In last week’s column, I claimed our culture is following a destructive course of pragmatism. This is the view that ideological principles should be discarded in favor of “doing whatever works” to achieve one’s immediate goals. I likened this view to that of a bank robber who pursues his goals while disregarding the means of achieving them. His sole concern is he needs money, and someone else has it.

Examples of this bank robber mentality surface daily, especially since Obama’s promise to redistribute wealth on a massive scale. Through taxing, inflating and borrowing, the savings and earnings of countless Americans will be poured into the pockets of other Americans in the form of “stimulus” loot. And with Mr. Obama holding the purse strings, everyone from banks to car manufacturers to Internet companies are lining up to get a piece of the action.

The University of Wisconsin is no exception. In “An Open Letter to President-Elect Obama and His Administration” published as a two-page ad in The New York Times and Washington Post, over 30 university presidents and chancellors — including those in the UW System — asked Obama directly for $40 to $45 billion for “shovel-ready” projects.

The majority of this ad is devoted to heralding the value of education, the benefits of universities to society and the need for a vision to invest in an “education transformation.” Whatever the merits of these claims, notice this plea is directed at Obama, not the universities’ actual customers: the American people.

In fact, this direct line to Obama was explicitly tailored to exclude everyone who might have a legitimate interest in the matter, namely the taxpayers and their representatives.

“Dollars should not be subject to appropriation by state legislatures,” the letter states. What about the principle of “no taxation without representation?” Don’t get theoretical; just give us the money, please.

“No project-by-project approval in Washington, D.C. would be necessary,” the letter claims. What about the principle of fiscal responsibility? Don’t get distracted now; keep your eye on the money.

What about the principle of division of power, and government as the servant of the people? Shouldn’t taxation and legislation be kept close to home where people have control over where their money is spent? According to the letter, allowing state control of funds might be used “as an excuse to reduce budgetary commitments to universities.” (As if universities have an Obama-given right to be funded.)

The universities’ letter to Obama makes abundantly clear the pragmatic, bank robber approach. In the eyes of these authors, the only thing standing between universities and their infrastructure projects is convincing Obama to fork over the cash — all other considerations are dispensable.

Yet, how one achieves a goal is just as important as the goal itself. If one values an education, for instance, one must earn good grades. Receiving a gratuitous “bailout” grade so one can attend grad school is only a pretense of knowledge. To acquire an actual education, one must earn it.

If Obama began handing out college diplomas, it would not alter the fact that a diploma has to be earned to be of value. This principle doesn’t change by replacing diplomas with green pieces of paper with presidents’ faces on them. Just as a diploma is only a value when it represents actual achievement, money is only a value when it represents actual earnings.

If a car manufacturer wishes to be profitable, it must earn the patronage of customers and investors. Putting itself in the black by expropriating taxpayer bailout money is only a pretense of profit.

If a university seeks a well-funded and valued educational system, it must earn the support it receives. Seeking the support of taxpayers while trying to undercut their ability to withhold their support — or even be aware of what they’re supporting — is only a pretense of a valued educational system.

A little over 200 years ago, colonists, protesting the usurpation of power by the king, dumped tea into the Boston Harbor and went on to risk their lives in the name of a single principle: individual rights. These revolutionaries put political principles and ideals above range-of-the-moment goals. They understood any value, such as freedom, must be earned and that this necessitates certain political principles.

Their counterparts today would most certainly accept the king’s growing power in exchange for a share of the loot. Seeking the unearned through unprincipled action has become standard policy today. This is clearly evident in the onslaught of groups running to Washington to be bailed out with little concern for whose wealth is being expropriated to their cause.

But what is true for a bank robber is true for universities, car manufacturers and students: Laying claim to what others have earned without earning it oneself is theft, not actual achievement. Universities should be the first to recognize this.

Jim Allard ([email protected]) is a graduate student in the biological sciences.