To anyone affected by the fraud and deception perpetrated on the American college students and their families - we must all band together and use our common voice to change the way Washington is dealing with this matter. I voted for President Obama and am so far disappointed in his work to get something significant done about student loans. And knowing that change must come while the iron is hot, I, for one, am not interested in his rhetoric anymore. It's time we force the hand of Congress and the President. We can vote against them or withhold our votes.
Before that however I suggest that we develop a common voice and stop settling for scraps at the table. We the people deserve a more perfect union where all of our rights - both economic and political are protected.
As a first I suggest that we stop arguing the minutiae and go after what we all need - RELIEF. We need ALL consumer protections returned to ALL student loans immediately. Let us leave no one behind. Let us not be divided by sham offers. In this way we can permanently change the way all future students will be treated as well.
Please - do not let your suffering silence you. Stand with me and many others to change this offense to us all. I have many links on this site to get you started so please educate yourself if you have not already done so.
At a minimum we WANT and NEED:
1. All consumer protections returned to student loans - including bankruptcy.
2. Immediate relief from our debt - particularly student loan debt forgiveness to stimulate the economy. The reason to do this is also to penalize the profiteers that have raped the American student and thus stifled the economy.
3. Sweeping reforms of Higher Education requiring all colleges and universities to guarantee each student a reasonable job to payoff accruing debt. This must also include counseling on degrees that do not yield immediate and decent paying jobs.
4. Free public college education for all who merit it - to a four year college within their home state - paid for by taxpayers as an investment in the country's greatest natural resource - its own citizens.
I can not emphasize enough that the powerful interests in the student loan and banking industries will do everything in their power to stop these changes from happening. It is the reason why we have seen nothing truly helpful to students burdened with massive debt.
It is time that the ideology of "all for 1% and the 1% for none" be put away in this country. If you don't know what I mean be this then here it is laid out for you: 1% of the people in this country now control more wealth than 95% of us at the bottom. That is absurd and wrong on every moral and logical level. And it is precisely why our leaders in Washington forget about us when so much money is shuffled in their directions.
So please get on board with this site and many others to change the way things are done in this country. Email me and post here and let me know that you are reading this blog. Spread the news of this blog to others and post about it on other sites so that the prominence of this site and the issues I am representing grow.
Please help any way that you can.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Erasing the Great American Destiny
It is hard for me to explain anymore how our rights in this country have been eroded by big business and an overly capitalistic economy without sounding like a conspiracy nut. However, I will spout off anyway and take that risk given what is at stake.
The fact of the matter is that the unregulated capitalism of the last 25 years (in the United States) has created a cult of money so powerful that most Americans are drunk on the notion of making it big - despite the odds against them. This desirous intent of many American corporations and individuals to get all they can has led to a quietly, complex collusion of sorts.
At first, I am not sure that this fledgling cult had any intent. Rather, it was just an orgy like free for all that resulted in a mad grab for cash at anyone's expense. But over time, it seems, as the initial excitement waned and yielded a new 'normal' level of greed it became clear that even more money could be made if cooler heads prevailed.
If you have to ask who these or those people are simply check out the who's who in banking and insurance industries these days. They aren't the only ones by any means, but this class of financial whiz kids have managed some incredible feats in recent years.
Under their watch, homebuyers were sold homes they couldn't afford, millions of students were trapped with escapable student loan debt, and credit card debt (along with other types) was made more difficult to discharge via personal bankruptcy. The end result has been to tie up good Americans in so much debt and financial chaos that they had little time to stop the selling off of America by exercising wise voting choices. Mind you - who among us really stood up to stop the banking bailout?
Already stretched over thin financial ice most Americans have been duped by an insidious plan that is slowly turning us all in to tradable commodities rather than recognizing each of us as human beings who deserve dignity and basic economic rights.
Anyone reading this should already be aware of the statistics to prove what I am saying is true. If you have any questions on this then challenge me and let us debate them out in the open. I am being serious when I say that I welcome the challenge. Bring it if you think you can.
