[ProblemExplorer]

Schools are not getting the feedback they need to be useful and political tricks like this further distorts the feedback loop.

We should really take a few minutes to consider what this means for not just our future but our future generations.

I think arguments that go along the lines of "I worked extremely hard to minimize my loans and now I felt betrayed" is missing the bigger evil lurking in the shadows: schools in the U.S. don't teach what really needs to be taught and political tricks like this further distort the feedback loop.

Schools should teach logical thinking, clarity of mind, decision making that includes knowledge of finances and projections so you can answer the question "out of all the things I can do, what should I be doing right now?"

"Follow your passion" worked when the U.S. was enjoying extreme wealth growth right off WWII - at that time you could shine shoes and own a single bedroom house away from the city. Weaving baskets and selling them could be the only thing you did and rent half a home for the rest of your life.

This is a cheap political trick that makes things worse. This is a perfect example of why a government shouldn't be trusted to allocate resources efficiently.

I am also concerned that this now opens an expectation that this current party will periodically forgive loans in the future - so, as long as you keep voting them into power, it doesn't matter what decisions you make, you won't have to suffer too terribly for them.

The right call would have been to invest these dollars in reworking education and schooling so that our future generations don't repeat the same mistakes we did and end up looking for handouts because we failed to learn how to make the right decisions.

While the intentions for this might not be evil, the effect is terribly so and disempowering for future generations.

To those who got some relief from this subsidy - I hope this helps you feel a bit better but hold those who put you in this situation accountable. Don't let politicians take advantage of you like this. Take a few minutes to write a letter to your school and college and tell them how they failed you and what you wish they had done instead.

The future of our country depends on your feedback

[silverquiet]

> when the U.S. was enjoying extreme wealth growth right off WWII

So I don't really believe in economics anymore, but wouldn't they say that we are actually much wealthier per capita and more much productive than we were back then?

[ProblemExplorer]

> wouldn't they say that we are actually much wealthier per capita and more much productive than we were back then?

Wealthier (higher QoL, longer life expectancy etc) and more much productive, yes. However, affordability is lower precisely because everyone is more wealthy, so they demand more compensation (incentive to work), so every person has to now earn even more to afford to pay someone else more.

Globalization has put an upward pressure on wealth globally and has a deflating impact on affordability, which is in contrast to the unique position the U.S. was in allowing its citizens to enjoy extreme wealth growth right off WWII.

So yes, people are wealthier and more much productive, but they can afford less because everyone else are wealthier and more much productive as well and can compete for the same resources better than they were able to before (it's not that exciting to be a millionaire if everyone is also a millionaire).

[pixl97]

> "out of all the things I can do, what should I be doing right now?"

I mean aren't you really asking "What should I be doing X years from now"?

If you're looking at your feet you're only going to notice you've walked up to the edge of a cliff moments before you get there. I mean, even with re-education you're taking long term training now in hopes it will work out in the future.

So, pretty much you've said nothing interesting here other than survival of the fittest, which didn't work out great in the past when the unfit were destitute but still alive to cause problems like crime and vagrancy. Is part of your great plan in making things better just unaliving these people?

[ProblemExplorer]

> I mean aren't you really asking "What should I be doing X years from now"?

For a person to answer what they should be doing X years from now, well, they first, need to be able to answer what they should be doing right now, very well.

> Is part of your great plan in making things better just unaliving these people?

That is quite a stretch.

Let us simplify things down a bit: on an individual basis, these subsidies are a few hundred dollars a month - which means that while that's nothing to scoff at, the recepients already have something else going on and making a living already. It might not be a great living but this subsidy isnt going to, for example, take someone destitute and homeless and put them in a position to become financially independent.

What would have stopped destitution and homeless would have been a better education. Now yes, there are well educated people who due to bad luck have become destitute and homeless but those are the exception, not the norm for well educated people to end up in.