This Picture Will Make You Think Forgiving Student Debt Isn't So Crazy After All

[magical thyme]

120. I paid cash for my house

but I still believe that people who were suckered into bad mortgages should get relief. I have cheered those individuals who fought off their foreclosures and were awarded the house free and clear.

One thing I've learned over the years that while I don't get to directly benefit from *every* relief program, I get to directly benefit from the ones I desperately need to. And I get indirect benefits from the rest.

When we help those who got bad mortgages and foreclosed on, we help our own home values and our neighborhoods.

When we help those who took out bad student loans, we free them to spend the money they earn on things that really can improve their lives, and boost demand and the economy for all of us, versus usury interest for the 1% leeches.

I took out student loans for a job degree. I was going to sell my home to go cash, in which case I would have dropped out because I ended up hating the program. But the housing market collapsed, and I've been unable to sell my house in 3 years of trying. And my house is losing value as fast as my student loan interest is piling up.

In the meantime, despite hating the program, I worked my ass off and graduated summa cum laude. However, the HR rep I spoke to before entering the program lied about the salary range in the local hospital. Bottom line: I make 25% less/hour, and don't get enough hours work to live on, let alone pay off the student loans. And I hate, hate, hate the job as much as I hated the school program.

The income based repayment program is the *only* thing keeping me out of bankruptcy today. Student loan forgiveness would help free me from this trap and enable me to have some kind of future other than grinding away at a job I hate until I die. Because in this situation, my motivation becomes die sooner rather than later. In which case, the loans won't get paid off anyway.