President Biden has announced a plan which will forgive up to $10,000 or $20,000 (depending on whether you received a Pell Grant) of student loan debt. I’ve seen several different responses to this action online, but not surprisingly this move has been very polarizing. On one side I hear this action being described as a political move to help the democrats in the upcoming mid-term elections, and on the other side I hear all the clap-talkers saying anyone who opposes this action is heartless and should show themselves the door because life is unfair and how dare we want to make it more unfair, yas queen preach! #empowerment #downwiththepatriarchy. You know, the usual.
As cringe as it is for me to see these hyper-emotional devoid of any logic responses from those who adamantly support cancelling the debts, I totally agree with some of their points. Points such as:
- “Society” has pushed college so hard, and made it seem like you would be a failure for not getting a degree. Therefore, everyone felt immense pressure to go to college even if they didn’t feel ready, didn’t want to go, or didn’t have the slightest idea what to major in.
- College tuition is incredibly expensive, and these loans are often the only way for people to afford to attend a college or university.
I get it, and I agree. You don’t have to preach at me, I lived it too. I was bombarded with college this and college that during high school. There was no other option. Anything else meant failure. Anything else was wrong. What a sick and manipulative environment our students are having to face. I ended dropping out of college for two reasons: I couldn’t afford it, and I did not have the mindset necessary to be successful in college. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had no clue. I had only ever been a student. I had no other real, valuable experiences to help me decide what path to take, and I lacked the guidance necessary to help me through such a confusing time, as is the case with so many other students. Some people are lucky enough, or sure enough in their interests to pick a field of study right out of high school and find themselves in that field upon graduation from college. I was certainly not one of them. I dropped out, joined the military and got to gain valuable experiences which would influence my desire to pursue a certain career field. The crazy thing is, once I was old enough and looked back at my life, I realized I had been lied to. I didn’t NEED to immediately go to college. I didn’t NEED to go to college at all if I didn’t want to. You can be successful in this world (regardless of what the doomsayers say) without a college degree. It’s just that the federal government and the universities won’t make as much money off of you. So, you are sent into this financial death spiral all for you own good, but also at your own expense. That pretty much sums up the ideology of any statist who screams that these debt forgiveness amounts are not enough and we *clap* need *clap* more!
I have hope that as time moves on, more and more people will realize that you do not need a college degree to be successful. The internet is full of all kinds of information. There are so many resources to take advantage of to learn valuable skills which are highly sought after in the job market. I’ve seen this idea taking hold, and I believe it will only continue to grow as employers see more and more non-college-educated workers who are just as skilled, if not more skilled that their college-educated workforce. Imagine if all those people shrieking online took this idea to the workplace and to their communities to advocate for rather than rage-posting and virtue-signaling online to their safe-space of like-minded do-gooders. I think the world would be a better place.
The government needs to stop subsidizing the cost of college education. That’s what got us in this mess in the first place. The government shoveled money to unsuspecting very-young-adults, the universities receive said shovels of money and can now afford to beef up their staff and admin departments to ridiculous sizes which require an increase in funding to support, so tuitions rise. Then the government continues to shovel more money to accommodate for the rising tuition and the cycle continues. It is up to us to seek out many different paths forward and find the best ones to implement. Continuing to do what we have always done will only carry us forward on our current trajectory.
I understand that this topic inspires a lot of emotion in individuals (it seems like everything does these days). I remember feeling cheated when I realized I was sold the college lie. How would my life be different if I was surrounded by teachers, counselors, and parents who understood this? Would I not have joined the Navy? Perhaps. Would I never have had to deal with a terrible Navy chief(s) with a God complex? God, I wish. However, that’s not the important part. We mustn’t let ourselves ruminate in our emotions. Emotions can be a wonderful and beautiful part of our human experience. They can also be blinding and damning in our navigation through life. Let us not allow our own emotions, not even our compassion, to continue to damn our future generations, but rather seek the most rational and effective means to address our issues.