>>513764921
>>513770840
when I was in undergrad, in a non-insane state university, it was around $9k per semester.
so all told, around $72k
that equals 240 weeks of 40-hour work weeks at $7.50, or 4.6 years
so for a four-year degree, you would need to work more than four years at minimum wage, spending nothing on food, rent, healthcare, gas, etc.
Monthly rent in my area is $2100 for a one-bedroom (this is in the city). At minimum wage, you would need to work 7 full 40-hour weeks just to pay the rent in full, no food, no gas, no internet bill. To actually make rent, that's 70 hour work weeks every single week nonstop, or a 9-7 job.
>>513770984
you get royalty payments because you have a license on the content and someone purchases the book.
there is also not a fundamental scarcity on words, I could independently write for my own use the entirety of Stephen King's It, and there would be no problem with that.
what boomers do is more like purchasing every single copy of a book that's mandatory for you to complete a course, then using the scarcity to justify either making you pay $150 for a $20 book, or letting you read 20 pages per month at $20/mo