The inescapable weight of my student debt • Hacker News Board

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#21

Post by prepend » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 2:16 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #16

bufferoverflow wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume "discharging student loan debt" is the euphemism for "let the taxpayer pay for that undesirable pile of shit that he chose to study". That will only worsen the situation - more young people will study shit that's not in demand.

The recently approved $717 billion in defense spending increased military spending by $80 billion dollars, far in excess of what would've been necessary to provide free college to everyone. Hard to argue the moral hazard on education spending when you're firehosing billions of dollars of taxpayer money into a dumpster fire already. "Those concerns were brushed aside Monday night, as the Senate overwhelmingly approved…

Or with $80 billion a year, you could do lots of stuff like have a lower deficit.

Reducing defense spending being good does not mean that using it to discharge bad student loans is the best use.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#22

Post by prepend » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 2:19 PM UTC

EliRivers wrote: post #9

fatalVoltage wrote: post #2

As soon as I read that he graduated with a degree in "English Literature" I knew what the problem was - what did he expect? Where does he think the demand for that is? How did he justify 100k$ for such a degree ( or any degree for that part )? There are so many jobs like welding, plumbing, etc that need to be done, pay very good money and require no ( or very small ) loans, and he studied something like English Liter…

Is it a bullshit degree just because it doesn't lead to a high-paying job? Or is there some other criterion at work?

It’s a bullshit degree only because the ratio of debt to projected income.

Literature is a really rewarding path of study, if you can pay for it. Sadly, this requires independent wealth or scholarships or a state school.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#23

Post by furbyhat » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 2:28 PM UTC

>I completed my studies at New York University, where I received a BA and an MA in English literature, with more than $100,000 of debt, for which my father was a guarantor

So not only is the child financially and economically illiterate... the father is too.

These people will have found one way or another to make themselves into debt slaves. Cars, vacations, too big houses... you name it.

Think about it:

Why would you spend 100k for the opportunity to have no job prospects? It only takes a few minutes to look at the forecast.

Bizarre.

Now their English degree is being used for virtual pan handling and garnering sympathy.

What about my sympathy for not having parents to guarantee my loans. What about the loans I took out for a car and got a lemon and then the car seller disappeared?

No, because that is not a sexy topic and won't allow anyone else to share in the 5 minutes of "hate".

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#24

Post by petermcneeley » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 2:32 PM UTC

bluejay2387 wrote: post #19

There are books published by the US Government in almost every public library in the United States that have detailed earning stats and employment forecasts on every career. There are an enormous number of web sites (including sites maintained by the government) that offer the same information with a few seconds of searching. At some point people need to take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions.

"At some point people need to take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions." Are you talking about the people that lent the money? Debt is a two way street this is why some people are credit worthy and others are not.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#25

Post by cellularmitosis » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 2:33 PM UTC

“I have spent a great deal of time during the last decade shifting the blame for my debt. Whose fault was it?”

After all that he has been through, he still doesn’t seem to give consideration to his choice of major as the root source of the problem.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#26

Post by honkycat » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:21 PM UTC

>> “I have spent a great deal of time during the last decade shifting the blame for my debt. Whose fault was it?”

There is no one single person to point to, but I'll take a whack at it:

1. The father, who should know better, for agreeing to co-sign a loan for a worthless degree. A 5 minute conversation with ANYONE related to the degree would have told him the facts.

I wanted to be a video game designer and my parents would not sign for a loan for a degree in that area. We compromised on Computer Science. BULLET. DODGED.

I'm a bit sorrowful I'm not working at my passion, but I'm pretty young and for all I know being a game designer would have made me miserable. Traveling the world, living comfortably, and putting away a lot of money as a computer programmer is not something I'm about to complain about.

2. The people giving these people toxic loans for degrees that have no chance of every paying off.

They have essentially created a servant class that has to pay a large % of their monthly take-home to a parasitic student loan company. Instead of taking risks, buying houses and cars, and getting more useful education, they are doing data entry.

The best minds of my generation are doing data entry and working at call centers.

3. The Universities themselves. How is it at all ethical to allow students to go through a 4 year program, charge them 100k for the effort, and then turn them out on the streets to suffer for years and years?

I remember in my non-major classes in college, the attitude of other students with worthless degrees and professors who teach them was: Don't talk about it. Don't think about it, just keep going. Which is bullshit. Talk about it. Tell the students what they are getting into.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#27

Post by thebigspacefuck » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:28 PM UTC

cellularmitosis wrote: post #25

“I have spent a great deal of time during the last decade shifting the blame for my debt. Whose fault was it?” After all that he has been through, he still doesn’t seem to give consideration to his choice of major as the root source of the problem.

He does consider it. "Or was it my fault for not having the foresight to realise it was a mistake to spend roughly $200,000 on a school where, in order to get my degree, I kept a journal about reading Virginia Woolf?"

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#28

Post by craftyguy » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:31 PM UTC

honkycat wrote: post #26

>> “I have spent a great deal of time during the last decade shifting the blame for my debt. Whose fault was it?” There is no one single person to point to, but I'll take a whack at it: 1. The father, who should know better, for agreeing to co-sign a loan for a worthless degree. A 5 minute conversation with ANYONE related to the degree would have told him the facts. I wanted to be a video game designer and my parents…

>The best minds of my generation are doing data entry and working at call centers.

Alternatively, the best minds of your generation are doing none of those things because they didn't fall into the trap. Don't assume the loudest people speak for everyone.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#29

Post by thebigspacefuck » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:33 PM UTC

petermcneeley wrote: post #24

bluejay2387 wrote: post #19

There are books published by the US Government in almost every public library in the United States that have detailed earning stats and employment forecasts on every career. There are an enormous number of web sites (including sites maintained by the government) that offer the same information with a few seconds of searching. At some point people need to take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions.

"At some point people need to take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions." Are you talking about the people that lent the money? Debt is a two way street this is why some people are credit worthy and others are not.

This is a good point. Obama got rid of defaulting on student loans, so there's really not much of an excuse for banks not to give people a loan they won't be able to pay off. If there were, the bank might take more of an interest in what you were studying and what your career goals were.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#30

Post by craftyguy » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 3:38 PM UTC

prepend wrote: post #21

toomuchtodo wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The recently approved $717 billion in defense spending increased military spending by $80 billion dollars, far in excess of what would've been necessary to provide free college to everyone. Hard to argue the moral hazard on education spending when you're firehosing billions of dollars of taxpayer money into a dumpster fire already. "Those concerns were brushed aside Monday night, as the Senate overwhelmingly approved…

Or with $80 billion a year, you could do lots of stuff like have a lower deficit. Reducing defense spending being good does not mean that using it to discharge bad student loans is the best use.

You can argue all day about the 'best' thing to spend $80bn on, but there's no way the 'defense' budget will be reduced by any meaningful amount for the foreseeable future.