I have emphasized economic issues with great strength because the economic problems are leading to major social problems that are causing complete social destabilization. One of the major issues both as a cause and a factor that exacerbates the current situation is the parasitic influence of student loans debts, for while it is bad enough that most people are being forced to pay them as they would a house mortgage for the rest of their lives, the added stress of an enervated and in some cases, non-existent job market combined with ever diminishing wages is for many a “life sentence” of misery and hardship. These people, who are mostly Millennials but increasingly are including Zoomers, were promised great things but given a heap of garbage which they legally are being prevented from getting rid of.
Many people do not understand how severe this situation is. It is causing people to lose sleep at night, have poor performance at work or in life, causes social regression, destroys relationships, is actively destroying their health, prevents relationships and families from forming, and is a direct cause for the increase in drug use, pornography use, the decline in marriage, decline in birthrates, and increase in mental issues.
The situation is so bad that according to a recent study, 89% of people polled would do things such has shave their heads, give up coffee, or even spend a week in jail if it meant resolving their student loan issues, which many in the study described as a “life sentence”.
A majority of college graduates with student loans said they would shave their head if the debt could be erased, according to a new survey, and some others said they would consider giving up coffee and even spending a week in jail.
OnePoll conducted the research on behalf of Splash Financial. Researchers surveyed 2,000 graduates – 1,000 with undergrad degrees and 1,000 with graduate-level degrees, the New York Post reported. Of those surveyed, 89 percent believe their debt is a life sentence. (source)
“Life sentence” is an understatement. These people are likely never going to be able to pay off their loans, and if the current legal trends continue as they are with regard to debt and debt collections, there is a strong possibility that in the future- the next decade or two -as the Boomers begin to seriously die off and they leave massive debts that will not be able to be collected, that the inheritance laws may change to where loan debt is something that is not discharged at death, but passes to the children. Thus instead of inheriting assets, people will inherit debt that may or may not be able to be discharged. If added to the current state of student loans, which are already non-dischargeable by their nature, it is a recipe for the permanent impoverishment of almost all people save for odd exceptions or the extremely wealthy.
The graduates were asked what sort of measures they would consider taking to erase their student loans. More than half – 51 percent – would shave their head, while 49 percent would walk to work for a month.
The other extreme measures they would take were:
Giving up coffee for life – 40 percent
Reliving their high school experience – 40 percent
Not taking time off from work for a year – 40 percent
Spending a week in jail – 39 percent
Most of the participants also discussed sacrifices they made in their lives because of the loans.
This is also a reason why “camming”, also called “camwhoring”, has become so popular, especially with women. Prostitution is an evil sin but it is the “oldest profession” and it always pays, because somewhere there will be men who will pay to look at naked women. One cannot blame the camwhore phenomenon solely on the prevalence of porn in society, but on the fact that, while there are women who do it for show, there are many women who want to pay off their debts but have absolutely no material way for being able to do this, and “camming” gives them a way to make real money that can pay bills. This is not to justify it, but to place this trend into the context of economic realities.
In turn, those sacrifices led to participants noting some of the dreams they believe they can’t attain financially because of the debt.
The most common ideals were:
Buying a home – 43 percent
Saving for retirement – 43 percent
Moving to a new city – 42 percent
Moving a new place – 39 percent
Taking a vacation – 39 percent
Survey participants also noted how they felt about the debt emotionally and the most common emotions were worry and frustration at 47 percent, followed by feeling overwhelmed at 41 percent. (source)
I spoke recently with an old friend who said that his wife was terrified to take even a single day off from work because while she is legally entitled to them, she is afraid that she might lose her job because of it in the future, even if she is sick. Employers are more vicious now than ever before with taking even legally given days off from work, and this is fueled by the fact that the debt (which she and her husband have like many) is so heavy that even a small financial interruption could mean disaster for their lives.
One can say that the Millennials and Zoomers should have been more “responsible,” but what is to be said when they simply obeyed what their parents, relatives, friends, associates, teachers, guidance counselors, the mailman/butcher/baker/guy at the store told them for their entire lives, that one needs to go to college to be a “success”, and that failures in life were those who did not go because they could not get good jobs to care for themselves?
But this must not turn into a “who is to blame” contest, rather it is to say that there is a serious problem and that the debt issue is what needs to be resolved. Many are not aware that the anti-Christian French Revolution did not begin as just a simple hatred of the Church, but was preceded by massive financial scandals from the French crown. Money problems eventually translate into political problems because economics always precedes politics, as money is not power in itself, but gives one potential power to acquire tools and means from another to expand his influence. If society is unable to use their assets to care for themselves in basic needs, and this is due to government policies, there eventually will be a forced day of reckoning between the ruled and the rulers.
There is a reason that Millennials and Zoomers would do drastic things to get rid of their student loan debt, and it is because they are desperate. If Trump does not seriously do something about it if he is re-elected in 2020, than when 2024 comes along, a very skilled Democrat candidate- perhaps even an open socialist -would find in an excellent opportunity for a social “revolution” if he seriously promises to deal with the debt issue.