this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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[–] Sunflier@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (5 children)

I'm somewhat torn on this:

Yes, I totally agree that federal loans should be forgiven even if someone pays theirs off.

Private loans though? Not so much. That's basically the same as a mortgage from a bank. Or a car loan even. That money ultimately ends up in the borrower's possession after the school balance is paid. That? I am not so willing to share the cost of.

[–] reptar@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

I, somewhat, feel you. My hang up is federal loans are often s pittance

Maybe my FAFSA has the wrong code(at this point, for my oldest). Maybe I should have lied about my assets? I haven't done my research, but it did not seem like my lack of home or non-beater factor in

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[–] Aeri@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I mean I wouldn't want it to not exist but if I just nearly died of chemo + cancer I'd be a little mad if they found an EASIER way to cure cancer...

[–] bizarroland@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

That would actually kind of be funny in retrospect. Like, if you survived it, and it was the most horrible, painful year of your life, and then the day the doctor gave you the all-clear, the FDA released a drug that takes care of it in seven days with minimum side effects.

Like any time anybody said anything to me, I would be whipping out my cancer photos and then using that to explain that the universe hates me, and so therefore I am absolved of all sin.

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[–] seggturkasz@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (18 children)

This is som weird metaphor... So some people get voluntary "cancer" in hope theycan fight it and it will benefit them in the long run, and some don't. While someone will have just the benefits and not the cancer while everyone chips in.

I get that in the long run highly educated people tend to pay more taxes. So makeing education affordable in is a net benefit for everyone. But this analogy is just weird...

I don't know man, at the end of the day it is unfair, and making fun of that seems inappropriate.

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[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 5 points 3 days ago

I am once again reminded: Humanity is fucking ugly. I'm starting to get nihilists.

[–] balance8873@lemmy.myserv.one 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Yeah I don't think this covers the situation as much as it's a nice feel good story.

Imagine for a second you are relatively poor, you go to a state school or community college in order to afford it. You have loans, but they are small.

Now imagine you're upper middle class, you go to a private or out of state school and take loans out for a much much larger amount than the other person, with the expectation that you're getting more value for your money (let's ignore the labyrinth there for a second -- this is something many people believe and believing it, for some, makes it true).

Now, both loans are forgiven

Youve succeeded in making the rich richer, giving them both the higher valued education and all of their money back.

Or imagine you're that poor student but you're smart: you got a grant or scholarship making your loans nonexistent, but only if you go to the state school.

Once again, forgiving loans makes the already wealthy person significantly more wealthy and does nothing to benefit the poorer person.

Yes, of course, there's a wide range of reasons a person might go down either route, and I'm absolutely certain there are many millions of people who have gotten loans way above their wealth in order to go to a better school and jump out of poverty (or whatever). This comic ignores the nuance.

In the cancer analogy, this would be a poor person dying or otherwise experiencing terrible health problems because they couldn't get the care they needed, then when a cure is developed, only administering it to the people who could afford care to begin with (ie american health care)

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If this is a one-time event it's hardly the solution to the problem. Education should be free or close to free in general.

If that's the case, things suddenly look different. Even only if e.g. state schools are free.

In my country the tuition fee for a state university is around €30 per semester, and that doesn't even go to the university but to fund the student governing body (not sure what's the right translation for the term).

This means, that everyone can get a quality education even if they are poor. In fact, most people I went to university with funded their flat/student accomodation and food with a part-time job while going to university. No debts or financial assistance needed.

This doesn't cover private universities, but (a) the difference in quality and reputation isn't relevant and (b) free public universities means that private universities are also somewhat price capped if they want to stay competitive.

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[–] AntiBullyRanger@ani.social 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

Read all the comments🧵. Nobody mentioned that higher education was free in the 🇺🇲 until a racist made it costly for colors to attend.

Changed the link, since folks had difficulty trickling to the sources.🥁

[–] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

made it costly for colors to attend

Are you sure that's the right link? The Wikipedia page talks about a law that mandates a permit for carrying firearms.

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[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I admit I kinda feel this way about Ozempic after having to fight for years to finally get into better shape.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 days ago

Behavioural change is the crucial part of getting in shape, Ozempic is helpful for those who already did change their behaviour but still can't lose weight. Your fight is never wasted, you're significantly more healthy and fitter than those solely rely on Ozempic and never do the work, and that should be worth it.

[–] ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Thing is once they stop the pounds come back unless they change their behavior. If all they do is take the shots, they're likely signing up for an expensive long-term roller-coaster of weight loss and gain and emotions.

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