This has nothing to do with my post, but I'll bite. I'll start by saying that I do not know if your claim about taxes is true, but even if it were it woudln't matter: Gadaffi, was more than happy to collect revenue from oil rather than squeezing blood from the turnip that is the Libyan people.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all governments, ...especially Western ones, stopped seeing their citizens as turnips to be squeezed? Wouldn't it wonderful if governments viewed themselves as being there to serve the people, rather than the people being used to serve the state?
Back to the subject at hand: education is a service, and like any service people need to pay for the services they use. Even in places with "free" higher education, like Greece, the education isn't really free. It was just subsidized on the backs of the taxpayers and the bondholders.
To me education is not a mere service, but a necessity if one is to have a sustainable future. One should look to the 7th generation. Any leader or ruler with the best interests of his/her people at heart will look down the road to the 7th generation
People perish for lack of knowledge.
There's an old chinese proverb that goes:
If you are planning for a year, sow rice;
if you are planning for a decade, plant trees;
if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.