Loan forgiveness

You may have heard that President Biden forgave up to $20,000 in student loans for Americans. Needless to say, there are folks who don’t think this is fair. I’d like to address that.

Some argue the gesture with the question: Why should people who currently have student loans outstanding get their loans partly or fully forgiven when there are countless others who have already paid them off? It may seem like a good question until you reframe it.

Why should people today get to survive car accidents now that we have seatbelts? It’s not fair to the people who died in the past from being fatally ejected from their cars in an accident.

Why should present cancer victims get to survive now that we have better treatments? It’s not fair to the people who suffered horribly and then died in the past from cancers that used to be incurable.

Why should mothers get paid to stay home with their kids? It’s not fair to the mothers who stayed home all of their lives to raise a family and had no income and no independence.

Do you see a common thread here? It's about progress. I have a firm belief that the real reason Biden forgave those loans was to create an environment where countless people would tell their friends and family how much better their lives are without this debt hanging over their heads. These positive stories may at some point in our future motivate governments to make post-secondary education free for everyone. Some already do. 

It's how we progress as a society and make opportunities to better ourselves more accessible for more people instead of just those who can already afford it. There were a lot of people complaining that they never had an opportunity to go to college or university. That's exactly the point. The reason they probably never got to go is because they didn't have the money and the debt load would be too high or too risky. Society does not get better, and growth is not sustainable if the majority of people can't afford to complete their education. A well-educated society can do more complicated things that earn more money and in turn pay more taxes. Never mind all of the other benefits that come from having learned people in the majority. Yes, I just used the word learned in a sentence. That's pronounced 'lern-ned'.