Suffice to say, our country has become a sham. It's once glorious future is now in question as other countries emerge as economic powerhouses and we sit in disbelief that we are anything but the greatest nation on earth.
We can no longer sit idle my voting friends. If we want our country and collective futures back we will have to rip it all back from the hands of the banks and insurance companies - who would prefer us to get sick for a very long and profitable time and then die when appointed.
The fact of the matter is that the unregulated capitalism of the last 25 years (in the United States) has created a cult of money so powerful that most Americans are drunk on the notion of making it big - despite the odds against them. This desirous intent of many American corporations and individuals to get all they can has led to a quietly, complex collusion of sorts.
At first, I am not sure that this fledgling cult had any intent. Rather, it was just an orgy like free for all that resulted in a mad grab for cash at anyone's expense. But over time, it seems, as the initial excitement waned and yielded a new 'normal' level of greed it became clear that even more money could be made if cooler heads prevailed.
If you have to ask who these or those people are simply check out the who's who in banking and insurance industries these days. They aren't the only ones by any means, but this class of financial whiz kids have managed some incredible feats in recent years.
Under their watch, homebuyers were sold homes they couldn't afford, millions of students were trapped with escapable student loan debt, and credit card debt (along with other types) was made more difficult to discharge via personal bankruptcy. The end result has been to tie up good Americans in so much debt and financial chaos that they had little time to stop the selling off of America by exercising wise voting choices. Mind you - who among us really stood up to stop the banking bailout?
Already stretched over thin financial ice most Americans have been duped by an insidious plan that is slowly turning us all in to tradable commodities rather than recognizing each of us as human beings who deserve dignity and basic economic rights.
Anyone reading this should already be aware of the statistics to prove what I am saying is true. If you have any questions on this then challenge me and let us debate them out in the open. I am being serious when I say that I welcome the challenge. Bring it if you think you can.
Suffice to say, our country has become a sham. It's once glorious future is now in question as other countries emerge as economic powerhouses and we sit in disbelief that we are anything but the greatest nation on earth.
We can no longer sit idle my voting friends. If we want our country and collective futures back we will have to rip it all back from the hands of the banks and insurance companies - who would prefer us to get sick for a very long and profitable time and then die when appointed.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Second Bill of Rights
The student loan crisis now facing the people of the United States of America is only a symptom of a much larger problem. Our democracy has been hijacked by our CHOICE of economic system.
Capitalism has been allowed to run amuck to such a degree that 1% of its people now control more wealth than the bottom 95%. That just shouldn't be so in a country that has prided itself on fairness and justice and yet it is so.
The truth is this problem has been growing for many, many years. It didn't happen overnight. There are many causes. We can point to many instances in the last 70 years or so and say it started here or there but let’s leave that discussion for another time.
Because time is of the essence it is necessary to become solution centered and fast. America needs to put the bickering aside along with all the lobbyists and sell-out politicians and reclaim its destiny as a light to the world.
Ironically, the solution to our current dilemma has already been proposed. Over 60 years ago then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed a Second Bill of Rights during his State of the Union Address on January 11, 1944.
He foresaw the coming problems in American society if the economic rights of all Americans were not protected. President Roosevelt's economic bill of rights would have guaranteed every American respectable employment - with a living wage, freedom from unfair competition and monopolies (foreign or domestic), adequate housing, access to medical care, education, and Social Security. All the things we struggle with today.
Sadly, President Roosevelt passed away just over a year later and these rights were never seriously entertained by Congress. The loss of these rights has devastated the lives of millions of Americans and I believe they are worth fighting for today. Our survival as a country may yet depend on it.
Now, I know there are many people reading this who just can’t wait to scream at the top of their lungs that such ideas are socialist or even communist. They will proclaim that even entertaining the notion of taking care of our citizens in this way would be un-American. And those people would be unequivocally WRONG.
Despite the fact that it took our forefathers hundreds of years to realize that all our people deserved the same rights this great country was founded with the promise of opportunity for all. All President Roosevelt sought to do was further define those rights and to protect them. The premise for his new bill of rights was to make sure that the government of the people was there to serve the people – not the other way around. Any person of sound mind must agree that such an intention is as American as apple pie.
