this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2025
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A Boring Dystopia

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm so glad that I got a surprise letter in January of 2024 stating that the Biden SAVE program had forgiven my entire $320,000 worth of student loans. I had originally borrowed $150k.

[–] madcaesar 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Wait, was that all fucking interest???

Also for 150k you better be a fucking doctor, mate.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

This isn't uncommon, there are deferral programs for student loans but these typically come with compounding interest (basically, your payments are covered each month by an additional loan which gets added to the principle).

[–] LordCrom 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Crashing the stock market may be the plan here. Follow me on this ...

Crashing the market and removing 20 to 30 percent of value.

Then at the low point invest heavily into the DOW.

Now support the market and get it back to previous levels.

Fucking rich fucks just made 30% in 1 to 2 years on that investment.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago

Hey now you're forgetting that they're also going short on everything and making money on the fucking way down too!

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Crashing the economy is the point, isn't it. Every crash the richest few scoop up the assets and the peasants (most of Americans) settle for working for whatever scraps they can manage.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago

I am reminded again of how we need to organized. A few people here or there defaulting on loans or refusing to pay won't make a difference. A lot of people not paying, but not talking to each other, is kind of a wild card. But if you and fifty thousand of your closest friends went to DC together to tell your reps this is unacceptable, and if they want to sleep at night it will change, maybe we'd see change.

But organizing is really hard and I don't know how to go about it effectively.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Just don't pay. Debt-strikes are far more damaging than a work-stoppage.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

This works great up until the point where a collection agency comes for your property and/or credit rating. I'm not saying don't strike, but do it with full knowledge there may be repercussions.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 days ago (22 children)

It’s most likely that people won’t have a choice. Many people, anyway, from what I understand of USian wages and cost of living.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

An rendition of Trump's Greater Depression:

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

My only hope is that America slingshots back to Roosevelt era policies. Wild that this exact shit happened and what saved us? Oh social programs and high tax rates on the wealthy.

[–] Philharmonic3 11 points 2 days ago

Don't pay. Debt strike.

[–] SolidShake 5 points 2 days ago

this story is actually insane.

[–] shaggyb 97 points 3 days ago (25 children)

With no DOE employees to process defaults?

Nobody should be paying a red cent.

If your choice is draining your entire bank account to the point you can't afford to live or suffering a credit score penalty, then the credit score should be sacrificed.

"but they can..."

Stop. Nothing they can do is worse than starving. Don't pay them. Use your money for your own needs.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Quick numbers for those reading:

  • Overall debt grew by $93 billion in the last three months of 2024 -- and about half of that increase was new credit card debt.
  • Americans' total credit card balances now stand at a record-high $1.21 trillion.
  • Americans hold nearly $1.7 trillion in auto loan debt.
  • Americans' total household debt is $18.04 trillion -- including credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and student loans

STUDENT DEBT:

  • Americans hold $1.62 trillion in student debt.
  • Missed federal student loan payments were not reported to credit bureaus between 2020Q2 and 2024Q3.
  • Consequently, less than % of aggregate student debt was reported 90+ days delinquent or in default in 2024Q4.
  • Missed federal student loan payments will likely begin appearing on reports beginning in 2025Q1.

Here’s the report: House Hold Debt and Credit: Q4 2024 (published 2025 by Federal Reserve Bank of New York)

[–] [email protected] 39 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (13 children)

Could you explain to non-Americans what is the appeal of student loans if they can do this? Why shouldn't people go to cheaper schools to get their degrees instead? I mean no disrespect, if you are rich go to Yale or whatever, by all means.

[–] stoly 64 points 3 days ago (15 children)

There are no cheaper schools. There are expensive ones and more expensive ones. There is literally no option for the non-rich except to go into debt or learn to be a plumber.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 days ago

There are no such thing as cheaper schools. They got rid of that because they were angry college students protested the Vietnam War. So now getting an education means doing business with the worst loan shark you've ever heard of, legally protected from bankruptcy. The thing you have to understand about America is that everything is a scam. Like healthcare or housing or a child care and a bunch of other things I'm not even thinking about

[–] Leeks 43 points 3 days ago (13 children)

Children are told that they MUST go to college to get a stable and high paying job. This is so prevalent that college degrees are just seen as “the next step after high school” and nobody questions it. These colleges have figured out they can charge almost anything because they are seen as the gate keepers to high paying and stable jobs. So banking on future earnings, bearly emancipated teenagers, with the absolute minimum of a financial education, make life decisions that will put them in debt for the next 20-30 years.

The problem with the whole system is there doesn’t appear to be enough high paying and stable jobs.

As far as going to a cheaper college, I think you identified the issue in your very own comment. Schools have different prestige levels. Yale, for example, is a high prestige school and not only are you paying for an education, you are also paying to connect to rich people. These connections can be worth a lot of money if they are used correctly. So going to a cheaper college also means less valuable connections.

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[–] ickplant 34 points 3 days ago (17 children)

I went to a really cheap school. My master’s was 40k.

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