JEREMIAH POFF
CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST
As the clown show of the 2020 presidential cycle has kicked into gear, Democratic candidates have been in a war of ideas that has essentially turned into a competition of free stuff.
This should come as no surprise to any political junkie, as this has been the direction of the Democratic Party since the Obama era.
But recently one proposal caught my eye, and to be quite frank, it sounds really appealing to a college student who will have thousands of dollars in debt.
Student loan debt forgiveness.
What does this mean? Any students who took out student loans with the federal government, namely a subsidized or unsubsidized loan, would be eligible to get their loans forgiven.
Nice huh? Too bad it’s stealing.
When we agree to go to college, we agree to take on the cost associated with that. And when we take out a loan, we agree to pay for it because the negative of taking out the loan is outweighed by the positive of the earned degree (supposedly).
The government involvement in student loans, and for that matter higher education financing in general, has seen a corresponding rise in the cost of tuition. Given that there is guaranteed money coming from the federal government, it has given colleges and universities no incentive to keep costs down.
But while the government funding of higher education has made costs skyrocket, the idea of loan forgiveness is itself completely immoral and sends the message that the self-responsibility of accepting a student loan is no longer important.
To give you an idea, student loan debt forgiveness is no different than borrowing money to buy a car, then, being unable to pay back the loan, getting to keep the car but not having to pay for it. It is stealing. Taking something without paying for it is stealing.
But beyond the vice of stealing, loan “forgiveness” is an assault on personal integrity. When a loan is given out, the individual agrees to pay it back. It is a trust agreement between two parties. Thus, to violate it would be dishonest.
There are plenty of policy ideas that sound really nice, especially ones that we know would benefit us personally. But just because something sounds nice doesn’t mean it is good. When you make a promise, you keep it. Don’t expect other people to foot the bill for something you agreed to pay.