Now that I have addressed the unabashed flag waivers concerns about socialism and communism lets deal with how we pay for such measures.
First and foremost we must choose an economic system that rewards hard work and honesty but which also does not cause us to lose sight of human dignity.
Capitalism only partly rewards hard work – so long as it is the kind that is driven by opportunism. Capitalism only rewards honesty when it can be made into a tradable commodity. Capitalism is driven be the profit motive and when unregulated will trample the dignity of anyone in its path so long as there as there is a profit to be gained.
This is the system that has served America for so long – and so well. So long as corporate profits soared and people had jobs it didn’t matter what the cost of this economic behavior was to the guy down the street or around the world. Our collective guilt is that so many of us saw benefits of this economic system in the past that we have all been willing to turn away from any crimes committed against our fellow man be it for oil, diamonds, raw materials, food, water etc.
There must be a better way – a better economic system that serves the cause of democracy and human compassion. There must be economic systems that are no less patriotic and yet more focused on human dignity.
As a patriot to our great country and a believer in the great goodness inherent in the American people I now know that purist capitalism as we now have it is no longer in the best interest of our people or the world for that matter. Capitalism is killing us and the planet because it is based on an endless consumption of all that is within our reach. I just hope we all come to realize this before it is too late.
To give credit where it is justly due please see Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story for more on this topic. Mr. Moore is credited by Wikipedia with discovering the lost video footage of President Roosevelt's speech about the aforementioned Second Bill of Rights. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights)
So America - what do you have to say for yourself now?
Friday, August 20, 2010
All Signs Lead to Economic Meltdown
Well my friends I took an unscheduled break from this blog and am returning with some new perspective.
The U.S. economy remains stagnant despite soaring profits for some sectors. Why is this so?
Well for one job growth has not happened. In fact, new unemployment claims grew for three of the last four weeks. It seems that the profits we are seeing are the result of job cutting and increased worker productivity and not reinvestment in adding employees and increased sales.
This is highly relevant to any discussion of education and student loans at this time - since new student graduates with new loans coming due will find it harder than ever to find appropriate jobs to repay that debt.
So as mentioned many times here before - forgiving student loan debt and completely overhauling the finance system for higher education is necessary to stimulate the economy.
And with China now knocking on our door for the number one spot for the world's largest economy - stimulating the economy may soon become a national security issue. See here for more on that.
It's good to be back. I hope you are still reading this and many other blogs on the issue.
The U.S. economy remains stagnant despite soaring profits for some sectors. Why is this so?
Well for one job growth has not happened. In fact, new unemployment claims grew for three of the last four weeks. It seems that the profits we are seeing are the result of job cutting and increased worker productivity and not reinvestment in adding employees and increased sales.
This is highly relevant to any discussion of education and student loans at this time - since new student graduates with new loans coming due will find it harder than ever to find appropriate jobs to repay that debt.
So as mentioned many times here before - forgiving student loan debt and completely overhauling the finance system for higher education is necessary to stimulate the economy.
And with China now knocking on our door for the number one spot for the world's largest economy - stimulating the economy may soon become a national security issue. See here for more on that.
It's good to be back. I hope you are still reading this and many other blogs on the issue.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Young or Old, Public or Private - All Student Loan Debt Enslaves!
In the last several weeks I have become more and more aware of some undertones developing in the discussion about student loan reform. I find these tones disturbing because they threaten the cohesive nature of our message to Washington.
One tone is about private versus public student loans. Some people are insisting one form is worse than another. Well folks - $120,000 in student loan debt sucks any way you slice it. If you are making $10 an hour at some dead end job - it doesn't matter how many more fees, fines or interest they tack on. If you can't make the payments now you certainly won't be able to make them two years from now - public or private - unless something substantial changes in your financial life. I have $120,000 in public loans and all my payments last year went to interest and the overall debt still grew!
So please if your loans are private don't start commenting how much worse you have it than the other guy because that is exactly what Sallie Mae and the other bucket heads in the banking industry want to happen. They seek to divide and conquer our collective voices. If they succeed the pressure on government to reform the student loan finance industry will go away. So before you post or comment - please think about the larger movement and what needs to happen to fix the larger problem.
