We are still waiting on US President Joe Biden to announce his plan regarding student debt.
There is a movement to cancel all student debt.
But Joe Biden was never about radical change, his whole career is about incremental change.
What most likely will happen is that Joe Biden will cancel a certain percentage of student debt based on income.
He knows that canceling the entire debt for someone who makes more than a $100,000 a year will be political poison. He knows this will cause the Republicans to run ads saying "Democrats are giving goodies to the elite at the expense of the working class".
But I do predict (and hope) that he will cancel a high percentage of debt for those who are lower-income and/or unemployed/underemployed. This will be consistent with the long-time Democrat message that they will help the working class.
Some Republicans (and their sympathizers) think that canceling debt is about giving bailouts to "snowflakes who majored in oppression studies or comparative literature".
But many of us who are living with debt have done so because we borrowed money to major in something that could lead us to a desired occupation. But the pandemic has dried up opportunities. Even while things are opening up, some employers are hesitant to hire because lord knows what new expenses are coming up in the era of inflation.
Back in 2013-2015, I went back to school to major in Library & Information Science (LIS), which is an occupation-related major. Some of my tuition was covered by grants and scholarships (major shout-out to the Friends of the Library of Hawaii). But most of the money I borrowed was for living expenses. I was working as a substitute teacher, a job with major flexibility. I could take time off whenever I felt like it, especially when I had projects due, field trips to attend, internships to complete, or student activities to participate in.
And that's the thing, for many students, much of the money they borrowed was for living expenses. It's hard to balance a full-time job with a college schedule. Borrowing for living expenses helped us balance our college schedule while also allowing us to take part-time jobs.
And while much of the focus on college activists is on the outlandish fools who scream about "cultural appropriation" and interrupt guest speakers, most of my activism during my LIS years was focused on getting the university's library to be open for longer hours during the summer. I did convince the university's Graduate Student Organization (GSO) to pass a resolution for increased library hours during the summer. However, even to this day, the university still hasn't budged.
(learn more at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2015/07/gso-resolution-to-extend-summer-library.html)
And after college, it took me a while to get a job in which I could use my LIS degree. I finally hit pay-dirt in 2019 with a library position at a middle school. The problem was the head librarian was a turd, and dealing with her nonsense was a detriment to my mental health. I left just when the pandemic was a few months old. Afterward, I did take some temp jobs and a position at a fashion retail store that I worked at before. Meanwhile, libraries have been reluctant to hire new staff throughout the pandemic, but are slowly opening up positions (at least according to current job listings).
Others had less luck than me. People got laid off, struggled to get unemployment insurance benefits, and had families to feed. Some could no longer take the pressure and ended their lives.
People like us deserve a break. We deserve to have our slates wiped clean. We worked our rears off, made sacrifices, and took risks in an ever-changing world.
Some right-wing nutcases will tell us "you made your choices, deal with it". Yet, at the same time, they demand that we give 2nd chances to racist sex-offenders like Donald Trump! The same guy who filed bankruptcy for this businesses because he didn't want to take responsibility to pay off the debts he originally agreed to. He also gave pardons to those who made stupid choices.
Some will say "I paid my student debt, therefore nobody should get relief!" That is like saying
- I suffered, and so shall you
- I suffered, and you shouldn't get any relief even though you suffered more than me due to the different circumstances you're dealing with
Others say "I didn't go to college, why should we pay to bail you out?"
Look, my taxes pay for a whole bunch of things I don't even use. I paid taxes for roads to accommodate those who drive cars that I don't drive. I paid taxes for mortgage relief for others even though I rent an apartment. I paid taxes to subsidize women's health services, even though I as a male won't use those services. I paid taxes to subsidize the maintenance of hiking trails that I probably will never walk over. I paid taxes to subsidize projects in states that I probably never get the chance to visit.
I also pay taxes that subsidize things I don't agree with. I paid taxes to subsidize federal agents who harass and detain immigrants who just want to come here and work. I paid taxes to subsidize federal agents who harass and detain those using cannabis. I paid taxes for overseas wars that enrich the pockets of defense contractors while putting veterans and civilians at risk. I paid taxes to subsidize fuel tanks that are stationed above an aquifer, which puts our water supply at risk.
If I'm going to pay taxes for all that, I might as well get something that benefits me.
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And yes, I know, government programs aren't always perfect. I've heard it all, I used to identify myself as a libertarian (or at least a semi-libertarian). But while government-funded safety nets have their flaws, the libertarian jihad/crusade against safety nets turns off people who support other libertarian ideas (some of which I still support like legalizing substances, legalizing gambling, legalizing self-defense, legalizing immigration, eliminating the Jones Act, eliminating red tape policies that impede work/housing opportunities, eliminating taxes on food/meds/shelter, withdrawing from foreign wars, etc.). Fighting against safety nets isn't a hill that libertarians shall fight to die on.
Whatever Joe Biden decides to announce on the student debt issue isn't going to satisfy everyone. But hopefully, there'll be a relief for at least those with lower incomes.
