Buying Textbooks

As a child, one of the things I think I took for granted was textbooks because through 1st-12th grade, they were all funded by the schools, unless you lost them, meaning you had to pay for them.  The penalty for losing a book back then was steep, but it's nothing compared to the cost of buying textbooks now, a process I loathe doing every year.

I recently looked up the cost of my textbooks this upcoming semester, and was disappointed to see the total amount come to $300.  I've had semesters where the textbooks cost as much as $600, but no matter the amount, I'm always disappointed because colleges and manufacturers make their products so high to make a profit.  I see the reasoning behind it, but I don't think it's fair to students who already have to pay so much for school, and then have to cut off an arm and a leg just to buy textbooks.  Also, you might buy the textbooks, but then it might be the wrong one, which is just a pain in the ass to deal with.  College, you're supposed to be helping our future, not endangering it, so you need to change, but I know that's never going to happen.  It's just another sign of the "college machine" trying to take what isn't theirs, which is a shame.