3-5 months after graduating university, I thought academic titles would mean something. Today I know better. I think this is a real good development. While I cannot complain about the quality of my former teachers, logistics of knowledge are cheaper than ever before. Everyone could at least listen to the best experts in their respective fields. Subjugating students with debts like that isn't common where I live and it looks "decently perverse" from outside the US.

I think it was always a brand but the educational value is questionable in modern times. What they sell today is mostly access and nepotism. I think a real benefit is the tendency to leave your family home for higher education. Maybe that is why I remember my time studying so fondly.

(I love my family, but if you don't want to get out of there by the time you hit 18, there must be something wrong with you)