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I guess I didn't qualify for financial aid then. I had a small scholarship, but I otherwise worked hard and lived frugally and earned my first degree with only
by weberc2 7y ago
I guess I didn't qualify for financial aid then. I had a small scholarship, but I otherwise worked hard and lived frugally and earned my first degree with only $7K in debt. My peers came out with $40-90K in debt, but they often didn't work or only worked 8 hours/week (compared with my 20 hours/week) and they would spend money lavishly (partying, luxury clothes, daily starbucks lattes, 2-4 years in dorms, etc). I'm not sure if my experience was typical, but making one's children pay for their own education is hardly a cruelty (mind you, education in the US is still far too expensive).
- moate 7y ago>>but making one's children pay for their own education is hardly a cruelty (mind you, education in the US is still far too expensive) Just to unpack a few things here (baring in mind I'm a true "eat the rich, tear them from their ivory towers" type socialist). 1- College is WAY too damn expensive, and that's the majority of the conversation. We do a terrible job teaching finance to children and then we expect them to graduate high school and understand what they're undertaking when they sign on for student loans. 2- "Cruelty" is about intent. Rich people can be cruel to other rich people by inflicting financial difficulties on them. They can also be entirely reasonable and attempting to teach them a lesson about hard work and "earning your keep" and what not. It's entirely situational and too difficult to throw a broad statement that covers every situation. This is more about philosophy than anything objective.
- weberc2 7y agoFully agree on 1. 2 is a semantic debate; this thread already assumes the rich parents had good intent.