http://www.huffingtonpost.com/c-cryn-johannsen/student-loan-debt-suicides_b_1638972.html
To which side do we gravitate, the debtor or collector? Let’s suppose for a bit that Republicans and conservatives believe in personal responsibility. That they believe students taking out loans for college should understand what they are getting into (contracts and stipulations on defaulting). At Penn, before we graduate, we need to complete student loan counseling through a website. How about Democrats and liberals? To me, it would be reasonable to state that they too believe in personal responsibility, but want to point out how the entire loan industry has trapped millions of students and grads in a kind of indentured servitude.
When slavery continued to exist, abolitionists continued to fight. When gender inequality existed (although it continues to exist), women (and men) fought for it. Slavery and inequality are the oldest of all institutions; even now, millions of young girls are being trafficked into prostitution or sexual slavery. And here I write to speak out against slavery: on behalf of the illegal immigrants working twice as hard as us citizens and residents to earn a living or obtain an education; on behalf of the too-many struggling to pay off loan debt.
Right,
you’re going to say, ‘Well John, you’re not taking a holistic perspective. They
signed contracts. Contracts are important. We need to seek some kind of middle
ground where we protect loan companies’ rights to exist and prevent egregious
harassment of debtors while relaxing too-high standards on students’ ability to
pay.’
No.
I disagree.
“Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.”
-Bertrand
Russell
Perhaps
we should assume Russell was totally wrong: the fortunate should be restrained in the
exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.
I’m sorry Ivy-League students, you are FORTUNATE to be here/there. Do you know how many man-hours were sacrificed so that you would have the opportunity to read books and take tests? How many of you come from non-two-parent households? How many of you are illegal immigrants? How many of your parents live in absolute poverty? I’m going to guess probably few but feel free to refute me. You are fortunate in so many ways: to be admitted, one, and two, to have your education financed very generously through your school, parents, or the government. You are fortunate to study under smart professors, although I know smart professors aren’t exclusive to the Ivy-League.
I’m sorry Ivy-League students, you are FORTUNATE to be here/there. Do you know how many man-hours were sacrificed so that you would have the opportunity to read books and take tests? How many of you come from non-two-parent households? How many of you are illegal immigrants? How many of your parents live in absolute poverty? I’m going to guess probably few but feel free to refute me. You are fortunate in so many ways: to be admitted, one, and two, to have your education financed very generously through your school, parents, or the government. You are fortunate to study under smart professors, although I know smart professors aren’t exclusive to the Ivy-League.
Why
is it so hard to admit that we got lucky? Why does success always have to be
earned? Why do we have to constantly justify our success as a result of our
hard work? Yeah of course, hard work helped. But ala Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell,
success is always a collaborative effort. And it also depends on how you define
success. For me, success is enjoying every single moment and day to its fullest
and to love what I’m doing at each and every second.
If people are starting to take their lives as a result of/precipitated by/enabled by inefficiencies in the student loan system/debt collection agencies, we need many little micro-changes to alter the nature of the system.
I said slavery and inequality were as old as the hills. In the 16th century, Shakespeare wrote a play called the Merchant of Venice. In it, Portia asks for debt forgiveness from a man who is bloodthirsty for revenge, Shylock. Through the court system, Portia actually ruins Shylock (because he is a Jew) and forgives the debt herself. You and I are privileged enough to have the legal system at our convenience. Two kinds of injustice here: the collector asking for a cruel and unusual punishment and the debtor screwing with the legal system by virtue of her position in society.
If people are starting to take their lives as a result of/precipitated by/enabled by inefficiencies in the student loan system/debt collection agencies, we need many little micro-changes to alter the nature of the system.
I said slavery and inequality were as old as the hills. In the 16th century, Shakespeare wrote a play called the Merchant of Venice. In it, Portia asks for debt forgiveness from a man who is bloodthirsty for revenge, Shylock. Through the court system, Portia actually ruins Shylock (because he is a Jew) and forgives the debt herself. You and I are privileged enough to have the legal system at our convenience. Two kinds of injustice here: the collector asking for a cruel and unusual punishment and the debtor screwing with the legal system by virtue of her position in society.
We are all victims of this broken system when people are committing suicide. That seems like a cruel and unusual punishment to me indeed.
My position is bulwarked by the law:
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
-Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
