The inescapable weight of my student debt • Hacker News Board

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#41

Post by bufferoverflow » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 5:43 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…

Yeah, and if we redirect $500 of your paycheck to me, I can eat for free. I find it extremely useful. Let's do it!

And yeah, I get what you're saying about the ridiculous military budget, I don't like it either. But can you change it is the real question. If you can't, it's all just a beautiful fantasy.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#42

Post by sjg007 » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 5:49 PM UTC

There's the loan forgiveness program if you work at a non-profit or in education for 10 years. That seems like one pathway out at least for the Federal loans.

There are some people who don't pay the loans at all and take the credit hit and find their tax refunds taken. The interesting thing is that the refund directly reduces the principal and is not applied to the interest. For some people that seems to be a reasonable mitigation. I could be misremembering the details here though.

The other thing is that people need to vote. Vote for politicians who will reform student loans.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#43

Post by sjg007 » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 5:51 PM UTC

thebigspacefuck wrote: post #29

petermcneeley wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

It was Bush, not Obama.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#44

Post by sjg007 » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 5:52 PM UTC

cellularmitosis wrote: post #34

thebigspacefuck wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?"

Oh, I thought he was calling into question the quality of his school or department in that statement.

He's doing both. He's saying the price he paid for his education was not worth the 200k sticker.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#45

Post by morgtheborg » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 5:53 PM UTC

fatalVoltage wrote: post #5

torstenvl wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like you're victim-blaming. Do you really think a 17-year-old has the capacity to sort through the wrong career guidance? This problem is emphatically not of the students' own making. It's on the teachers and guidance counselors who insist on a college degree at any cost and brook no disagreement.

I do actually since when I was 17 I got advice by all my teachers, parents, etc to go into something that pays. Also it's just common sense that you need money to pay your bills, therefore you need a job that is in demand.

Not a single person gave me that advice.

Re: The inescapable weight of my student debt

#46

Post by firic » Tue, Aug 21, 2018, 6:01 PM UTC

sunshinelackof wrote: post #38

firic wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two things can be right at once. People who took out 100k loans to study a useless degree are stupid. And, undischargable loans probably shouldn't be a thing even if that means that some people will miss out studying their passion. In order to not leave arts out to die, people who want to learn arts should apply for grants from people who value arts. I don't value arts that much so I wouldn't pay. but if you value ar…

Unfortunately I think that's a little idealistic. Compulsory support and funding by the state for the arts and sciences is necessary for a host of reasons. You could say similar things about about climate change - if you care about it, you pay for it. But we know that the individual cannot solve climate change and that it requires some form of top down movement. Maybe it's not fair comparison, but I'm arguing that co…

Climate change is a big issue that in order to fix (if it is even possible) involves many people working together. No matter how much C02 you conserve, if a tanker ship exists, it will pollute more than you can ever do in your life. With the case of arts, if you buy a painting you will directly encourage the creation of a new painting.

> What an enormous opportunity cost it is to not take the loan if you think you'll succeed. It's a bad situation for everyone involved and there isn't a good answer to the individuals in or about to be in that situation.

As for a solution for people in that situation, I can't think of any. But then again, people with prison records, facial disfigurements, born in a 3rd world country also struggle to live. Yet if we want to make life easier for them it will make life much more difficult for us. You may call that selfish, but that's just what humans are.