There is also the whole "banks lose the money that they loaned out" thing, unless you have the federal government reimburse them, which means that taxpayers pick up the tab, which means that the ones that paid theirs off have to help pay for college tuiton twice: once for the own kids, and again for someone else.
my mom hit me with this one in conversation one time and asked “so what if you paid off all your student loans and the next day they cancelled the debt, wouldn’t you think it unfair?” i said “no, i’d say ‘good for you, everybody else. that fucking sucked and i’m glad you don’t have to deal with it’”
The idea that one person paid more than another being “unfair” is a bit silly- it happens all the time. If you buy a new laptop for $2400 someone else can probably get it for $100 or free in 5-10 years, or for $2400 get a much more up to date laptop than your model. You still get to use your lap top and- perhaps more importantly- you may not have been happy with the price but you obviously thought it was worth it right? If you pay $100 for something today and tomorrow I buy it on sale for much less, how is that unfair? You thought it was worth $100 or you wouldn’t have paid $100. Why does what I paid change what it is worth to you?
That said- I do see some issues with student loan forgiveness.
What’s the worst thing that could happen? We continue to perpetuate systems where people who already have advantages are assisted by the system in widening the gap of advantage over those who don’t. Remember that loan forgiveness isn’t the same as “free” education- one has to qualify and be able to carry a loan before they can get one- something not everyone can do- thus an advantage.
We ignore reality because it benefits us specifically. Does a person being a billionaire automatically benefit society? No. Why would a person having an education automatically benefit society then? Much like money, a degree can benefit society or not- it depends on how we use it.
I’m surprised how many people say that the rich or corporations should pay more taxes or that we should address wage inequity- but then say things like this.
If a billionaire should have a responsibility to not hoard money or only use it for personal gain- why wouldn’t an education carry that burden…
Especially an education paid for by society? To be clear I am not saying I’m against forms of debt forgiveness or “free” education- I’m saying the details are important.
I see less benefit- even more harm to society to pay for a degree for some kid to go become head recruiter at a company that rebottles and markets vape juice for example, or a person with a degree in my little pony or some crap running a YouTube channel making millions and living their best life while doing what for society? Providing entertainment..? That you don’t need a degree to do even?
The point being that not everyone gets a degree and goes off and benefits society- and 99% of people are in a degree field because of the personal benefits and desires above all else. At the end of the day, doctors quit if they don’t get that doctor money save for the small number who really are about helping first and do things like travel around making nothing just to help.
But that’s my point- you can make a half million dollars a year at your job and then choose to volunteer when and where suits you…. Or not. You can go work at a lab to create prosthetic limbs that work more naturally or you can make fart apps and live in a $2.5 million dollar house.
Where is the accountability? I favor a system that offers education and post education employment to ALL people without monetary bias- but which also has measures to not only ensure that education be used to the benefit of society to a determined measure, but that those benefiting from that education be required to give back in ways that help support or uplift those unable to benefit or who need the help too.
There are many ways to do this- compulsory internship or government jobs for a set pay and period to both gain experience and give back, compulsory volunteer work or requirements for use of education in some manner and measure to cater to low cost or no cost clients, a type of tax or other system where some measure of earning from such people be used to fund the education of those who come after them, residency and employment region requirements of some duration and scope to ensure that education is used to benefit the communities providing it or in need of it, many more possibilities and these possibilities can be used or applied in various ways with various criteria or combinations.
I personally just believe that we should require that people give back. If we want to build a better world we have to have our part in the effort and not just ask what a better world can give us personally.
in a perfect world, that would be the only problem. We pretend if we get rid of student loans then nothing bad will happen, but we proceed to go on about how corrupt systems are these days. Okay, so then society says the value of a college degree goes down, (whether or not you believe this is not the point im trying to make, bear with my thought process here), then suddenly jobs would require to get a candidate to get a master's degree and then we're right back to square one, no problem solved, just now even MORE difficult for a wider group of people. If your goal was to make more people's lives harder and make it even more difficult for people who don't have the means or time to go to college, loan forgiveness is the perfect way to go.
Also, why is it the tax payer responsibility to pay for someone else's college degree? (Mind you, you can ask this question about A LOT of things! We're talking about education at the moment, but this question can apply to a lot of different things)
Obvious solution is to stop lending money for people to go to college. No loans made, no loans to repay. Scholarships for students whom earn it academically (not for sports, they can get paid for use of their likeness and licensure).
Start multiple not for profit colleges to take in the rest especially online colleges to allow those whom cannot move or take time off from work / life to earn degree.
That said- I do see some issues with student loan forgiveness.
We ignore reality because it benefits us specifically. Does a person being a billionaire automatically benefit society? No. Why would a person having an education automatically benefit society then? Much like money, a degree can benefit society or not- it depends on how we use it.
I’m surprised how many people say that the rich or corporations should pay more taxes or that we should address wage inequity- but then say things like this.
If a billionaire should have a responsibility to not hoard money or only use it for personal gain- why wouldn’t an education carry that burden…
I see less benefit- even more harm to society to pay for a degree for some kid to go become head recruiter at a company that rebottles and markets vape juice for example, or a person with a degree in my little pony or some crap running a YouTube channel making millions and living their best life while doing what for society? Providing entertainment..? That you don’t need a degree to do even?
The point being that not everyone gets a degree and goes off and benefits society- and 99% of people are in a degree field because of the personal benefits and desires above all else. At the end of the day, doctors quit if they don’t get that doctor money save for the small number who really are about helping first and do things like travel around making nothing just to help.
Where is the accountability? I favor a system that offers education and post education employment to ALL people without monetary bias- but which also has measures to not only ensure that education be used to the benefit of society to a determined measure, but that those benefiting from that education be required to give back in ways that help support or uplift those unable to benefit or who need the help too.
I personally just believe that we should require that people give back. If we want to build a better world we have to have our part in the effort and not just ask what a better world can give us personally.
Also, why is it the tax payer responsibility to pay for someone else's college degree? (Mind you, you can ask this question about A LOT of things! We're talking about education at the moment, but this question can apply to a lot of different things)
Start multiple not for profit colleges to take in the rest especially online colleges to allow those whom cannot move or take time off from work / life to earn degree.