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In addition, some parents are probably reflecting on their choice to pay for everything. I'm not as concerned about the very wealthy for whom the cost of sendin

In addition, some parents are probably reflecting on their choice to pay for everything. I'm not as concerned about the very wealthy for whom the cost of sending their child(ren) to school was a minor expense, I'm more concerned about the parents that made extreme sacrifices. And then there's the student that juggled work and school to minimize or eliminate any student loans. The generosity of Robert F. Smith is admirable. I'm unsure how to reconcile it with some students paying vs others getting a free ride.

lowercased 7y ago
i'd read he was expecting people to 'pay it forward'. it may be consistent of him to give some sort of one-time payment to the "debt-free" folks in order for them to be equally able to 'pay it forward'.
mikeash 7y ago
Those people are no worse off today than they were yesterday.
- daveFNbuck 7y ago
  The point is that they're worse off today than they would have been if they hadn't been so responsible. Their sacrifice ended up being for nothing and put them at an overall disadvantage.
  - mikeash 7y ago
    This is the same sort of idiotic thinking that gets people depressed about selling their stock before it skyrocketed. You can’t predict the future. You do the best you can. Your choices mean that you didn’t get to benefit from a gift that nobody knew was coming? Might as well complain about not winning the lottery. That some people was helped doesn’t mean the others have been hurt. I’m amazed and appalled at how common this sentiment is. So many comments here are complaining that some of these graduates will miss out on this charity because they have no debt. At the risk of violating site guidelines, what the fuck is wrong with you people? (For the record, I went to a cheap school and was fortunate to have family support that left me with no student debt.)
    - daveFNbuck 7y ago
      You could make the same argument if he had given the money only to people without any debt as a reward for their good planning. There are two problems with rewarding only the least responsible people. The first is that it will encourage people going into college to behave less responsibly due to the hope that their debt will be forgiven. The second is that this gift isn't happening in a vacuum. It's happening as part of a political movement to make this sort of charity part of public policy. People don't want public policy to move forward in a way that puts the people who tried to do the right thing in the least advantageous position.
      - mikeash 7y ago
        Responsible people with good planning get rewarded for it constantly. People rarely complain about it. You certainly could, and should, make the same argument about them, because the argument also applies to them.
protomyth 7y ago
Life is full of serendipity and chaos. Yep, some folks are going to get a massive break and some are going to be mad because they scraped by and are not going get a benefit. Neither diminishes the great generosity of a man who should be praised. Envy will destroy your soul and frankly is the most deadly of emotions. Celebrate the good fortune of others and remember you are no worse off then you were yesterday. Nothing has been lost and you were caused no harm.
- toomanyrichies 7y ago
  Well-put. If someone is going to get mad that they lost out on this windfall, they may as well get mad every time anyone other than them wins the lottery.
scarface74 7y ago
I'm more concerned about the parents that made extreme sacrifices. Those parents should have insisted that there children go to a much cheaper school....
- daveFNbuck 7y ago
  You could say the same about everyone with student loan debt.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    And I wouldn’t disagree. I told my children that they would get loans in their own names and that if/when they graduated, we would help them pay it off up to a certain amount. I also suggested that they stay at home and go to a two year college and then transfer.
ralusek 7y ago
Turns out "to each according to their need" is harder than it sounds.

lowercased 7y ago

i'd read he was expecting people to 'pay it forward'. it may be consistent of him to give some sort of one-time payment to the "debt-free" folks in order for them to be equally able to 'pay it forward'.

mikeash 7y ago

Those people are no worse off today than they were yesterday.

daveFNbuck 7y ago
The point is that they're worse off today than they would have been if they hadn't been so responsible. Their sacrifice ended up being for nothing and put them at an overall disadvantage.
- mikeash 7y ago
  This is the same sort of idiotic thinking that gets people depressed about selling their stock before it skyrocketed. You can’t predict the future. You do the best you can. Your choices mean that you didn’t get to benefit from a gift that nobody knew was coming? Might as well complain about not winning the lottery. That some people was helped doesn’t mean the others have been hurt. I’m amazed and appalled at how common this sentiment is. So many comments here are complaining that some of these graduates will miss out on this charity because they have no debt. At the risk of violating site guidelines, what the fuck is wrong with you people? (For the record, I went to a cheap school and was fortunate to have family support that left me with no student debt.)
  - daveFNbuck 7y ago
    You could make the same argument if he had given the money only to people without any debt as a reward for their good planning. There are two problems with rewarding only the least responsible people. The first is that it will encourage people going into college to behave less responsibly due to the hope that their debt will be forgiven. The second is that this gift isn't happening in a vacuum. It's happening as part of a political movement to make this sort of charity part of public policy. People don't want public policy to move forward in a way that puts the people who tried to do the right thing in the least advantageous position.
    - mikeash 7y ago
      Responsible people with good planning get rewarded for it constantly. People rarely complain about it. You certainly could, and should, make the same argument about them, because the argument also applies to them.

protomyth 7y ago

Life is full of serendipity and chaos. Yep, some folks are going to get a massive break and some are going to be mad because they scraped by and are not going get a benefit. Neither diminishes the great generosity of a man who should be praised. Envy will destroy your soul and frankly is the most deadly of emotions. Celebrate the good fortune of others and remember you are no worse off then you were yesterday. Nothing has been lost and you were caused no harm.

toomanyrichies 7y ago
Well-put. If someone is going to get mad that they lost out on this windfall, they may as well get mad every time anyone other than them wins the lottery.

scarface74 7y ago

I'm more concerned about the parents that made extreme sacrifices. Those parents should have insisted that there children go to a much cheaper school....

daveFNbuck 7y ago
You could say the same about everyone with student loan debt.
- scarface74 7y ago
  And I wouldn’t disagree. I told my children that they would get loans in their own names and that if/when they graduated, we would help them pay it off up to a certain amount. I also suggested that they stay at home and go to a two year college and then transfer.

ralusek 7y ago

Turns out "to each according to their need" is harder than it sounds.