Everyone knows how important it is to be fiscally responsible with finances. Failure to live at/below your level of earning always brings disaster, albeit delayed. Deficit spending only postpones the inevitable. On a national or local scale deficit spending simply transfers the financial responsibility of the current administration/generation to future administrations/generations. The old adage of “pay me now or pay me more, later” is something that Americans have had some experience with. And, many states, counties, cities, and families have, or are currently, experiencing the effects of deficit spending. However, this message is not an indictment against financial irresponsibility; it is an indictment against intellectual irresponsibility.
As a math teacher for more that thirty years I can state with confidence that this same situation holds true when the topic is homework. Administrators, or teachers (especially of mathematics) who fold under the pressure to avoid assigning homework are mortgaging the intellectual future of their students in the same way that deficit spenders are mortgaging the financial future of their constituents/families. Parents who discourage their children from completing homework assignments, or who offer their children diversions that are more immediately pleasing are guilty of a form of child abuse more devastating than divorce or poverty (think Pinoccio).
Everyone wants to retire form the world of work to enjoy golden years on some beach, somewhere, but that outcome happens only for those who are financially responsible during their work years. Every student wants to get into a great college, get a great job, have a great family, etc. That happens only for those who are intellectually responsible. For either of these groups, if you are mortgaging your future you will eventually have to pay up, or you will live a life in the golden years that will be more like the copper, or coal years for you.
Doing homework is like making regular deposits in the intellectual bank. This bank pays great interest, and just like money oriented banks, no deposit - no return.