Furthermore, it doesn't matter if you are an older student with loans or a younger one. We were all sold on the idea that college equates to more financial earning power and a better way of life. While it may seem pathetically naive to believe at 30,40 or 50 (versus the 18 yr old just out of high school) that a college degree equals money in the bank remember this fact: the age old story that college graduates earn upwards of one million dollars more in a lifetime has turned out to be an opinion based on little fact at all. Recent estimates make the actual difference more like $250,000 and that's only if your loans don't exceed the average.
In addition, with government and private industry both selling the propaganda that an investment in education is a way up and out for all - it is little wonder that just about everybody is willing to hoc their future for a college degree. Propaganda is powerful and all minds are susceptible. Age doesn't matter nor does intelligence sometimes.
So regardless if you have been snookered at 18 or 60 and find yourself now burdened with private of public loans that are destroying any life that you thought you might have keep in mind that we are all being treated like second class citizens.
Remember the truth when despair sets in - student loans are the ONLY type of loan that can NOT be discharged in bankruptcy. Student loans are the only type of loans that allow the lender to hit you with absurd fees and fines if you can't pay - which only makes the situation worse. Student loan lenders are the only type of lender incentivized by the federal government to get you into default and keep you there.
Finally - remember this - YOU are NOT ALONE! Fight back - learn and education yourself at every turn and start to develop your own voice. Until we all learn to stand up and say no more - we will all continue to suffer in our shamed silence.
One tone is about private versus public student loans. Some people are insisting one form is worse than another. Well folks - $120,000 in student loan debt sucks any way you slice it. If you are making $10 an hour at some dead end job - it doesn't matter how many more fees, fines or interest they tack on. If you can't make the payments now you certainly won't be able to make them two years from now - public or private - unless something substantial changes in your financial life. I have $120,000 in public loans and all my payments last year went to interest and the overall debt still grew!
So please if your loans are private don't start commenting how much worse you have it than the other guy because that is exactly what Sallie Mae and the other bucket heads in the banking industry want to happen. They seek to divide and conquer our collective voices. If they succeed the pressure on government to reform the student loan finance industry will go away. So before you post or comment - please think about the larger movement and what needs to happen to fix the larger problem.
Furthermore, it doesn't matter if you are an older student with loans or a younger one. We were all sold on the idea that college equates to more financial earning power and a better way of life. While it may seem pathetically naive to believe at 30,40 or 50 (versus the 18 yr old just out of high school) that a college degree equals money in the bank remember this fact: the age old story that college graduates earn upwards of one million dollars more in a lifetime has turned out to be an opinion based on little fact at all. Recent estimates make the actual difference more like $250,000 and that's only if your loans don't exceed the average.
In addition, with government and private industry both selling the propaganda that an investment in education is a way up and out for all - it is little wonder that just about everybody is willing to hoc their future for a college degree. Propaganda is powerful and all minds are susceptible. Age doesn't matter nor does intelligence sometimes.
So regardless if you have been snookered at 18 or 60 and find yourself now burdened with private of public loans that are destroying any life that you thought you might have keep in mind that we are all being treated like second class citizens.
Remember the truth when despair sets in - student loans are the ONLY type of loan that can NOT be discharged in bankruptcy. Student loans are the only type of loans that allow the lender to hit you with absurd fees and fines if you can't pay - which only makes the situation worse. Student loan lenders are the only type of lender incentivized by the federal government to get you into default and keep you there.
Finally - remember this - YOU are NOT ALONE! Fight back - learn and education yourself at every turn and start to develop your own voice. Until we all learn to stand up and say no more - we will all continue to suffer in our shamed silence.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Recipe for Disaster
At this point in my search for solutions to the crisis in the student loan financial system I find that I can no longer avoid talking about the type of economy we have in the democracy we live in.
I will keep this simple so here goes - why do we think it's in the best interest of our democracy to let capitalism run through every aspect of our economy like a runaway train?
