Blanket student loan forgiveness is redistributing wealth upward

[gulliver]

78. Paying back student loans is part of the bargain

Obviously, you can change a bargain, but you don't do it stupidly. You bargain. What are students getting? What did they already get? What will they get? What will the people who work and who subsidize students get? Where does reciprocity fit in? Where does mutual gratitude and mutual respect fit in?

I would argue that sometimes you want to subsidize even middle- and upper-middle-income students if the bargain is good. It works just like anything in capitalism. Say there is a shortage of neurologists or dentists or nurses. Why not forgive students in those fields some of the cost of their education as an incentive?

Empathy is not the only reason to forgive loans, in other words. All the reasons should be used. And reasons not to forgive loans should also be considered.

I'm for free education ultimately, and I hope that's where it's headed. But that's not where it is now. And if we blow it and let the hotheads run away with this issue (or any issue), then we will get to our goal much more slowly, if at all.