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Wait, if you're 55 now, you grew up in basically the golden age of US growth and the easy value of a college degree at relatively cheap tuition. And you had fr
by supernova87a 6y ago
Wait, if you're 55 now, you grew up in basically the golden age of US growth and the easy value of a college degree at relatively cheap tuition. And you had friends back then who were saddled with college debt that led to dead end jobs?
The situation, is way, way worse now. Orders of magnitude worse.
- DoreenMichele 6y agoYes, I know. That's why I added the qualifier I did: I'm aware that not stating I did this decades ago could be misconstrued as saying "You fools just need to live at home and go to the local college. Problem solved!" I'm not interested in being thusly misconstrued.
- supernova87a 6y agoNo I wasn't meaning to miscontrue you for others to read, and I did see your caveat which is appreciated. I just felt bad for the people who even back then were having trouble with student debt. And to think they were in a relatively lucky age -- everyone is in that boat now, with far less hope of getting out of the hole.
- DoreenMichele 6y agoI think back then it was much more likely to be a case of "This person has issues and they screwed up (or got screwed over by life/their parents)." These days, it's much more a systemic issue. The two individuals I knew had serious personal issues. I also had serious personal issues. That's why I decided they were good examples of where my life might end up if I bulled on ahead with going to college as if a degree would fix everything. In any era, some people will slip through the cracks. But a healthy system makes that the exception, not the rule. Far too many people are overburdened and falling down these days to the point where there is fairly widespread talk of systemic failure.