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Henry Rollins: Education is the End of Disaster Capitalism | Big Think

Big Think | March 10, 2026



Henry Rollins: Education is the End of Disaster Capitalism
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Henry Rollins says “let’s make college tuition either free or really low and if you have a country full of whip-crack smart people you have a country the rest of the world will fear.”
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HENRY ROLLINS:

Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian,publisher, actor, and radio DJ. After performing for the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from August 1981 until mid-1986. Following the band’s breakup, Rollins soon established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 until 2003, and during 2006. Since Black Flag, Rollins has embarked on projects covering a variety of media. He has hosted numerous radio shows, such as Harmony in My Head on Indie 103, and television shows such as The Henry Rollins Show, MTV’s 120 Minutes, and Jackass. He had a recurring dramatic role in the second season of Sons of Anarchy and has also had roles in several films. Rollins has also campaigned for various political causes in the United States, including promoting LGBT rights, World Hunger Relief, and an end to war in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops.
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TRANSCRIPT:

Henry Rollins: The biggest cause of debt in this country besides mortgages, student debt because there are no jobs out there for these people who trusted their country to be there for them. They basically did that exercise where you fall backwards and you workmates catch you. They jumped out of the 40th floor window with that student loan and America went that looks like that hurt. Suck it up Caroline. Get a job. Don’t be a leech. So would I advise a young person looking at their senior year in high school to become a freshman in college the year after? That is a damn good question. How long will it be until America fiscally turns itself around to where the risk of the investment on that student loan to get a person through four years of college? Will that person get a job where paying off that loan and getting a house and affording a family, will that be a possibility? In the present America it doesn’t look like it is.

When will that turnaround? When will that get better? When will be okay for someone to go I’m going to college? I don’t know. I don’t get to push those rocks around, but as it is now there are a lot of really qualified people who are doing jobs fathoms below their ability level. We are wasting people’s time who put considerable amounts of energy, time and their youth into hitting those books when they wanted to go off doing every else as a young person **** want to do. They hit the books. They did what they were told. They paid and paid and they’re parents paid and they’re not getting the promise of America because those jobs went away and the people who could be in charge of the jobs that went away went away. So people who could be in upper management there is an upper manager, but he is in Beijing. He is in Phnom Penh. He is in Bangkok. Those jobs went away to please stockholders and so it does not matter how you shift the tax burden around that much. There are no jobs in this country. There is just until major industries come back you got what you got and so when you say get a job okay, to get a job your way I’ll have to get three of them. I’ll work at the hamburger place until evening.

There is a great story. I’m sure it’s kind of a folktale. Some guy told it to me. A guy goes into his building ever day and he sees the custodian, morning, morning, same guy in the green suit with a broom. He sees him on the way out. One night the guy stays late and he is working late, big deadline. He leaves at like one in the morning. He sees the same guy in the security officer’s outfit, the janitor guy, some building, different uniform. So he goes what do you have a new job. He goes no, this is my other job. The guy goes down to the locker, gets a dinner break, puts on the other uniform and walks through the rooms he was sweeping five hours before and that’s where a lot of Americans are at…

Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/henry-rollins-education-is-the-end-of-disaster-capitalism

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Comments

This post currently has 42 comments.

  4. @JoeTavares-q5v

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    The greedy United States of America it's all about the fucking money.🐖🐽🐖💲💲💲🇺🇲🇺🇸🇺🇲 Never stop telling the truth Henry. 👍👍👍

  5. @melrosevintage1

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    I don’t believe all these kids that got student loans studied to be medical doctors , they where lied to being to social studies and history majors and arts and literature majors where all lied to by being told this is a quality education and you will get paid if you get this certificate …. That’s a lie

  6. @gjm7952

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    We are seeing this all across the West. Capitalism has failed everyone except the super rich. Another path is needed. One invested in people rather than profit.

  8. @kevinstroup

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Many people spent a lot of money to get useless degrees. Why? Why did they trust college professors on the importance of getting a degree? Those professors have a vested interest in telling you to get a degree.

  14. @michaelhogan2256

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Went to a community college for 2 yrs while working full time. Went into the HVAC trades and found more $ and satisfaction there instead of going on to the 4yr. I did get my associates degree at that same community college for HVAC at nights later while working during the day to improve my skills and hire ability. No student debt here. Trade schools definitely need to be promoted more.

  15. @bradleybbb

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Foreign policy that won't piss off everyone to the point they attack us. Well, so much for that. Thank Trump for that. It won't be long now.

  16. @tiffanypayne424

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Same in the UK. What cost me less than a thousand pounds for three years in college fees alone thirty years ago is now costs 27,000 pounds at the same college on the same course. & that doesn´t count the basics i.e. accommodation, food, bills, transport, etc.

  18. @jamesscott5815

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    I realize that this is going to be unpopular but maybe they should have taken a program that is actually needed. A welder buys a truck and a welding rig, which isn’t cheap, and pays it off on their own. Or like in my case, goes to tech school, pays off a smaller loan, and starts making money. Bought my own truck, equipment, etc and never asked for a hand out. You pay your money and take your chances.
    Am in Canada so things might be a bit different. Am also a Henry Rollins fan or else I would never have seen this video and he does make good points…
    Let the dog pile begin.
    Have a good one.🎉

  25. @TheMrMused

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Geezus .. this aged so well if it were a wine, it'd be priceless. ..and that's a really, really bad thing because it's all come true in spades.

  28. @johnnymac6242

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Went to trade school, got a job, and took a mortgage instead of student loans. Highly recommend to you young ppl to at least consider. It does come with its own burdens

  30. @mentalizatelo

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Henry talking about free University in the US while that's a reality for many countries around the world; the US really felt behind. His POV is well explained and positively real. 10 years since this video have gone by. Has anything changed? Nothing at all.

  31. @Libbydoh

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    In the US, the poor mortgage their future for an education whilst it's gifted to the wealthy. Pressure is building and the zit will pop.

  33. @juanmcsweeney4503

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    nobody forces these kids to choose to take on these loans. They can choose to be union plumbers, carpenters, welders, iron workers, sheet metal workers, heavy equipment. operators, long shore man, police, fireman, auto dealer mechanics, etc and make $50-$60+ an hour (In Ca) with no college debt. I know this because I had two of these careers. As my old man would drive into my head almost daily as a youth….”nothing good comes easy”…”nothing is free”….”life isnt fair”…. and most importantly “you can do anything you want as long as you put your mind to it”. These kids dont have the fire, the desire, or the balls to do any of the above listed jobs. Just gonna skate through college with a C-average, smoking weed and worrying about how many likes I get and expect to graduate making $200K a year.

  34. @sarahlueth6421

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    The problem is the millions of uneducated they don’t see this is a problem. Just go get a trade they say. They don’t stop to consider that there are some brilliant minds that would simply not be suited for trades. They would be wasted doing a trade when they could be brilliant, physicians, or things that the country desperately needs. Everyone CANNOT do a trade or the country would fail. We need degrees!

  41. @carterstanley561

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    I can't think of anything worse than a person who uses a system to make millions then turn around and call the system corrupt. If it is corrupt, then aren't you corrupt in making $$ from it? If not, tell kids how you did it, not how they can't! Here's an idea Henry, give back the $$ and move to a socialist country. Maybe "Rage Against The Machine" can join you, after they cash their Sony Ent. checks.

  42. @georgeroberts613

    March 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

    Stop ridiculous gouging student loan interest rates. Put a ceiling on payback…and trim back all to a reasonable level regardless, wipe off some entirely. Indentured servitude should not have made a comeback.

Comments are closed.

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