[mcv]

By that argument, everything is "buying votes". There are far more blatant examples of vote buying, like creating jobs in the production of weapon systems for the military, tax cuts for specific groups (mostly the rich, though that's more "buying campaign donations"), and plenty of other examples.

The fact of the matter is that these loans are unsustainable. They saddle people with life-long debt that they can never get rid of, dooming them to a life of poverty because of a choice they made when they were young, which everybody at the time told them was the right choice.

That particular debt forgiveness is simply the right thing to do. It will free a lot of people from poverty.

But clearly there are also measures necessary to prevent this from happening again, like a reasonable maximum to how much can be lend.

[wand3r]

The examples you gave are not as direct. This is a direct stimulus that can easily be attributed from the government to an individual. In some cases, as you mentioned, there are political reasons that are also suspect and stupid in my opinion. However, this example is extremely simple and easily attributable as there isn’t some 3rd party hiring people or some number of dollars you get to keep in your bank account in the future.

I would prefer that the change be that loans can be discharged in bankruptcy instead of this one off forgiveness.

[mcv]

I think the other examples are far more blatant. Politicians fund the military by far more than the military needs, to the point that the military doesn't even know what to do with it, but there's always conditions that specific military or NASA projects take place in specific states or districts for specific politicians. The tax cuts for donations are even worse. And neither of those are solving a specific problem, which is definitely the case with the crippling student loans.

That said, I agree with you on bankruptcy being a better idea. From what I understand, these loans are harder if not impossible to get rid of through bankruptcy than other loans, despite being far more crippling.

In general, I'd like a rule that all interest-carrying loans must be able to be eliminated through bankruptcy. Only interest-free loans should be exempt. Also: a cap on student loans to discourage excessive tuition. Tuition is just insane (and where is that money going? I hear plenty of younger professors are struggling too).

[wand3r]

Yeah, I think we agree. The military spending is absurd and also extremely wasteful. However, I don’t think it is “buying votes”. Its more akin to this terrible system where senators pork bills and make trades. Paying people (or forgiving a big debt) directly before an election is buying votes. The other examples you said are just political ineptitude, horse trading and a broken governmental system.

My first pass on fixing education is that we should remove the non-discharge of student loan debt. Gen-Z could boycott this system by declaring bankruptcy immediately after graduation which would have relatively minimal affects on their lives relative to the debt and schools would be forced to lower costs