07-03-2023, 11:22 AM
(07-03-2023, 11:12 AM)Mickeypoo Wrote: Well I hope you are correct. Seems like some of the points could help.
I am simply against relieving people of debt, at others expense (in this case the taxpayers) that they voluntarily took out.
I have been through some very hard times financially a couple decades ago of my own making and I never once asked or expected anyone to help. I dug myself out and have not made the same mistakes again.
Maybe I am looking at this wrong, but I feel like getting a very expensive degree is like buying too much of a car or house. You have to live within your means. As far as I am aware there are affordable college options. Community College, trade schools, military. I do understand that a college degree shouldn't be prohibitively expensive and steps should be taken to help with that, like starting with some of the colleges worth billions. What are they going to do to make college more affordable?
People bought houses when home prices were very high and then the bubble burst and they were in trouble. That's on them. Taxpayers shouldn't bail them out. I feel the same way about student loans. Moving forward, yes, let's try to come up with some solutions, but tax payers should not be paying anyone's personal debt.
I have a friend who still owes 20k+ for a social services degree from about 10 years ago. They are not even working in that field and when they did they weren't making that much. I went into the military for 4 years, have never had any educational debt and I make very good money imo for having no college degree, especially for my location. My point is that you don't have to rack up huge college debt to have a decent job.
I am not very articulate with typing back and forth and do much better with face to face flowing discussion debate. I definitely don't disagree with you that there should be some reform so people have better/cheaper access to college.
To the bolded, I think that is ultimately where you and I are going to find common ground. My ultimate goal would be to have free college, but I think that is a bit of a "pie in the sky" type thing right now. More affordable access is still absolutely a win and not only benefits individuals, but the country. You can say that you vehemently disagree with loan relief and I can completely understand. I think there are reasonable arguments for that position. Making the payments easier is a pretty reasonable alternative that I think the vast majority of people would be on board with. We aren't relieving people of debt, but easing the burden of the payments so they are able to use the money they have for housing/transportation/food etc.
As far as a solution to making colleges cheaper? That I don't know. Higher education is mostly/completely socialized in Europe. That is a tough sell to people in the U.S. right now but that is the model that people tend to look at when it comes to a discussion like this.
