Student loan debt relief

[KMichelle]

Far from paying for anyone’s education, the United States has the HIGHEST tuition rates IN THE WORLD. We’re Number 1! It is literally tens of thousands of dollars more expensive to go to a university in the USA, then in most European countries, A YEAR.

36% of 4 year graduates work in a job that requires no degree.

Now, I graduated from high school in 2007. College was not an option, it was ‘the’ option, if you were gonna get anywhere in this world. Thankfully, I saw that for the bunk and propaganda that it truly was. I feel certain that anyone who has graduated from high school in the past 10 years, would share the sentiment that the idea of college was all but shoved down the throats of both the eager and resistant.

For example, my partner graduated in a senior class of 2,000 in dirt-poor Raleigh-Durham. From a school district now notorious for it’s ‘school to prison’ policy. His interest in language and politics got him into an English and journalism degree.

Does anyone want to guess the value of a journalism degree these days?

He has over $30,000 in school debt. Does anyone want to crunch the numbers on how long it will take to pay off that debt working in the service industry, which IS the primary employer of those with defunct or useless degrees? You’re take-home pay is between 5 and 8 an hour, in most instances…

Are there scholarships? Yes, and in many high schools, ‘guidance counselors’ are the folks who are supposed to be looking into and helping enroll people in these programs. In my partner’s school, there was 1 counselor for every 300 students…

We must always be careful not to judge other’s motives and means from our standpoint of privilege. It is always the marginalized that suffer from policies that are designed to exploit.

Furthermore, something I learned from time working with environmental and political activists, is that you cannot get too hung up on the rhetoric of a campaign. You will easily find fault and alienate yourself from the movement.

Do I farm as a public servant? **** no! I am a servant to the benefit of plants and animals, water and soil. I am a servant to my own creative whim and edible pleasures. I think becoming a ‘public servant’ is a very slippery slope, especially when the public starts to become interested in it’s servants. That being said, it is currently a powerful idea and tool that Young Farmer’s may be able to use to do some good.

All that being said, the cream rises to the top. Just because a couple of folks might get their debt forgiven, isn’t going to be a big game changer. It is just sweeping a larger problem under the rug. If people don’t have what it takes to be a farmer, they will know soon. It is not up to anyone of us to decide whether or not someone is prudent or hardworking enough, because they got scammed by higher learning institutions.

Debt is a predatory and oppressive social policy, we should all do our best to throw off the yoke of plutocratic systems.

Suggested reading –

Debt and Disorder: International Economic Instability and US Imperial Decline – MacEwan

Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition – Eisenstein

[Wamoo]

There are five excellent universities in the United States that offer free tuition, free books, free room and board…

US Coast Guard Academy
US Air Force Academy
US Naval Academy
Westpoint
US Merchant Marine Academy

All joking aside, the military does offer good education benefits. As an enlisted person, you get 100% of the GI Bill for 4 years of service. It covers tuition and fees, has a book stipend, and pays a housing allowance. 4 years of free college for 4 years of service. The military offers a lot in the different types of jobs it has, so don’t let stereotypes cloud your judgement. I service Aids to Navigation; the buoys, beacons, and lighthouses that guide our mariners. I work with heavy lift rigging applications and photovoltaics. Sure, you can be infantry, but you can also be electricians, carpenters, mechanics, cooks, information technology, etc.

I do agree that U.S. tuition is disproportionally high. I know a guy who is working on a degree program at a US university, but studies abroad for many semesters because it is actually cheaper. I guess he does get the added benefit of living in other cultures…

If someone wants to farm bad enough, they will.

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