All the Enronesque scandals should prove that capitalism is not something that belongs in every aspect of our economy. It has ruined health care and it is quickly crippling the student loan financial system. The time has come - I hope we can all see this - to end the use of capitalism as the answer to all our economic needs.
We need to protect the future of our society from the greed and avarice that has so tainted the late 20th and early 21st century. Higher education should NOT be a system of winners and losers - a dichotomy that capitalism inherently creates. Rather - it should be a system where we efficiently and cost effectively educate our bright minds to keep us competitive in the global marketplace and human society as a whole. With such an emphasis on information and technology for the future - we are getting the higher education system so wrong that we may soon find ourselves out of the race to stay relevant - let alone competitive. Creating massive debt for our students before they are given the chance to create a better life for us all does not make sense in a sustainable economy.
I fear that we have become so blinded by the 'strong shall survive' dogma of purist capitalism that we are no longer able to see the precipice that we are headed for. We have taken some of our brightest minds and wrapped them up in so much debt to the point that their intelligence has been neutralized - leaving our greatest national treasure laid to waste.
Wake up America - student loan borrowers everywhere are living in a disaster area called their lives. And the student loan system is on the brink of collapse because of a job market that may require, according to the federal government, 2 to 5 years to improve. In the midst of all this - our leaders in Congress and the White House are silent on the issues.
Does anyone else have a different recipe for disaster?
I will keep this simple so here goes - why do we think it's in the best interest of our democracy to let capitalism run through every aspect of our economy like a runaway train?
All the Enronesque scandals should prove that capitalism is not something that belongs in every aspect of our economy. It has ruined health care and it is quickly crippling the student loan financial system. The time has come - I hope we can all see this - to end the use of capitalism as the answer to all our economic needs.
We need to protect the future of our society from the greed and avarice that has so tainted the late 20th and early 21st century. Higher education should NOT be a system of winners and losers - a dichotomy that capitalism inherently creates. Rather - it should be a system where we efficiently and cost effectively educate our bright minds to keep us competitive in the global marketplace and human society as a whole. With such an emphasis on information and technology for the future - we are getting the higher education system so wrong that we may soon find ourselves out of the race to stay relevant - let alone competitive. Creating massive debt for our students before they are given the chance to create a better life for us all does not make sense in a sustainable economy.
I fear that we have become so blinded by the 'strong shall survive' dogma of purist capitalism that we are no longer able to see the precipice that we are headed for. We have taken some of our brightest minds and wrapped them up in so much debt to the point that their intelligence has been neutralized - leaving our greatest national treasure laid to waste.
Wake up America - student loan borrowers everywhere are living in a disaster area called their lives. And the student loan system is on the brink of collapse because of a job market that may require, according to the federal government, 2 to 5 years to improve. In the midst of all this - our leaders in Congress and the White House are silent on the issues.
Does anyone else have a different recipe for disaster?
Friday, February 19, 2010
Hitting the Mainstream
Recently the Wall Street Journal online has brought some attention to the perils of student loan debt with a few articles. They can be found here: The $555,000 Student-Loan Burden, The Student Loan Effect.
This mainstream attention to the student loan crisis is a much needed shot in the arm if Congress and the White House are ever going to take notice and lend a hand. And while this spotlight may not always lead to a positive experience for student loan borrowers it is a necessary step in the right direction.
If one takes the time to read some of the comments left by readers of either of these articles, it will be quickly realized that many people have unflattering things to say about student loan borrowers. I would like to suggest to student loan borrowers everywhere that these are precisely the people we need to hear our message. These are precisely the people we need to educate and change from distracters into supporters.
In order to get people to support our cause we need to first meet the negative comments head on and challenge assertions and assumptions about student loan debt and the student loan industry. Until each and every one of us with student loan debt begins to get active in this way - those of us out here ringing the alarm bells will remain those crazy, lazy people just spouting off about their problems.
So please get active. Write your Congressmen, your Senators, your President. Write to your local newspaper. Comment on blogs and newspaper articles. Write your student loan company. Speak to whomever will listen because our collective voices can make a difference and effect a change in consciousness on this issue but WE have to make that happen.
