Employers want good technicians who know how to get the work done correctly but cannot think critically.

Yes education is power

I would generally agree with that. It explains why critical thinking skills are reserved for only the managerial and professional classes by being taught only at the college level and not in high school in the US. The same with most social sciences which the ruling class would not like the masses to know too much about sociology and economics, or poli sci..

I don't know that providing more people with a higher education will result in more people thinking for themselves. Many people aren't book smart and choose not to go to school even though they can afford it. They aren't necessarily the ones not thinking for themselves either and the college graduate aren't always the ones thinking for themselves. There will always be people willing to follow the masses and people willing to manipulate them. That is humanity. It also seems to be part of humanity to bitch about the way things are and assume they would be better if circumstances were different. So far, humans are still human whatever circumstances they are in.

Sounds like a reasonable argument. I hear people talk so badly about socialism, like if it were implemented in the US, the whole place would go to hell in a handbag. That's kinda happening now, isn't it? The complainers are comfortable in their stations, and for some reason they believe that if even 1% of their income were taken from them to promote education, provide healthcare for the poor, etc., their worlds would collapse around them. They are self-centered, greedy people who typically believe in Jesus or Allah but have no interest in being their brother's keeper. What is the solution? How do you get people to start caring more about benefiting the society that put them where they are? Why don't the upper middle class and rich and wealthy want the poverty stricken to live more comfortably? That is a character flaw that can be overcome by the millennial generation learning to share, because it's probably too late for their predecessors. It can happen; they don't see skin color like their predecessors, so maybe they can do this too. We need a flat tax and tax the churches. It's only fair.

Higher education is great, but not needed in order to think for oneself. It’s also not needed to be extremely successful and educated. Never before has free education been so widely available due to the internet. While it would be great if university prices were cheaper, that’s not the only way to go.

Americans don't want to know anything about socialism. Willful ignorance.

Check this YouTube video for some education on socialism.

In the Sociology (not Socialism - lol) of Education we talk about the hierarchy of the Elementary and Secondary Education model. According to this model, schools are designed based upon socioeconomic and social status.

Schools in the inner city and in rural areas where the income is lower or substandard, students lack adequate resources to support or reinforce the opportunity towards upward mobility. Thier lessons are designed to reinforce following directions, meeting deadlines, not questioning superiors, and answer rote or non-open ended questions. The curricula is geared to making the cogs to feed the machine. They are being trained to work on the factory floor, work in the service industry, or fill out the bottoms ranks of the societal workforce. Plus fill out the lowest ranks of the military machine "the grunts".

Suburban and middle class teaching strategies are geared somewhat higher in their aspirations. This group is given more open-ended questions. They are still taught to follow instructions and meet deadlines, but they are given the opportunity to have some input and make limited decisions. This group is being groomed for middle management or small business ownership. They are also encouraged to enter the military, but aspire to the lower and middle officer corps.

Lastly, the upper class is given a more rigorous and challenging curriculum. They are asked to make decisions and defend choices. They are expected to be involved, motivated and competitive academically. It it generally expected that these children will be the pool from which the next leaders will be drawn. They are expected to be top lawyers, doctors, and stock brokers.

Now exceptions occer at all levels in this hierarchy. Involved parents can motivate their child to achieve despite disadvantages (nurture). Prodigies and exceptioal talents occur within all the groups (nature).
Likewise, learning disabled and slower students also occur at all levels.

More recent teaching strategies have changed this socio-economic model of education. But it hasn't eliminated it, just lessened the more insidious aspects of this formulae.

You need workers to feed the capitalistic machine. And the human fodder that gets fed to the machine scream the loudest to protect it. Go figure.