Top 10 Things That Should Be Free in the Future

Remember the days when a flight meant a checked bag and a hot (albeit questionable) meal? Those days are long gone. Airlines in the United States began charging fees for checked luggage around 2008, when the world was undergoing a financial crisis and oil prices were at an alltime high. Many of the major airlines were in crisis and needed a way to increase their profits. Today however, airline fuel prices have dropped, and yet more and more airlines are forcing passengers to choose between checking a bag or saving money. Flying is expensive as it is, so throwing extra fees at us just seems wrong.

There aren’t many things that humans truly need in order to live except for food, shelter and this essential resource. Water is the lifeblood of our species, and you would think it would be a basic human right. Paying for bottled water is one thing, because it’s typically a consumer’s choice to purchase the liquid at a premium when they can get from the tap - unless you live in Flint, Michigan of course. In the U.S., nothing in the law insures that citizens get free access to water, and in fact, many Americans are finding their water bills tobe prohibitively expensive.

When you’re reviewing your bank statement at the end of the month, do you ever wonder what those frequent but seemingly innocuous fees are all about? Being charged for spending your own money sounds downright comical when you say it out loud, but in fact most people pay fees for their checking accounts in addition to charges for various uses. We can already see this trend beginning to change though, with companies like Tangerine in Canada working to offer free checking accounts to its users - with zero hidden fees. There are services like this available worldwide, and if you do your homework you can probably find one that works for you.

We’re just as worried about the state of the environment as you are, but if we’re being realistic, we know that driving passenger vehicles isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Everyone should learn to drive, whether they’re city dwellers who may never need a car or not. It’s a pretty essential skill typically taught to teenagers, and yet it can be really expensive. To optimize road safety, wouldn’t it make sense if this were a state-funded thing? Then we could also guarantee consistency in what pupils are taught across the country.

This one may be a little on the controversial side, but there’s a strong argument for it. Many countries already have a lack of sex education, which creates a population that is ill-equipped to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Even when they are informed however, access to contraceptives can be difficult depending on where you live. And in countries with privatized health care, going on hormonal birth control like the pill can be financially impossible for young people. Everyone should be able to practice safe sex, and providing free contraceptive devices, especially for young people, would encourage that.

The shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy has been slowly taking place for years, but as the effects of climate change worsen, we can only predict that the speed at which this transition takes place will increase. By nature, renewable energy sources like solar, wind and tidal power are practically infinite, so as they become more prevalent, it follows that energy consumption would become much cheaper, if not free. If the world ever ceases its dependence on fossil fuels completely, we can only hope that governments won’t opt to privatize renewable energy sources.

Several countries around the world offer fully subsidized post-secondary education, but as you probably know too well, the United States is not one of them. Annual tuition costs in the U.S. are shockingly expensive, with students in state universities paying approximately $20,000 a year and out of state students paying $34,000- and this is all for public schools. A report cited by Forbes said that the average student debt among new grads in America had reached $37,172 in 2016. You shouldn’t have to be rich to get a good education, so we’re hoping that in the future the U.S. follows in the footsteps of countries like Denmark and Germany.

Since (in the grand scheme of things) the internet is relatively new to humanity, it might seem too preemptive to say that it should be free. It’s not like it’s a vital resource for survival like water...or is it? Today, so many things are done online - from banking and accessing government services, to searching for housing and jobs. Now of course, most of those things are still possible to accomplish without an internet connection. Some things however, like ever changing school curriculums, make it necessary for students to access the internet in order to complete their assignments. We’re hoping that in the future, this is a service that will eventually be provided to everyone.

We know something has to change if we want to save our planet, and we know that our dependence on fossil fuels is one of the issues fueling this problem (pun intended). In order to combat this problem, many countries have encouraged the use of public transportation. Unfortunately, many transit systems aren’t developed enough to convert the majority of drivers, and on top of that, monthly passes can be surprisingly pricey. In New York City, a MetroPass is $121 a month while in Toronto it’s over $140 a month. By offering fully subsidized public transit, citizens would be encouraged to ditch their cars and diminish their ecological footprint.

Can you imagine a world where a visit to the clinic or emergency room doesn’t necessitate you pulling out your wallet- or dreading dealing with an insurance claim? In many developed countries around the world, that’s a reality. The cost of healthcare in the United States is frightening, and if you aren’t covered by insurance through your workplace, purchasing private insurance can be unaffordable for many families. Moving forward, the U.S. would be smart to look at the examples being set in Europe and around the world where universal and single payer healthcare systems allow people to spend much less annually on their health.