Join me in making this happen - comment here today. And let today be the start of your own voice for relief from student loan debt.
Warmest Regards,
J. Densmore
This mainstream attention to the student loan crisis is a much needed shot in the arm if Congress and the White House are ever going to take notice and lend a hand. And while this spotlight may not always lead to a positive experience for student loan borrowers it is a necessary step in the right direction.
If one takes the time to read some of the comments left by readers of either of these articles, it will be quickly realized that many people have unflattering things to say about student loan borrowers. I would like to suggest to student loan borrowers everywhere that these are precisely the people we need to hear our message. These are precisely the people we need to educate and change from distracters into supporters.
In order to get people to support our cause we need to first meet the negative comments head on and challenge assertions and assumptions about student loan debt and the student loan industry. Until each and every one of us with student loan debt begins to get active in this way - those of us out here ringing the alarm bells will remain those crazy, lazy people just spouting off about their problems.
So please get active. Write your Congressmen, your Senators, your President. Write to your local newspaper. Comment on blogs and newspaper articles. Write your student loan company. Speak to whomever will listen because our collective voices can make a difference and effect a change in consciousness on this issue but WE have to make that happen.
Join me in making this happen - comment here today. And let today be the start of your own voice for relief from student loan debt.
Warmest Regards,
J. Densmore
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tis the Tax Season
In preparing my taxes for fiscal year 2009 I have come to an understanding of some things I thought I might share with all of you. Forgive me if you already know this.
If your long term struggle is to pay off other debt or your student loans first then here are some tax tips.
Your student loan interest is tax deductible up to $2500 per year. This deduction taken before your itemized or standard deductions - so you get to take the deduction whether or not you itemize.
Taxes and interest on your home are only deductible if you itemize so pay your home mortgage off first - especially if your interest rate is higher on your mortgage.
Something else to keep in mind - if your student loans are federal - it is again in your best interest to pay the home of first. In this way - if you pass away - your spouse is protected from your debt - because federal loans are forgiven upon death.
If anyone has any other tips or thoughts on the issue please feel free to post your follow-up comments here.
Warmest regards,
J. Densmore
If your long term struggle is to pay off other debt or your student loans first then here are some tax tips.
Your student loan interest is tax deductible up to $2500 per year. This deduction taken before your itemized or standard deductions - so you get to take the deduction whether or not you itemize.
Taxes and interest on your home are only deductible if you itemize so pay your home mortgage off first - especially if your interest rate is higher on your mortgage.
Something else to keep in mind - if your student loans are federal - it is again in your best interest to pay the home of first. In this way - if you pass away - your spouse is protected from your debt - because federal loans are forgiven upon death.
If anyone has any other tips or thoughts on the issue please feel free to post your follow-up comments here.
Warmest regards,
J. Densmore
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Unforeseen Consequences of Student Debt
When you set out to achieve your dreams to get the college education that your parents didn't get or couldn't have the benefit of remember this - the fairytale of the magical college diploma leaves out a few things.
When I decided to seek a graduate degree I thought it was the right thing to do for my future. I had a dream of helping people and to get there I was going to need an advanced degree and the help provided by student loans. I know now that I was so very naive - that nothing comes without a price in this world. All too late I am learning that my dream was a mirage and that student loans can be the worst thing to ever happen to you.
My wife and I are at a turning point in our lives. We are both getting older and time is running out for us to have children of our own. Complicating this picture is the fact that she is stuck in a dead end job that offers no retirement and no possibility for advancement or significant pay increases. Her current job pays modestly and provides little in the way of personal reward or intellectual stimulation either. It is deadening to the soul for her to stay there but - like so many Americans - it has kept food on the table and kept her out of debt.
So before us is the fact that I have approximately $120,000 in student loans that are choking my income - our income - and there is no real relief in sight. With the 'repayment' plan I am on, the payments will only rise over time making our financial situation only more difficult. (The new IBR plan Obama proposes offers us no hope because her income is still part of the formula). My own job will see some modest pay increases over the next few years but not in the way to make any significant disposable income available.
