Comments on I'm Not Hannah: Another OWS Post: It's Not Fair

Thanks for this post. As what I know, this kind of...

2011-12-25T21:47:41.872-05:00

Thanks for this post. As what I know, this kind of system is almost the same as to other countries' study now pay later program. however, the students under these program are not obliged to do other stuffs like cleaning the football field and so on and so forth. I think, you got a very goo point in there.
choosing a college major

interesting, Heather, but we could say the same ab...

2011-10-19T16:19:03.388-04:00

interesting, Heather, but we could say the same about health care, and I assure you that the docs most assuredly see it this way. I'm going to substitute a few words in a sentence you wrote, and you can tell me what you think.
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If you can't afford health care and you want it, you have to borrow money. It's the same as buying a house or a car and thank goodness (maybe) we have a system that allows us to borrow that money. But you have to pay it back. If you buy a shirt at the store, you have to pay for it. It's a product; and so is health care.
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A separate issue is that education is in a bubble right now with year over year price increases that far exceed inflation. We now have more college debt than credit card debt as a nation. Why are prices for college increasing like this? Perhaps this is the question we should be asking.

I agree with you on the student loan issue, mostly...

2011-10-19T15:54:22.124-04:00

I agree with you on the student loan issue, mostly. Frankly, I'd like to live in a country that FUNDED at least BA tuition at a state school for everybody, but I know I don't live in that country (that country is called Canada). But debt for value isn't really hugely unfair... (yes, the terms... I think student loans should RETURN to no interest while in school, then nominal at about six months out--maybe prime... no more). But I went to college on life insurance money. You heard me. One dead parent equaled my college education. My 'not fair' trumps any monetary one.

I completely agree with the time for money principle. My master's degree was funded with Graduate student assistantships--a TA one quarter and a gig as a statistical consultant the rest (I know. I'm a geek--I helped grad students determine what analysis was appropriate for their questions).

I LOVE the model Alexandra gives, but for 'debt forgiveness'--teachers, nurses and doctors ALL have programs whereby federal student loans are FORGIVEN for X years work in an underserved area. Yes, it means you may need to live 5 years in Hubutzville, but to be debt free? And you know what? You might LEARN something living someplace like that. I ALSO love the idea of extending the GI bill to Peace Corp and Americorp--you commit to years of real service, you earn real years of education.

Oh so that's what student loans are. As an Aus...

2011-10-18T04:28:02.280-04:00

Oh so that's what student loans are. As an Aussie I've heard about them on TV and whatnot but I figured they were the same as they are over here. Am I right to assume that students are given an amount per week or month and they use that for paying for courses, rent, food, and anything else?

Here, the government pays the money for the course directly to the school. We have to pay the government back when we start earning a certain amount—the gov takes it out of our income like tax and there is some interest on top but not a lot.

Along with paying the university/college/TAFE if you earn below $236 per fortnight and live at home you get $212.70 per fortnight. They payment goes down the more that you earn and goes up if you live away from home.

It's tough to get the media (liberal or corpor...

2011-10-17T15:27:56.596-04:00

It's tough to get the media (liberal or corporate) to report responsibly that any one OWS protester is out there protesting about. When you are out there putting a face on your issue, it makes it look as though THIS ISSUE is the problem when it's a systemic problem that OWS is protesting against- not student loans or even Wall Street (which I know you know). And it's hard to put those messages in a media savvy way- they should be complaining that the interest rates on their student debt is too high and that their tuition is too damn high while their education continues to suffer (classes continue to get larger and the teachers are not getting paid more- so where is that money going?). But put that on a poster!

But the progressive media is somewhat suspect (as you rightly point out)- they would like to co-opt this movement and they can't. This is about a global protest with what the banks (at the governments behest) are doing from the smallest issue (robbing students with high interest rates) to big ones (entire communities being used to sustain our way of life). But let's focus on the message of one little guy who doesn't want to pay his high student loans and marginalize the message... that will make those OWSers look dumb. Let's face it: Progressive movements have a lot to lose if the current system breaks down. They are very strongly tied to raising money for this cause or that issue. They don't criticize the power structure- ever. And they are looking at OWS with a lot of caution. They want to tame the protesters not really join them.

I've noticed that these "poor" stude...

2011-10-17T13:33:16.794-04:00

I've noticed that these "poor" students manage to fill the downtown bars on the weekends. I've also heard them planning where they are going on the various school breaks. Education is extremely expensive but the eventual payoff, hopefully, is a well paying professional position. Maybe a mandatory class in financial mangement would help.

Some of my friends call that The Heepies ;-)

2011-10-17T12:52:32.126-04:00

Some of my friends call that The Heepies ;-)

Yes, Americans can't be too European, Alexandr...

2011-10-17T12:11:42.132-04:00

Yes, Americans can't be too European, Alexandra. It makes us itch. (Sigh.)

That is how it works where I am from and it's ...

2011-10-17T09:24:52.553-04:00

That is how it works where I am from and it's called vocational training. Your employer pays for school which is part of the week and the rest of it you work for him. How do you know he won't lose money? You have a contract to work for when the time is up, and you have to maintain a certain GPA.
However, I can't say this very loud because unflattering names have come my way when talking like this.