Debt Forgiveness Hypocrisy
You can tell a lot about a person by the ideology they keep, and how fervently they hold to it in the face of opposing facts. You can tell even more by examining the exact point at which they become vocal about an issue. I’ve seen many people recently decry the recent executive decision that forgives a minimum of $10,000 of student loan debt. Some of these complaints came accompanied with copy-paste talking points directly from your bad faith pundit of choice. Others just did a great job exposing hypocrisy. Here are some of my favorites.
Why should I have to pay for something I won’t use?
This is an argument that arises in libertarian circles from time to time. I’ll give you a counter point here. I ordered about five hundred fire extinguishers. I also work from home. I have minimal use of the roads and no use for the fire department. Why should I pay for your stuff? I’ll give you a crazier one. Statistically, I don’t plan to live past 55. If this were true, why should I pay for Social Security or Medicare? See how ridiculous that sounds? For this question to have any good faith merit, I would need to see a priority list of social services you don’t want to pay for, and every service below education on that list better have an accompanying objection. Otherwise, you’re just being a dishonest jerk. Which is fine, as long as you admit it.
By the way, very few of you use drones that can drop bombs on civilians.
An Executive Order? I didn’t vote for that!
As long as you’re not a crazy conspiracy theorist that believes that some insanely advanced satellites usurped selective elections (coincidentally, just the ones you don’t agree with) in a way that only the most grammar and logic challenged among us could sort out, the president was elected into office and legally has the right to do certain things. I find it fascinating that people turn their “I hate executive orders” switch on and off every four years like a night light. The sun doesn’t reach its apex on Inauguration Day and already people are reversing their positions on executive orders. I can respect those that don’t believe in executive orders altogether, even though I disagree. The reality is that the people complaining about these orders are really just mad about the person doing the decree, not the order itself.
If you’re forgiving that debt, why can’t you do my debt too?
List it. Go ahead. Shout out the type of debt you want relieved. So far this week I’ve heard people complain about not having any relief on their mortgage (while Homestead Exemptions are a nationwide thing), not getting medical cost relief for senior (which I agree with, but… Medicare?), and not having relief for credit card debt (in a country with pretty lax bankruptcy laws). What I’ll offer as an olive branch is this: Nobody should, in the normal course of life, be made to bear a debt that places undue pressure on their ability to enjoy a day off without high blood pressure. Period. We can walk and chew bubble gum, people.
This will cause inflation to go out of control.
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? This one doesn’t deserve a response. It makes me laugh and scream at the same time.
It isn’t fair! I paid my student loans without help!
It’s amazing that so many people have their entire world view painted solely by their own paltry list of experiences. It not only showcases a lack of empathy that borders on sociopathy, but also displays a phenomenal absence of critical thinking. This notion that “I did it, so you should too” completely ignores the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of different factors that can land people in different circumstances. It’s such an arrogant viewpoint to assume that your skill alone got you to where you are. The reality is that everyone that got to a certain place not only relied on their guile and moxie, but also a series of very lucky D20 rolls that landed in their favor. If you did a wonderful thing, be proud of that wonderful thing. You deserve to feel happy about that thing you did. What you don’t get to do is judge others for the way they got to their wonderful thing.
Here’s an example for people that think comparing PPP loans to student loan forgiveness is apples and oranges. My day job didn’t stop for one single solitary day throughout COVID. I didn’t have to worry about missing paychecks, and I worked throughout the entire pandemic. My employment was solid and my employer didn’t need to grab a single PPP loan. However, I understand that it would be a huge burden on people that weren’t working to suddenly not have a paycheck. I wasn’t complaining or stamping my feet about money going to people that weren’t me. I wasn’t patting myself on the back for opting to work at a place that could survive a global pandemic. Because eventually, the shoe could be on the other foot. When and if that happens, I would want people to pay me the same respect I paid them.
We live in a society. Sometimes, things happen that don’t benefit us directly. Other times, they do. The hope is that enough of us have enough empathy for our fellow humans to help them survive when things get rough without hurling pejoratives. The goal is for all of us to respect each other’s hustle without turning into little whining babies about it. A rising tide lifts all boats. A whiny captain sinks them.