Before us then is a choice to have children or not OR for her to back to school or not OR for us to play it safe and not do either because of the depressed state of the economy and my student loans.
It seems that we are damned no matter what we decide. We could send her back to school but the program that she has been accepted to will cost $30,000 over the next two years. Because of the intense nature of the program she would have to quit her job. All for the 'POSSIBILITY' that she would have a better job in two years and POSSIBLY a better rate of pay and maybe a pension and maybe some personal reward to it.
And as I have urged others to be specific - her plan is to get a specific degree targeted for a specific salary at the end of a specific time period. But all of it is predicated on a bunch of 'ifs' and 'assumptions' and should anything go wrong - we would be totally, and irrevocably screwed financially. For us to lose her salary would put an immense pressure on our already strained income and modest savings. All for a dream and a bunch of assumptions.
I don't want to focus too much on the job issue because this would cause us to ignore our desire to have a family. There is little money for this however or time even left to make the decision before it is made for us.
So our lives are at a crossroads - what do we do? Do we risk a soul killing job in the hand for a dream in the bush? Do we have children right now and throw caution to the wind and assume somehow everything will be all right? Maybe the government would help us - yeah right!
How, in one of the wealthiest countries to ever exist, did we get here?
The greatest pain for me is that my student loans are at the center of all this. Without these loans she could go back to school. We could have had a child already. Money would not be at the center of every ache in our hearts if it wasn't for these loans - and for the stupid, childish decisions I made earlier in my life.
I don't mean to sound completely sour on higher education mind you. While I have benefited on an intellectual and personal level from my education however, it hasn't been worth it financially, socially or familial-y. If I had it to do over again with what I know now - I would have foregone college from the start and waited until I had the money in hand before ever thinking of a higher education.
The government's help with plentiful student loans and no protections in the event that life's inevitable missteps would occur have shackled my future to the point of choking the life out of it. It is very likely that my wife and I will not be able to afford to have children or be able to send her to college. All because I signed on the dotted the line years ago and didn't really know the true cost of those loans. But as former President Bush was quoted to have said when asked about his drug use in his youth - "When I was young and stupid I was young and stupid."
That being said - my gift to anyone starting out is a word of advice. Given the state of the economy as it currently is - unless you have an inside line on a job when you graduate or parents to pay for college and save you the debt - WAIT to go to college. Wait until you have the money because there are very real, unforeseen consequences of student debt just as there will be unforeseen happenstances in life.
The unforgiving and enslaving system of financing higher education that we currently have in place is not to be trusted. Understand this - because your entire life and your hope of finding immortality through your own children just might depend on it.
J. Densmore
When I decided to seek a graduate degree I thought it was the right thing to do for my future. I had a dream of helping people and to get there I was going to need an advanced degree and the help provided by student loans. I know now that I was so very naive - that nothing comes without a price in this world. All too late I am learning that my dream was a mirage and that student loans can be the worst thing to ever happen to you.
My wife and I are at a turning point in our lives. We are both getting older and time is running out for us to have children of our own. Complicating this picture is the fact that she is stuck in a dead end job that offers no retirement and no possibility for advancement or significant pay increases. Her current job pays modestly and provides little in the way of personal reward or intellectual stimulation either. It is deadening to the soul for her to stay there but - like so many Americans - it has kept food on the table and kept her out of debt.
So before us is the fact that I have approximately $120,000 in student loans that are choking my income - our income - and there is no real relief in sight. With the 'repayment' plan I am on, the payments will only rise over time making our financial situation only more difficult. (The new IBR plan Obama proposes offers us no hope because her income is still part of the formula). My own job will see some modest pay increases over the next few years but not in the way to make any significant disposable income available.
Before us then is a choice to have children or not OR for her to back to school or not OR for us to play it safe and not do either because of the depressed state of the economy and my student loans.
It seems that we are damned no matter what we decide. We could send her back to school but the program that she has been accepted to will cost $30,000 over the next two years. Because of the intense nature of the program she would have to quit her job. All for the 'POSSIBILITY' that she would have a better job in two years and POSSIBLY a better rate of pay and maybe a pension and maybe some personal reward to it.
