Busy Surviving, Not Thriving

Like so many people burdened with intractable student loan debt I spend so much of my time surviving the debt that I can't find any time to ponder the idea of thriving. The lackluster performance in the economy reflects the pessimism of its people - we are losing hope for good reason.

I grew up in a lower middle class household where both my parents worked long days - I was an original latch key kid with my brothers. They wanted us all to go to college because that degree was the ticket to a better life. I first graduated from college with a degree in Economics in 1991 - first in my family with a college degree.

I never did land a job with that degree though or any of the other degrees I earned since. I thought taking on higher and higher education (and higher debt) was the way through it all. It wasn't. Go figure.

Today, I am the proud owner of a master's degree, a prize for being a.b.d. with a PhD., and haven't worked with that since earning it either. If you don't have a specific degree for a specific job in a low unemployment field these days - good luck finding a job to repay that investment. (The PhD. was necessary to working in my chosen field - but for financial and personal reasons I couldn't continue.)

Today I work as a union tradesman. I earn a livable wage but not something that's going to get my student loans paid back before I die. No, instead I will watch my premiums jump as I get older and watch everything I earn go to repay loans that never provided me a single benefit. The only good news - if I kick it before they are paid off - they are forgiven. Hooray for me right?! Somehow I am not jumping for joy.

I would like more out of life but how does one pick things back up when they are working a job at 43 that they are well-overqualified for and earn a wage that doesn't give them the possibility of escaping their debt before death? Ever hear of learned helplessness? Look it up on Wikipedia and you'll have a little more insight into why student loan debt is killing its debtors and causing such a malaise in the economy.

There's a simple explanation for all of this really. Our country has taken a very wrong turn in its approach to higher education and a better life. All the checks and balances are out of whack in the higher education system and that is the only reason things get to nearly $1 trillion dollars from where they should be. Yep - student loan debt is now higher than credit card debt - and it's growing at nearly $3000 a second. Wow - that factoid picked up my spirits - how about yours?

The answer to all this - we need to put common sense back into education and kick the uncommon greed of the last thirty years to the curb.

It's time we bring common sense back to our economic policies and stop using the cowboy diplomacy/mentality as the solution to all our problems.

Debt of all kinds has killed our economy and our economic supremacy but it will be our efforts as a nation and as a bright, energized thinking populace that brings that supremacy back.

We need to stop letting the talking heads at the top tell us that this can't be done. It can be done! Of course, it will take some sacrifice by all of us – by some with no blame for this problem, but in the short term we will ALL bear the benefits of these changes in the form of a reinvigorated economy.

So what should we do? Well... Some say forgive the debt. I like it .. let's do it. But that is a hard sell to the masses and even harder still to those in power who have a vested interest in keeping student loan interest flowing.

I have another idea - and if we get the masses on our side on this with a common sense approach - maybe we can push back against the powerful few.

Here is my plan. Higher education should be held accountable for what it sells "as a means to a better future" and lending institutions should bear the risk of making those loans by bringing back all rights to bankruptcy on this debt, public and private. (Details for later.)

But we shouldn't stop there.

To prevent a meltdown and a flood of bankruptcy's on student loan debt we should offer people with any student loan debt interest-free repayment terms and rebates on the principal if they pay it back sooner. In this way we save this type of debt from crashing down and we can get things going in the right direction with student loan debt, and maybe, just maybe - spur the economy on a little bit more.

I know its big and ambiguous, BUT, it's an honest correction to a terrible series of missteps created by unscrupulous lobbyists and the well-intentioned.

More on this later... but for now I wan't to leave this idea to stew in its juices.
So what do you think?