Bail Out the Students

Alright, before I step onto my soapbox and make my opinion loud and clear, I want to preface with the facts that I'm not a business man, I'm not an accountant, I don't work for any large company which might affect my opinion. No, I'm just a recent college graduate, working in a field that has nothing to do with my degree, barely making ends meet while I cringe at the thought of my upcoming student loans.

I am, as I'm sure most of you are, completely turned off and frustrated with the amount of tax payer money the federal government is using to bail out corrupt banks and auto companies who refuse to change their prehistoric ways. And what usually happens? The companies file for bankruptcy faster than Michael Phelps swims a fifty meeter sprint. Now I'm all for helping out our beautiful country, especially the hard working class, but this is getting ridiculous. Why help out the companies that put us in this mess in the first place? What exactly is that going to do?

So why not give money back to the little people? We're the ones that are really struggling, right? Now I know I'm not the first one to suggest this, but it just makes total sense to me, but if the government simply forgave student load debt, that would do more for the country than another massive bailout to a company that's going to go under whether their helped out or not.

Before your up in arms about this idea, just hear me out. The average college graduate finishes school with $21,000 of loan debt. So a quarter of his or her check every month just goes to pay the interest off (and that's if they can even find a job now days). So we're putting hundreds of thousands of employees out into the work force each year who are already starting their careers with a monkey on their back. Instead of having a little free money to buy that new car, television, or save for a house (aka, help boost the economy), they are forced to pay off their loans for the next twenty years. And we're not just talking about doctors or engineers who can easily afford the $600 monthly payment, but teachers and public servants. What would motivate high school students to go and study education in college when they know they'll probably be in debt for years to come. It's sad, but I have heard from a number of people who completed school years go say they wish they never went, because the price they paid and are continuing to pay just isn't worth it. What if that sentiment begins to stick and more and more people refuse to go to school simply because they can't afford to pay for it later? What will become of the country then?

Forgiving student loan debts would instantly have an effect on the economy. There would be hundreds of millions of dollars free to spend and go back into the economy. And guess what? Some of that money would go back into the banks and car companies, helping not only those to get a new car, but also the corporations stage of bankruptcy and move forward (of course this is just the tip of the ice burg. If we want to keep our fresh graduates out of serious debt we'll have to do something about the outrageous price of higher education, but that's a different topic for a different day). Of course I've heard the argument, "well if you forgive student loan debt you'll have to forgive credit card debt, and than home owners debt...etc", but, at least in my opinion, these are unrelated. Yes, they are both debt, but that's about where the similarities cease. The majority of credit card and mortgage debt comes from people "keeping up with the Joneses" by overstepping their spending limits and buying products they simply don't need. On the other hand, student loans come from people trying to better themselves, and in turn better their community. Their is very little greed in attending school, and I don't feel like we should punish those that do.

Alright, that's my sermon and I'm getting off my box now. You don't have to agree with me, because that's what makes this country great. I just don't see why our government helps out the major corporations while ignoring the average, hard working Joe.