Do not pay back your student loans, they need to learn fiscal responsibility

@dirge The loan system makes no sense and is not sustainable. It's impossible to get that money back. Forgive the loans abolish tuition.

@BorealPedant I'm not a diehard for loans have to be in place, but yeah... it's not workable as they have it set now.

@BorealPedant what crisis?

@Penny https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-crisis
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-went-wrong-with-federal-student-loans/

Couple of studies/explainers on it. You have a massive section of the population who are in inescapable debt to nobody.

@BorealPedant can you sum it up?

@Pinkstarburst They don't though. The student loan debt is never getting paid off. It just increases. Broken system.

@BorealPedant Oh yes they do!

@Ynotisay Private colleges can do what they want.

The US is the richest country on the planet yet somehow is magically broke when it comes to funding public services which are affordable or even free in other countries.

There is money already in the system to pay for this.

Those student loans are never being paid off and they're basically a loan against a public service with variable cost. It's a fabricated problem.

Like what do you propose? That this is a working system?

@BorealPedant But you said taxes should pay for it. And the U.S. isn't the richest nation on earth. We have the highest GDP because of the population but we're like number 10 as far as "richest" countries.
And I don't propose anything. This is your trip. But "those student loans are never being paid off?" "Never" is a big word. Good to use that one appropriately.
I paid off my student debt. Did you pay yours?

@Ynotisay Oh I don't have a degree, but I work at a university and am a union leader there. So I have a lot of expertise in post-secondary funding since I'm leading our bargaining team right now.

Student loan forgiveness is a big deal because there is a crisis of the size of the debt expanding, rather than shrinking. Tuition skyrockets and people make less and less money.

The assumption that everyone will just be individually responsible and pay it off is not working at a macro level. It means there is less money in the economy, poorer people, and this trickle of funds going to the government which barely touches the trillion dollar student debt lump. It helps -nobody-.

And "richest" can be measured in a million ways. My point is that the notion of colleges being some kind of luxury that the population needs to fund is ass backwards policy.

@Fukfacewillie I have yet to see any economic problem solved through just going "Yeah well they should all independently become smarter people".

@BorealPedant Satirical? I'm not sure you have a handle on that. You need to point to the satire. You made a statement. Going back and adding it to it after the initial statement doesn't fly.

@Ynotisay Sigh.

- "Learn fiscal responsibility" is a line typically used on students who have troubles paying back student loans.

- It is then reflected back on the loan-providers, with a tongue-in-cheek joke about lending money to 18 year olds.

- The joke is to treat major banks as irresponsible young kids who shouldn't get their treat. "Learn responsibility".

- The political point is that the entire system of high tuition and impossible student loans is a bad idea, and should be rethought.

@BorealPedant What dog do you have in this fight? Are you one of those, "Buh buh muh tax dollars" guys?" I could go off on that for a while. Did you pay back your student loan? Did you go to college? Did your parents pay for it? If so, lucky you.