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"Blaming society is the same as blaming yourself (who else makes up society but the 99%-ers?)" Not the slightest bit true. Economic and political power are con

by jarrett 15y ago

"Blaming society is the same as blaming yourself (who else makes up society but the 99%-ers?)" Not the slightest bit true. Economic and political power are concentrated. That's one of the main gripes of this movement. The college grads who played by the rules and got nothing for it did not set the system up that way. Their plight is due in large part to the economic crisis, which is in turn the fault of the tiny sliver of the population that gets to gamble with other people's money.

hnal943 15y ago
What rules? There are no rules in any society that guarantee success, except possibly in a corrupt totalitarian state. They had choices to make; some made bad ones that ignored the risk they were taking. Everyone in this story has racked up a mountain of debt. Why? Because they thought that's what everyone did when they went to school. If conventional wisdom is your only guide, small wonder you are blown and tossed by the wind. What tiny sliver of the population forced them to go massively into student and credit card debt? Who promised them that they would get "good jobs" for getting "advanced degrees?" The president? Wall Street? "Society?" Seems like there's no one to hold accountable here but themselves.
- jarrett 15y ago
  "If conventional wisdom is your only guide, small wonder you are blown and tossed by the wind." This is exactly the attitude that I'm against. It may seem easy for us on Hacker News to ignore conventional wisdom. But I think it's perfectly fair that most people should be able to trust the advice that almost everyone in society gives them. "What tiny sliver of the population forced them to go massively into student and credit card debt?" The sliver that does this is the one that eats up an incredibly disproportionate amount of the value in society, leaving a smaller pie for everyone else to spend on their education, housing, food, medical care, etc.. The average middle class person has been taught and fairly believes that college is a necessity for economic security. If that can only be paid for with debt, then what is such a person to do? Be an entrepreneur? Clearly, that's not for everyone. Likewise, you can't expect all these people to just figure out what careers they can have without an education, then learn it all through self-teaching.

by jarrett 15y ago

hnal943 15y ago

What rules? There are no rules in any society that guarantee success, except possibly in a corrupt totalitarian state. They had choices to make; some made bad ones that ignored the risk they were taking. Everyone in this story has racked up a mountain of debt. Why? Because they thought that's what everyone did when they went to school. If conventional wisdom is your only guide, small wonder you are blown and tossed by the wind. What tiny sliver of the population forced them to go massively into student and credit card debt? Who promised them that they would get "good jobs" for getting "advanced degrees?" The president? Wall Street? "Society?" Seems like there's no one to hold accountable here but themselves.

jarrett 15y ago
"If conventional wisdom is your only guide, small wonder you are blown and tossed by the wind." This is exactly the attitude that I'm against. It may seem easy for us on Hacker News to ignore conventional wisdom. But I think it's perfectly fair that most people should be able to trust the advice that almost everyone in society gives them. "What tiny sliver of the population forced them to go massively into student and credit card debt?" The sliver that does this is the one that eats up an incredibly disproportionate amount of the value in society, leaving a smaller pie for everyone else to spend on their education, housing, food, medical care, etc.. The average middle class person has been taught and fairly believes that college is a necessity for economic security. If that can only be paid for with debt, then what is such a person to do? Be an entrepreneur? Clearly, that's not for everyone. Likewise, you can't expect all these people to just figure out what careers they can have without an education, then learn it all through self-teaching.