf children have the right to succeed. And yes I was right when I told you $86.7 million I live out of state, The school district had to pay after a lengthy lawsuit. His school is about 2.7 million a year. This includes all audiologist appointments, 1:1 ASL aid, transportation which is about a two hour ride there in 2 1/2 hour ride back and the summer school program."

"It is a medical facility. I know that does not add up to the 86.7 million but with taxes being out of the state, in-home respite care, medical doctors on staff it does add up. Also we had five years worth of lawyer fees that the school ended up having to foot once we won."

"My son is projected to go to the school until he is 25 however I do not see him staying at Beverly school for the deaf more than a year my son was completely Nuro typical before he lost his hearing. He has been deprived of language for five years now because New Hampshire does not believe that sign language is a language." crazydogbabymom

​Healthcare instead of so much profiteering…

“Insulin, especially in America." WarCrimeFunder

“Yeah, I'm a type 1 diabetic and I see the issue with insulin being brought up frequently these days. I fully support it being free, but I'm confused as to why it's the go to every time this question is asked. Why not any of the other drugs that people take daily that keeps them alive?"

“Cancer treatments? Having to choose between dealing with an illness that could kill you or going to a hospital to be bankrupted? T1D is such a small population in the US that it's amazing it's being brought up so much." _breadpool_

​"I think the reason that insulin is always brought up is that profiteering is basically the only reason it's as expensive as it as. Crazy new cancer drugs or whatever could still be trying to recoup their costs of development, whereas there hasn't really been much development when it comes to insulin."

"For example, Lantus should, by rights, have gone generic in 2015, but through various patent tomfoolery that's been extended to at least 2028." gritherness

Paying just to go into work…

​“Parking at the hospital you work at.” LimpBrilliant9372

“Not just America. The UK charges hospital employees for parking in their carpark in some places too. Horrendous.” RelativeStranger

No expensive funerals here please…

“Death. There should be an option of going to the dump and uneventfully dumping the body. I just want to be thrown in the f**king bin, any money that's spent on my funeral should be going to support my daughter and wife. People can celebrate the life or morn the death of the person at a pub, a home or whatever.” rastika

We all need more education…

​“Scientific publications. Yet, big publishing companies charge for them (without compensating the writers may I say).” Braincyclopedia

The things that people feel should be free aren’t the frivolous items that many would expect. It’s the things like healthcare, clean water, and other necessities of our daily lives. Perhaps someday we’ll find ways to come together and make the accessibility more realistic.

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