Distractions

I won’t reiterate the million takes on student debt. I have debt myself that I was paying off well ahead of time. This was mostly thanks to luck moving up quickly in my current job and being able to live in a stable household sharing expenses for nearly a decade now. The remainder will be canceled just like millions of other borrowers.

I don’t feel resentment against others who will see more debt forgiven than myself – because you know what? – I’d rather people have received their education for little to nothing. It’s relief for millions of people who can now invest in themselves with all the multiplier effects that has across the economy; dwelling on the past aids no one nor provides solutions. While the policy isn’t perfect, it does set in motion a future discussion of controlling the cost of college and, hopefully, a move toward either imposing strict price controls on all public colleges or simply making public tertiary education tuition-free.

So, what’s being said from the other side? Jamelle Bouie, once again shining as the best writer at the New York Times right now, commented on the reactions from the right. He noted that while they play the culture war tunes, they have no policies at all to provide as an alternative, and I wonder why:

“The fact of the matter is the Republican Party does not have anything to offer the millions of working- and middle-class Americans who labor under the burden of student debt. For all the talk of “populism,” the party is still hostile to the social safety net, opposed to raising the minimum wage, hostile to unions and worker power and virtually every economic policy intervention that isn’t tax cuts and upward redistribution from the many to the most fortunate few.“

And that’s that. The main lesson here is while the GOP have policies, they’re ones that provide nothing or bare scraps to most people. The tax cuts and near abolition of the Affordable Care Act during the previous administration should be a reminder of what they truly care about. And if they’re distracting you with “real” blue-collar folks vs the “dumb” baristas talk, they’re distracting you from the meaningful actors who have sway in our politics, particular the conservative power brokers and wealthy who helped manufacture this very serious debt situation in the first place.