zorg1000 said:
Biggerboat1 said:
I think we agree in large part. It'd be interesting to see a breakdown of debtors who feasibly could have paid off their loans, based on their income, vs those who stood no chance, but doubt that info will be forthcoming. Just thought that the language being used towards chrkeller was a bit spicy. Everybody draws their lines in a different place, for him nationalized healthcare would be welcome, but not higher education, especially as he points out when there are other systematic problems in the existing system that could be addressed first. It's just a bit reductive to say that unless you think government should fund either none or all sectors that you're a hypocrite... Anyway, chrkeller is more than capable of defending himself, it just concerns me when discussions on the left/center-left descend so quickly into ad homs. |
I don’t think he’s a hypocrite for supporting healthcare but not higher education, it’s the reasoning of “I don’t want to pay for other people’s mistakes” that I feel is hypocritical. I also don’t like the framing that we see too often that people with student debt are dead beat, morons who got a degree in a stupid, low paying field. Even for the ones who did make poor decisions, most people are 17/18/19 years old when they sign up for these loans. I think someone has to be a pretty big asshole for having the view that people should have decades of debt because of mistakes they made as teenagers, an age group notorious for making poor decisions. They are legally not responsible enough to drink, smoke or rent a car but take on loads of debt without any proof of ability to repay? Go right ahead! |
You can apply that principle to a whole host of situations people find themselves in. Should 17/18/19 YOs be forgiven for all the financial mistakes they've made? All debt forgiven across the board? All let out of prison for crimes they've committed? Should they be compensated for choosing the wrong careers, bad purchases, bad investments?
The human brain doesn't fully mature until it's mid-twenties, so should the above be extended to those individuals too?
Everybody will have a different opinion on these & other similar scenarios, some will say yes to all, some no, but the vast majority will fall somewhere in-between, to varying degrees.
My main point is that I find it an ever-more common position for people on the left (where I'd broadly place my views incidentally) to say that whoever sits to the right of their particular views is by definition a bad person/selfish/greedy etc. This mentality will only derail the conversation into ad homs & honestly, who has ever changed their outlook & been won over by being told that effectively, they're a piece of shit? Shaming isn't gonna win hearts & minds.
This approach is also counterproductive to the person engaging in it as there will almost always be someone with positions to the left of theirs, who can then turn the tables & define them as a POS.
I fear that more and more people are being pushed to the right, when in actuality their positions start off in a more moderate place, but they're just tired of being talked down to and scolded.
Btw, I don't have an axe to grind with you here, I lurk more than I post and I find your overall contribution to the community a positive one.