I am a veteran of the student loan battle
It was back in the dark ages, but yes, I paid mine. So?
I was appalled at some of arguments at the Supreme Court yesterday, as justices discussed whether Pres. Biden’s plan to offer a student debt relief was legal.
(And goddamn it, Missouri, must you always stand in the way of truth and light?)
According to conservative Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday, offering relief to this generation’s of debt-holding students should be a problem for me. To finish my college career, I took out loans in the amount of roughly $28,000 in today’s money — less than today’s average student loan debt, but more than I thought I could ever pay. Gorsuch worried that offering relief now wouldn’t be fair to people like me.
Was paying off that loan character-building? Not especially. Am I angry that a generation of students will get a leg up that wasn’t available to me? Not in the least.
I get voting with your wallet. I really do. But opposition to debt relief is observing economics in the super-short-term. Looking beyond individual bank accounts, student debt has a debilitating effect on the economy — on the rest of us, in other words.
Without launching into a chorus of Kumbaya, we are all connected whether we want it or not. This ridiculous debt stops young adults from entering the housing market (a good way to build generational wealth). The debt embeds racial injustice. Now think about the wisdom of bailing out corporations but not individuals who make less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for married couples.
Biden’s program would wipe out nearly 30% of all outstanding student debt. It’s a no-brainer. Forgive the debt. For once, let’s look at the big picture and how this loan forgiveness can only benefit the rest of us, swimming out here in the economy at large.
Agree on every point! Why challenge this when it benefits so many drowning in student loan debt. If the government bails out the auto industry, banks, etc., why not college grads?
My late father had the ability to pay for my college. I went for one year, decided I hated it (at the time I, unfortunately, didn't get the difference between hating the school and hating college), and left to go to "business school" (Stone (fka School) Academy you were really good in the late 70's/early 80's). That was also funded by my father. One of my biggest regrets is how I f'd around with my education, but that's a conversation for another day. That being said, I don't know about college loans. I do, however, know that people are getting robbed. As for loan forgiveness? DO IT! Loan forgiveness does not affect me, but it certainly would be a godsend to a lot of rather hard-working people I know that have been saddled with these loans for decades.