This analogy doesn’t really work though. Most people don’t willingly receive cancer. I think the thought process is you chose to borrow that money now it’s your responsibility to pay it back. If you worked an entire year to pay off your student loan debt and another person doesn’t work and their loans are paid off, you worked an entire year for free. Essentially slave labor. Anyone would be grateful when someone beats cancer but watching everyone around you get free handouts while you did what you are supposed to, I can see why people aren’t a fan of the idea. I paid off my student loans during COVID and I never expected any money back but I’d be lying if I said getting that money back now would not be extremely helpful in my life. I’m grateful that people are getting their loans forgiven. College shouldn’t cost remotely what it does.
It is for a large number of jobs though. So its attempt to do what you want with your life or don’t take the predatory loan. It’s a shit situation all round.
When I was a kid, my parents were able to set aside money for my benefit in advance so that when I started college I had enough for tuition, housing, and a car. When I graduated, I even had enough left over for a down payment on a starter home.
I didn’t get to choose this. It was decided for me the day I was born. It was given to me purely by dint of who my parents happened to be and where I lived. In other countries, everyone has access to this level of public health carecough excuse me cough higher education. But I had to rely on a private system that rewarded people with the means to accumulate financial surplus.
Also, my mom smoked when she was younger. But when she started trying to get pregnant, she quit. If she’d continued smoking through the pregnancy, it would have significantly increased my chance to develop some form of childhood cancer. Again, this was not something I got to choose. It was purely a consequence of my parents’ decisions.
For me, during college, I got my first credit card. Between student loans and credit cards, I’ve been set up to fail at every turn. I have a crap ton of debt. My student loans? Paid in full. But the fact that I was paying them for nearly 15 years, and the money that took from me while I did it caused me to get deeper in debt from other sources of debt that has led me to be in a position where I’m still just as much in debt as I was when I graduated. The debt has shifted from student loans to mostly credit cards, but it hasn’t gotten any smaller. I’m pretty sure I owe more now than I did when I graduated.
Financial debt compounds. Not only on itself, but it creates deficiencies in other areas requiring more debt to maintain balance. It grows like a cancer.
Sure, you can declare bankruptcy, and fuck yourself over for your ability to get any loans, but will that actually help? Does your income conver your expenses? Are you making a living wage? If not, and you go bankrupt, you might be screwing yourself over. It might be better to simply continue the cycle of violence until you earn enough to cover what you need to, then, when you’re cash positive, declare it at that point.
I’ve been on the debt treadmill for over 20 years now. I continue to find myself in situations that require large sums to get resolved. Whether that’s a broken vehicle, or another critical item I have to immediately pay for which was unexpected, or simple daily needs that have to be purchased when I’m at a low point in the availability of money. It grows.
I keep trying. I haven’t needed to declare bankruptcy yet; but my debts are attached to me like a cancer, slowly killing me by starving my finances.
I’m not even poor. I work a decently well paying job. I’m just so heavily in debt, that I can’t get out of it.
I hear what you’re saying but you have to put a little more thought into this beyond “you pay for what you get”. A lot of professions still need specialization but do not offer commensurate remuneration with respect to cost of entry. I’ll give you some examples:
Teachers
Historians
Social workers
Architects
I could go on. It’s a long list. The world still needs teachers and social workers, but we are far from adequately compensating for these industries. When you adopt a utilitarian approach to education (as a pipeline that leads directly to a career track) you are limiting the potential of the nation to improve/grow. A humanist approach to education promotes a more universal type of growth where we can foster the best talent towards achieving their full potential. Otherwise we end up with a situation in which the humanities and arts are segregated exclusively for the affluent members of society because the cost of entry is high but the output is low.
This analogy doesn’t really work though. Most people don’t willingly receive cancer. I think the thought process is you chose to borrow that money now it’s your responsibility to pay it back. If you worked an entire year to pay off your student loan debt and another person doesn’t work and their loans are paid off, you worked an entire year for free. Essentially slave labor. Anyone would be grateful when someone beats cancer but watching everyone around you get free handouts while you did what you are supposed to, I can see why people aren’t a fan of the idea. I paid off my student loans during COVID and I never expected any money back but I’d be lying if I said getting that money back now would not be extremely helpful in my life. I’m grateful that people are getting their loans forgiven. College shouldn’t cost remotely what it does.
When it’s the only option for an education I would say willingly is a bit strong of a word.
While a higher education is really nice and it would be nice if everyone could have one. They aren’t necessary.
It is for a large number of jobs though. So its attempt to do what you want with your life or don’t take the predatory loan. It’s a shit situation all round.
When I was a kid, my parents were able to set aside money for my benefit in advance so that when I started college I had enough for tuition, housing, and a car. When I graduated, I even had enough left over for a down payment on a starter home.
I didn’t get to choose this. It was decided for me the day I was born. It was given to me purely by dint of who my parents happened to be and where I lived. In other countries, everyone has access to this level of
public health carecough excuse me cough higher education. But I had to rely on a private system that rewarded people with the means to accumulate financial surplus.Also, my mom smoked when she was younger. But when she started trying to get pregnant, she quit. If she’d continued smoking through the pregnancy, it would have significantly increased my chance to develop some form of childhood cancer. Again, this was not something I got to choose. It was purely a consequence of my parents’ decisions.
For me, during college, I got my first credit card. Between student loans and credit cards, I’ve been set up to fail at every turn. I have a crap ton of debt. My student loans? Paid in full. But the fact that I was paying them for nearly 15 years, and the money that took from me while I did it caused me to get deeper in debt from other sources of debt that has led me to be in a position where I’m still just as much in debt as I was when I graduated. The debt has shifted from student loans to mostly credit cards, but it hasn’t gotten any smaller. I’m pretty sure I owe more now than I did when I graduated.
Financial debt compounds. Not only on itself, but it creates deficiencies in other areas requiring more debt to maintain balance. It grows like a cancer.
Sure, you can declare bankruptcy, and fuck yourself over for your ability to get any loans, but will that actually help? Does your income conver your expenses? Are you making a living wage? If not, and you go bankrupt, you might be screwing yourself over. It might be better to simply continue the cycle of violence until you earn enough to cover what you need to, then, when you’re cash positive, declare it at that point.
I’ve been on the debt treadmill for over 20 years now. I continue to find myself in situations that require large sums to get resolved. Whether that’s a broken vehicle, or another critical item I have to immediately pay for which was unexpected, or simple daily needs that have to be purchased when I’m at a low point in the availability of money. It grows.
I keep trying. I haven’t needed to declare bankruptcy yet; but my debts are attached to me like a cancer, slowly killing me by starving my finances.
I’m not even poor. I work a decently well paying job. I’m just so heavily in debt, that I can’t get out of it.
Good luck to you my friend. I wish you well.
That’s all I can ask… Well, that, and maybe a winning lottery ticket.
I hear what you’re saying but you have to put a little more thought into this beyond “you pay for what you get”. A lot of professions still need specialization but do not offer commensurate remuneration with respect to cost of entry. I’ll give you some examples:
I could go on. It’s a long list. The world still needs teachers and social workers, but we are far from adequately compensating for these industries. When you adopt a utilitarian approach to education (as a pipeline that leads directly to a career track) you are limiting the potential of the nation to improve/grow. A humanist approach to education promotes a more universal type of growth where we can foster the best talent towards achieving their full potential. Otherwise we end up with a situation in which the humanities and arts are segregated exclusively for the affluent members of society because the cost of entry is high but the output is low.