4 ms·

I'm not quite sure I follow your logic. Are you saying that as a young graduate student, I should incur more debt to train for a career, then, pay higher (unsu

I'm not quite sure I follow your logic. Are you saying that as a young graduate student, I should incur more debt to train for a career, then, pay higher (unsubsidized) interest rates on that debt, and pay higher taxes once I get a job in order to bolster the income of someone who (in your example) is already a millionaire? djokkataja is right. You will have a very difficult time gaining the sympathy of younger generations with that argument.

jrapdx3 12y ago
Frankly, IMO the student loan situation is as big a mess as any we have in our nation. It is outrageous that it costs $40000 a year to attend college. It saddens and sickens me to know that is the case. It represents a skew in our priorities perhaps the same as seen in other domains, thinking about health care in particular. The mistaken idea is that we save money by skimping on essentials. The only way to navigate toward solving problems is to see the whole picture, the impact on the entire system has to be known. The least expensive health care is providing high quality services to the extent people need. The cost to the nation of untreated illness is greater than the expense of treatment, considering the whole cost burden of illness. Same in education. Encouraging education that permits maximum accomplishment provides a net benefit to the nation as a whole. Under-education impedes productivity, technological innovation, and even contributes to health care costs indirectly. When I was in school and reliant on loans, the government program asked for "feedback", what I thought would improve the student loan program. I wrote on the form, for the price of one military jet, a thousand students could be fully supported for as long as required. AFAICT my comment had no effect. So no, I'm not asking you to support me as long as my million bucks holds out. With any luck (my luck), you won't ever have to. But there are quite a few old citizens not as lucky as me who we should try to support. And BTW, I may be old, but I am still a taxpayer. Retirement account withdrawals are federally taxable, so I'm guessing that would be roughly $7000/year. That's my money, saved out of what I earned. Some of my tax payments may go to support you or your school. It's OK, I do believe mutual support when necessary is we should be aiming for.
bsdshepherd 12y ago
You will not follow the logic until you remove emotion. As an thinking exercise, view age as cumulative chances for catastrophic failure instead of cumulative time for success. For single income families, all failures affect the only income stream. Examples of failure should include injury, sickness, obsolescence, folly, and greed.

jrapdx3 12y ago

Frankly, IMO the student loan situation is as big a mess as any we have in our nation. It is outrageous that it costs $40000 a year to attend college. It saddens and sickens me to know that is the case. It represents a skew in our priorities perhaps the same as seen in other domains, thinking about health care in particular. The mistaken idea is that we save money by skimping on essentials. The only way to navigate toward solving problems is to see the whole picture, the impact on the entire system has to be known. The least expensive health care is providing high quality services to the extent people need. The cost to the nation of untreated illness is greater than the expense of treatment, considering the whole cost burden of illness. Same in education. Encouraging education that permits maximum accomplishment provides a net benefit to the nation as a whole. Under-education impedes productivity, technological innovation, and even contributes to health care costs indirectly. When I was in school and reliant on loans, the government program asked for "feedback", what I thought would improve the student loan program. I wrote on the form, for the price of one military jet, a thousand students could be fully supported for as long as required. AFAICT my comment had no effect. So no, I'm not asking you to support me as long as my million bucks holds out. With any luck (my luck), you won't ever have to. But there are quite a few old citizens not as lucky as me who we should try to support. And BTW, I may be old, but I am still a taxpayer. Retirement account withdrawals are federally taxable, so I'm guessing that would be roughly $7000/year. That's my money, saved out of what I earned. Some of my tax payments may go to support you or your school. It's OK, I do believe mutual support when necessary is we should be aiming for.

bsdshepherd 12y ago

You will not follow the logic until you remove emotion. As an thinking exercise, view age as cumulative chances for catastrophic failure instead of cumulative time for success. For single income families, all failures affect the only income stream. Examples of failure should include injury, sickness, obsolescence, folly, and greed.