Student Loan Forgiveness
I used to respond to the idea of student loan forgiveness with annoyance, sometimes even vehemence. Mainly due to it being a dereliction of personal responsibility. If your name is on the dotted line of money owed, you pay back that debt. Much of that intense simplicity stems from being someone who hates and refuses to use debt of any kind, which is not common in our financial system. And while I still hold to this, I’m having a difficult time caring about the student loan debate altogether.
The most convincing argument in favor of forgiving student loans, aside from Old Testament-style Jubilee, which needs its own post as well as a government that actually respects God, is that society for 50+ years has pounded into every child’s head that the most important decision they’ll make is what college they’ll attend and what degree they’ll pursue. This is wrong. But parents bought in and then handed down to their own children, who subsequently handed it down to their own. “What do you mean you want to work instead of go to college? That’s irresponsible.”
The social engineering aspect still isn’t enough for me to fall in love with the idea of wiping the slate clean with regard to school debt, but it’s become enough to lull me into a less outraged, more neutralized stance on the debate. Despite this neutrality, however, in no way does it mean that I have newfound respect for those who have been the loudest in forwarding forgiveness, specifically those who beg for and cheer it on. I can’t even fathom what it’s like to be in those shoes.
This unfathomability has actually contributed to my own apathy. Sure, through no work of their own, they’ll have their debts—these ones anyway—paid for them. But the mentality on display leads me to believe that they’ll soon find themselves slave to some other debt. The bottom line has changed, but not the mindset. I feel the same way about reparations. Those who beg for it the most will get it but then eventually find themselves in the exact panhandling position they were in before.
Further enabling a “do this for me please” mindset will obviously not cause a shift in changing their mindset. I’m not overly concerned about this either, though. Grand scheme and landscape shifts are happening all around us, and I believe we’re in an ever-increasing political one right now. At the backdrop of this shift, a formulation of bolder lines differentiating between those who want things done for them and those who do things is occurring, and I think that’s a good thing.
Announcement
Some friends of mine and I have started a sports YouTube show/podcast and newsletter. Readers of The Emergent may recognize the other names involved with the project: Buck Johnson from the Counterflow Podcast, Tho Bishop from the Mises Institute, Justin Campbell, my fellow co-host on The Morning After as well as the host of the Fact Check This Podcast, and Matthew Erickson of KingPilled on YouTube.
Last night we had our first show, in which we previewed the upcoming NFL season division by division. Next week we plan to preview the college football season. If a fan of sports, particularly football, I encouraged you to check out the links below and subscribe!