[brnaftr361]

A pretty substantial portion of this "civilization" thing is ensuring social stability. I won't say that this is going to be the hair that broke the camel's back. And I would agree with you entirely on the idea that kids shouldn't be assuming $40k of debt liability as children. But there's a lot of potential destabilizing effects downstream from this in many domains. What won't destabilize society is indicating it was volitional to accept the loan terms and to pursue a degree of nebulous worth.

I wouldn't agree that having a "worthless" degree is some sisyphian burden, my SO went into college and has two trash degrees, but also had all of the prerequisite credits to trivially segue into a meaningful career and a masters. Her loans are paid.

I, on the other hand, am in the middle of my post-secondary after toiling 5 prime years away to avoid debt. The proposition that I could've foregone that sacrifice and been toting around a degree and work experience without full time work throughout school, free of charge - is infuriating.

And this is discounting a thousandfold other paths. What about the blue collar parents that clawed their way up to the middle class, ultimately paying their kid's way through school at a relatively great expense? Or the single father who took out a second mortgage to put his daughter through school? Or an infinity of other possibilities that can't be written into a survey?

The system needs fixed first.