Americans Are Ignoring Their Student Loan Bills

Inability to Pay vs. Inescapable Debt

• Many argue “you can’t squeeze a rock”: wages, mobility, and hiring prospects are weak, so there’s simply no money for payments.
• Others point out federal loans can’t be defaulted in the usual sense: the government can garnish up to 15% of disposable wages and loans survive bankruptcy, so “just not paying” mostly leads to garnishment, not escape.
• Emigration is mentioned as a theoretical escape; several commenters insist it’s rare and difficult, not a realistic mass strategy.

Structural Failures in Higher Ed and Lending

• Commenters blame policy design: easy, government-guaranteed loans for 18‑year‑olds, opaque job prospects by major, and colleges incentivized to raise prices and expand enrollment.
• FAFSA is seen as skewed: W‑2 families face full sticker prices while wealthier households can legally shelter assets and sometimes get substantial aid.
• Some connect this to broader US systems (health care, housing) distorted by subsidies, regulatory capture, and reduced public funding compared with earlier decades.

Fairness, Morality, and Bailouts

• One camp: debt is a promise; taxpayers “took a chance” on students, who now owe repayment just like banks repaid 2008 bailouts. Forgiving loans is labeled a vote-buying “negligence subsidy” and unfair to non‑college poor.
• The other camp: the government made bad, often predatory loans and should “eat the loss,” as with banks; students were pressured from childhood that college was mandatory, then left in low‑wage jobs with high balances.
• Debate over who is “needy”: some say student borrowers are among the least deserving versus people on food stamps or in shelters; others frame education support as a long‑term national investment.

Cost of Living and Everyday Tradeoffs

• Inflation in housing, energy, groceries, and health care is cited as driving reprioritization; student loans naturally fall down the list.
• A long subthread debates whether a software engineer “can’t afford eggs,” exposing disagreement over what “can’t afford” means (literal inability vs. choosing not to buy to protect savings or protest prices).

Degrees, Risk, and School Accountability

• Sharp criticism of expensive graduate and humanities/social‑science programs, especially at elite schools, where six‑figure tuition is misaligned with realistic salaries; some label this a scam.
• Others stress that education isn’t a guaranteed “job ticket” and outcomes can’t be promised.
• Proposed fixes include: making schools share liability for unpaid loans, treating education more like an investment contract, or allowing discharge via bankruptcy.

Reform Ideas

• Suggestions include: partial or time‑limited forgiveness (e.g., after 15 years or upon graduation), stronger cost controls on universities, building subsidized public colleges instead of loan schemes, and tightening which programs qualify for federal lending.