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Students as Debt Slaves

Students as Debt Slaves

John Buell

Periodically the so-called deficit hawks—a club whose membership includes prominent members of both parties—warn us of the dire consequences of burgeoning government debt. Many propose such harsh remedies as balanced budget amendments. Yet while these warnings and draconian responses are commonplace, one of the gravest problems receives far less attention, student debt.


Make loans available for all who want to pursue education beyond high school. Upon graduation from an accredited institution, not a Trump type university or any other school set up merely to feed on student loans, principal and interest forgiven by government. This would be 100% government money, loaned at a rate commensurate with the T bill interest rate; no banks or other parasitic financial institutions need apply.


From the article:

“Unlike the business loans from which Donald Trump benefited, student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy court.”

We have Joe Biden, former senator from MBNA, to thank for that legislative travesty.

Then the author asks, “In what sense is going to college still a choice?” Well, it’s not yet required by law; and, as is increasingly obvious, it’s no longer a guarantee of a steady job. Young people might be better advised to learn a useful trade, at least until such time as (a) student loan debt is treated no more harshly than Mr. President’s contractual obligations, and (b) there are jobs for all who want and can perform one.

Finally, consider economst Michael Hudson’s finding that there’s “No money at all without an active and ‘intrusive’ state,” a point avoided by self-styled libertarians as if it were the plague.

The overarching point is that capitalism requires debt peonage for its survival. If we want to end the problem of capitalism, avoiding debt is part of the solution.


Buell makes some excellent observations.

Once again, for those who have not seen it, Huntington and the plan to bind students to debt. The effects of the repression may be accidental, but the repression itself was not and is not: http://trilateral.org/download/doc/crisis_of_democracy.pdf


What if Elizabeth Warren, Cynthia Nixon and other progressive women won and instituted things like student loan forgiveness, free college, Medicare for all, peace, science?

The oligarchy would have a fit.

Direct Democracy


Loans??? How about combining a two year degree within the high school graduation even if one has to attend longer- some schools are doing this already , and students are job ready and debt free.

Maybe raise taxes ( Oh my)! a little and bring back more trade school options as well. Stop this religious nonsense.

How about no loans, but combining two year colleges with high school and having students job ready without debt> It can and has been done. Taking out a loan for ed is absurd. It is not a luxury.

If the oligarchs want to vacuum wealth out of society without working for it, interest is a great way to do it.

It’s not just students that are burdened with debt. The financial so called elites, better called vultures, take more than their fair share of the economic pie, and out of their excess, lend to us so we can buy what we should have been able to pay for out of our fair share. That way we can be milked. But it’s unsustainable.as debt levels grow too high.


The Green Party are the only ones talking about student loan debt forgiveness via quantitative easing, taking the measure a step further than any democratic progressives might dare … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzwZtmTEMuw

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Or Randy Credico instead of Cynthia Nixon. Watch Jimmy Dore talk to him on Youtube.

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Thanks Jeff.

The big problem is how we fund all education from beginning to the end. We need an educated population as the world advances in technology. Democracy demands that people be educated, no matter what profession they choose, to be able to make informed choices about what direction should we go in. What paths and the pros and cons of each choice.
Other democracies are making education a primary directive for their people. And they surpass us in education. We are seeing what the lack of education in the US does to a democracy. The derision of science by many, the inability to change as technology changes the skills needed for new jobs as old jobs are phased out.
Education shouldn’t put people into debt for decades. It forces people to take jobs they don’t want and make them stay in them, just to pay off that debt. Employers take advantage of the fact that people have to worry about their jobs. It stops people from looking for something else. Our economy is set up to make sure there is no full employment, so people are always looking. This means that when a person enters the job market, they have to compete with those already without jobs and willing to accept lower wages.


Exactly on target Skip! “We are seeing what the lack of education does to a democracy”!