It’s the same metaphor though. Helping a group of people doesn’t hurt a different group. Did they make a decision based on whether they expected to get help: yes. Does providing that help against that expectation hurt them: no.
It’s an especially good metaphor because nobody is even talking about taxing tradies to fund the relief.
Two people are going for the same job, one has a degree while the other doesn’t, who is more likely to get the job, all else being equal? Who, on average, gets paid more, those with degrees or those without degrees?
Those who are getting the degree get a boost above those without one, so those who chose to forgo the degree, who would have chosen differently with loan forgiveness could argue pretty effectively that it hurt them.
The government is funded by tax dollars. Everyone who works, including those in the trades, pay taxes. White collar workers who were self taught or went to a boot camp are also at play here. There are many companies that only let you move up so high without certain degrees. So Sam’s tax dollars pay for Alex’s degree, and now Sam works for Alex.
And all of that isn’t even the biggest issue. They aren’t fixing the system. Loan forgiveness today simply kicks the can down the road a couple years. If they want to fix the problem they should fix the problem and stop tying people to the tracks in the first place.
They can and should do both, but if they aren’t going to stop tying people to the damn track then they should stop pretending they’re doing anyone any real favors by telling them they will loosen some knots. This is a political move to buy votes with tax payer money. That’s it. If they gave two shits about people with crippling student loan debt they’d change how the system works to stop with the predatory loans, which would in turn force universities to cut their bloated administrative costs, and lower tuition to a reasonable level where a degree and actual be worth getting.
Until they do that, this loan forgiveness stuff is just a dog a pony show.
If they do nothing the pressure will stay on them until they do something real. If the loan forgiveness actually happens they will declare victory and pat themselves on the back, and then nothing will happen for another decade or more.
You can stop the trolly anytime, but it’s unfair for the people not on the train tracks.
We don’t need to force the metaphor.
It’s the same metaphor though. Helping a group of people doesn’t hurt a different group. Did they make a decision based on whether they expected to get help: yes. Does providing that help against that expectation hurt them: no.
It’s an especially good metaphor because nobody is even talking about taxing tradies to fund the relief.
Two people are going for the same job, one has a degree while the other doesn’t, who is more likely to get the job, all else being equal? Who, on average, gets paid more, those with degrees or those without degrees?
Those who are getting the degree get a boost above those without one, so those who chose to forgo the degree, who would have chosen differently with loan forgiveness could argue pretty effectively that it hurt them.
The government is funded by tax dollars. Everyone who works, including those in the trades, pay taxes. White collar workers who were self taught or went to a boot camp are also at play here. There are many companies that only let you move up so high without certain degrees. So Sam’s tax dollars pay for Alex’s degree, and now Sam works for Alex.
And all of that isn’t even the biggest issue. They aren’t fixing the system. Loan forgiveness today simply kicks the can down the road a couple years. If they want to fix the problem they should fix the problem and stop tying people to the tracks in the first place.
Can’t they do both? Do they still need to kill all the people on the tracks? That part of the argument isn’t coherent.
They can and should do both, but if they aren’t going to stop tying people to the damn track then they should stop pretending they’re doing anyone any real favors by telling them they will loosen some knots. This is a political move to buy votes with tax payer money. That’s it. If they gave two shits about people with crippling student loan debt they’d change how the system works to stop with the predatory loans, which would in turn force universities to cut their bloated administrative costs, and lower tuition to a reasonable level where a degree and actual be worth getting.
Until they do that, this loan forgiveness stuff is just a dog a pony show.
It’s not a substitute for actual action. But in the meantime, it’s at least better than doing nothing.
If they do nothing the pressure will stay on them until they do something real. If the loan forgiveness actually happens they will declare victory and pat themselves on the back, and then nothing will happen for another decade or more.