In less than 10 years, between Q1 2008 and Q4 2017, student loan balances have rocketed into the stratosphere shooting up 141%, from $619.3 billion to $1.49 trillion, or multiplying 2.4 times over that period.
The problem has become impossible to ignore, and now - of course - the "adults" are weighing in with their two cents.
Wolfstreet is one of my favorite websites for no non-sense financial analysis. Similar to avc.com, Wolfstreet also maintains a vibrant commentariat that acts as an amazing supplement to articles.
Commenters run the full spectrum of political beliefs and there are numerous non-American posters, but just as avc.com predominately leans liberal-left, commenters on Wolfstreet lean conservative-right.
Popular refrains by so-called adults to the Wolfstreet article that broke down the consumer debt issue (including student loans) can be summarized in two, nearly identical, examples: "No one put a gun to the kids head forcing them to take out hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans" and "I scrimped and saved to make my payments over 20 years - I played by the rules - so why should these people get a free ride?"
Now excuse me whilst I take umbrage in my umbros.
Essentially, as people who say and think such things would have us believe, adults play by the rules and thus need to be accountable for their actions.
That perspective, however, is distorted, incorrect and unhelpful in the discussion of the growing social problem of student loan debt for two reasons:
- It is the result of a flawed assumption wherein they (the adults) are in-charge, when in reality, regular adults are simply rule followers, not rule makers, and;
- It doesn't account for the possibility that they, "the adults" themselves, are also at the root of the problem.
Let me draw an extreme comparison to demonstrate the dangerous implications of their ignorance.
In Nazi Germany there were three distinct groups: leaders, followers, and persecuted. The leaders (i.e. higher ranking Nazi Party members and officials) made the rules. The followers (i.e. all "regular" German adults and kids) simply followed the rules and examples of the leaders. The persecuted (i.e. Jews and anyone else who for whatever reason or action found themselves afoul of the rules) were persecuted according to the rules.
After that terrible state of affairs ended, who was punished? We all know it was the leaders - the rule makers and example setters - that were punished; not the average, rule-following adults.
What is problematic about the beliefs and assertions of the "adults" who believe student loan debt should never ever be forgiven, is that, if anything, they have completely internalized the now obviously flawed rules set by those is positions of power. They have internalized them so completely that they accept and even advocate persecution, not just for others, but for themselves potentially as well.
Instead of actually holding the leaders (i.e. "the real adults in the room") accountable for fostering a society where most believe tertiary education (and thus the accompanying debt burden) is an essential step to securing a stable future, or at least arguing for changes that will reduced the severity of the situation, these commenters are advocating maintaining the oppressive regime of the status quo.
No wonder the "adults" of post-Nazi Germany were so reluctant to discuss their lives in Nazi Germany - they had to have eventually realized that they were just as bad as the Nazi leaders themselves not to mention the more direct, decisive role they played in ensuring the persecution of those who ran afoul of the rules.
Anyways, stay out of debt kiddies. There are a ton of options, particularly abroad, where you can go and study to avoid the being forced into oppressive US debtor camps that US universities have become for anyone who isn't super rich.
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