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I too have not taken well to this campaign, especially the way it is being framed. I paid for the time I was in college, though I didn’t finish as I exited just as I was going to need to begin taking out loans and began working on farms. I have empathy for people with debt, especially so large. To widen the picture, what of other types of debt that one might have to take on to begin a career, or that life may bring along with hardships to work through such as medical and therapeutic needs that can be costly. If I want to begin a restaurant, a hospital or medical clinic, an art program, a school, a care facility for the elderly, should I be relieved of my debts? I think the program in general is looking for special treatment for only some people, while the issue is much larger and complex.
Important to note is that this is looking specifically at the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program of the US Government, that only applies to loans through certain government programs. It requires Income based Payments over a period of 10 years. So it is not just wiping out a loan, as it might seem at the first read for those unfamiliar with the program. Besides government jobs, it also includes people who work for a non profit. See here: https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service
While enrollment in the federal program will help those with such debt, I feel there are other deserving and underrepresented issues in the realm of education to address such as freeing all education from state/government as well as business involvement and influence for both public and private institutions. Are there ways to divest from these institutions to free education and encourage new ways of learning and training? This is what I would like to see most.
Just like taking on the loans, paying them is the individual’s responsibility to work out with whoeever has given them the opportunity to participate in the education they have chosen. I agree with Erika that the entire process is a learning opportunity in itself, and ‘forgiveness’ needs to be looked at every carefully. Education and self development are not meant to be easy.
What if an individual took their own initiative to find a way to work out a program with their loan? Instead we are looking for something so that we do not have to take personal responsibility for our actions. Loan repayment, or finding a creative solution oneself, may be just what an individual needs to personally develop. Perhaps their community or an individual will see a great need for their skill and help with their loans, or help them with beginning a business or enterprise. Maybe they would need to further educate themselves, or tailor and reframe their enterprise and relationships so that the community is wholly invested and supportive.
Another part to comment on is the segregation of certain jobs being public service and others not. Whether one personally takes this view or not, the truth is that everything we do or produce is a service for the whole of humanity, our common furtherance and evolution on and with the earth. Some of us take it up consciously and well within this larger view, while others take on a smaller view and attempt to keep more for themselves. Even the ‘greedy’ are still serving, just not as much, as well, or in the way we might think they should with a view to a larger whole. There are even ‘greedy’ farmers! So why should a farmer be considered a public servant and not an artist? Or someone who makes clothing, builds homes, cares for children (the ‘unemployed’ mothers and fathers even, staying home to raise the next generation), teachers, etc. Should we decide what kind of farmers will be forgiven? Only organic? Only Biodynamic? Only those integrating animal power onto their farms? 😉
Educating the public on the nature of farming to bring them to personal involvement is key here. A doctor may take on enourmous debt to educate themselves, but this is mostly recognized and rightly valued and compensated. How can we foster knowledge and culture so that our work and our needs are valued? Can we find ways to ask a ‘true price’ for our work based on common understanding and not ‘sell ourselves short’, and therefore the earth and the rest of humanity of proper care? This does not just apply to doctors or farmers, but to each individual. Their work is worthy, their life is worthy, the earth is worthy of proper care and respect. Attempting to switch around rules at a ‘higher’ government level forgets or misses the actual higher level of respect. I believe change must come through the hearts and minds of human beings coming together. Here begins our true work.