And as I have urged others to be specific - her plan is to get a specific degree targeted for a specific salary at the end of a specific time period. But all of it is predicated on a bunch of 'ifs' and 'assumptions' and should anything go wrong - we would be totally, and irrevocably screwed financially. For us to lose her salary would put an immense pressure on our already strained income and modest savings. All for a dream and a bunch of assumptions.
I don't want to focus too much on the job issue because this would cause us to ignore our desire to have a family. There is little money for this however or time even left to make the decision before it is made for us.
So our lives are at a crossroads - what do we do? Do we risk a soul killing job in the hand for a dream in the bush? Do we have children right now and throw caution to the wind and assume somehow everything will be all right? Maybe the government would help us - yeah right!
How, in one of the wealthiest countries to ever exist, did we get here?
The greatest pain for me is that my student loans are at the center of all this. Without these loans she could go back to school. We could have had a child already. Money would not be at the center of every ache in our hearts if it wasn't for these loans - and for the stupid, childish decisions I made earlier in my life.
I don't mean to sound completely sour on higher education mind you. While I have benefited on an intellectual and personal level from my education however, it hasn't been worth it financially, socially or familial-y. If I had it to do over again with what I know now - I would have foregone college from the start and waited until I had the money in hand before ever thinking of a higher education.
The government's help with plentiful student loans and no protections in the event that life's inevitable missteps would occur have shackled my future to the point of choking the life out of it. It is very likely that my wife and I will not be able to afford to have children or be able to send her to college. All because I signed on the dotted the line years ago and didn't really know the true cost of those loans. But as former President Bush was quoted to have said when asked about his drug use in his youth - "When I was young and stupid I was young and stupid."
That being said - my gift to anyone starting out is a word of advice. Given the state of the economy as it currently is - unless you have an inside line on a job when you graduate or parents to pay for college and save you the debt - WAIT to go to college. Wait until you have the money because there are very real, unforeseen consequences of student debt just as there will be unforeseen happenstances in life.
The unforgiving and enslaving system of financing higher education that we currently have in place is not to be trusted. Understand this - because your entire life and your hope of finding immortality through your own children just might depend on it.
J. Densmore
Monday, February 1, 2010
Send Letters to Your Congressmen and Senators
In light of President Obama's pledge to help student loan borrowers I submit the following form letter for use in contacting your own local representatives in Congress.
"Dear Senator, Congressman, Congresswoman etc.,
President Obama mentioned in his State of the Union Address that no one should have to go bankrupt to pay for an education.
Given the President's desire to help student loan borrowers I would like to know your stance on student loan borrowers' issues.
Do you support student loan forgiveness as a way to stimulate the economy? Do you support returning bankruptcy protections to all student loans - both public and private? Do you support the call to reduce the rate of interest on all student loans down to 1% - the same rate banks are allowed to borrow money at?
If you don't support any of the aforementioned proposals, just what help for over-indebted student loan borrowers do you support?
Furthermore, from what interests within the student loan industry have you accepted contributions, if at all?
I would appreciate it if you could give my inquiry its due respect and respond directly to my request - and not through the use of an assistant or intern.
Regards,
Your Name Here"
"Dear Senator, Congressman, Congresswoman etc.,
President Obama mentioned in his State of the Union Address that no one should have to go bankrupt to pay for an education.
Given the President's desire to help student loan borrowers I would like to know your stance on student loan borrowers' issues.
Do you support student loan forgiveness as a way to stimulate the economy? Do you support returning bankruptcy protections to all student loans - both public and private? Do you support the call to reduce the rate of interest on all student loans down to 1% - the same rate banks are allowed to borrow money at?
If you don't support any of the aforementioned proposals, just what help for over-indebted student loan borrowers do you support?
Furthermore, from what interests within the student loan industry have you accepted contributions, if at all?
I would appreciate it if you could give my inquiry its due respect and respond directly to my request - and not through the use of an assistant or intern.
Regards,
Your Name Here"
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