I’ve decided to coin a new word (along with my previously developed word of waldenglow which is in the forthcoming Openings) – kleptocohort.
How did this word come about? Well, the other day, I was describing the differences between traditional economies, market economies, command economies, and mixed economies in the class I teach at DigiPen Institute of Technology (the class is Geography & Cartography for Worldbuilding). Of course, many of the students were unaware of the differences, with the usual “capitalism is bad” discussion leading to discussions on enlightened self interest, socialism, fascism, and communism.
After class, several students and I were chatting, and we got on the topic of student loans, and how many who have loans want them forgiven. Having had student loans, I would have loved to have this happen, but the fact of the matter is, I took out loans to pay for my education, and I paid them off. Then again, I didn’t take on anywhere near the debt many of the younger generation have taken on. The discussion turned toward whether or not having students loans forgiven was socialism or some form of theft (kleptomaniacy). I think the actual term we were looking for was kleptocohort – a group of people who believe it’s acceptable to steal from others to benefit them individually and their cohort.
Mike Rowe talks about this in his FB postings, describing how some feel student loans should be forgiven, but what about the guy who takes out a loan to start a small business rather than going to college? Their attitude appears to be, not my problem. Hence, my creation of the new word, kleptocohort.
James S. Peet, Author, novelist, and all around good guy! 
Good Points. But many were misled by they Universities into getting loans. Congress need to make loans dischargeable in Bankruptcies again. Then the Banks would back up the plumbing. ________________________________
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Personally I think government involvement in student loans was always a scam. Of course I am of the opinion that if the government gets involved they will “fix” things until they are irreparably broken. In other thoughts kleptocohort, I like it. Think I will have to use it.
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One could argue about whether or not students were misled into getting loans, but adult choices require adult responses. There were many scholarships out there that didn’t require taking out loans (and let’s not get into the issue of useless degrees). Community colleges and other institutes of learning provided either lower cost alternatives to universities or actual employable skills (i.e., trade schools). The bigger problem is the idea that “college for all” is a good and necessary thing. No, I say. education for all is a good and necessary thing – and that does not mean college or a 4-year degree.
I think one thing we can all agree upon, though, is the inanity of not allowing student loans to be discharged by bankruptcy. That basically, IMNSHO, goes against the entire purpose of the US Constitution, which allowed people to discharge debt through bankruptcy. Considering how the economy is so messed up for that generation (mostly the issue of ridiculous housing prices), it’s insane to allow this condition to exist.
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Not sure if this submitted the first time. had a logging in issue that made it unclear so I will submit it again.. if i doubled it just delete one of them.
I have a friend who owes a lot. His complaint isn’t that he owes the money but that the Gov. changed the terms and interest rate arbitrarily, very much not in his favor. He earns ok money and has been paying it off for years and is about to abandon the dept because all his is now doing with payments that would have once paid it off is not quite even keeping up with interest. According to him congress passed legislation allowing them to change that stuff arbitrarily a while back. I feel his pain and am sympathetic at the point that the contract between them was modified without his consent.
I made it a point to have zero debt. for my degree. I paid a high cost with military service to do that that in retrospect I’m not sure on a cost benefit scale left me ahead. However there was a fair amount of patriotism and family tradition in my decision making process for serving that balances against a pure financial figuring of cost. That was 32 years ago. Today patriotism wouldn’t figure into that. I have zero respect for the current institutions and if I had been more knowledgeable then would have probably made different choices. I probably still would have served but taken a much more accademic MOS that was available to me and would have been available to me. It would have not led to my injuries and would have been worth 10x the salary after getting out. to a young man combat arms sounded much more exciting. Oh what I wish I could tell myself in the past. 🙂
as to the general subject of current student loans I have an opinion that I think would be mostly fair, especially in light of some of the bad faith stuff the gov has done. I think the best solution would be simply to zero out all interest and have the total amount already paid go to the original balance and whatever is leftover from that is still owed interest free. I think that could be seen as a fair compromise with the situation as it stands. It would leave me as someone that did the degree and paid the price on our own feeling ok, and would I would think be seen as just by the ones with a lot of student debt.
Just an opinion.
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This gets back to the issue of the carve-out student loans have against being cleared by bankruptcy. It’s a scam, government regulated, so it’s up to us, as voters/citizens, to get the government to do what’s right, now what large financial corporations want.
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Sounds good..
But it presupposes that your vote as a citizen makes a difference. I have spent a lifetime voting and don’t think it has mattered one whit! I have seen the good intentioned politicians that believe as I do quickly corrupted or flat out leave even in the middle of their term with the public statement that they couldn’t fulfill their mandate they ran on because that after a couple years of trying they had come to believe that the system has been rigged so that it is not possible to reform it from the inside. Also that the threats to themselves and their family’s outweighed their desire to keep fighting a hopeless task. This applies to more than one politician that I voted for and still respect that they maintained their integrity. The system is rigged, most of the time in ways that people don’t expect (you don’t need to even look at election fraud or rules rigging both parties do). The rules around being a congressman or senator are very legal but mostly unethical. It allows that amorphous system we always reference in our complaints about the status quo, to guide and put pressure on new incoming politicians and guide them in how it really works or put so much pressure on them and their family’s that they capitulate, leave or end up as a criminal whether they did anything illegal or not. While those that capitulate or join the status quo bandwagon can flat out behave in unethical and even illegal behavior and be covered by that same system most of the time or at least until their behavior doesn’t outweigh their usefulness.
Sigh, in aggregate I believe this is just the way it is now. There are exceptions here and their or at least seem to be but then again with today’s media and very slick marketing of politicians you never truly know unless you have some special personal insight in to it.
I tend to look at those politicians that the most hated by all the other politicians as ones that are probably not bought off and being true to their original ideals if they had ideals that is. Congressman Massey of Kentucky is one I like based on this.
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One need only look at how the duopoloy make it difficult for any third party to get elected to major state or national position to see the veracity of your statement. But I still stand by the opinion that with enough pushback from the voters, actual change can happen (see Gingrich’s “Contract with America” as an example).
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Sigh… Gingrich… I’m so conflicted about him. Loved his books though. Politically when he talks I like what he says but I don’t know. I guess at this point I just don’t know and can’t hold a qualified opinion. So I’m going to go with no opinion.
Oh the glorious Duopoloy. After Trump stomped all over the primary system of the Republicans and then the Democrats just threw away the election to him in the general election during his first election, they made a bunch of changes to make it pretty much impossible for someone to do that again. Democrats did the same or even worse because of Bernie Sanders. He should have been the primary nominee in that first trump election for the democrats instead of Hillary Clinton. They flat out put the jackboots on and stomped on him, and instead of standing up to it he rolled over and and said anything else you want me do do for you while I’m laying down here. I didn’t like his beliefs up to that point but respected him as being earnest about them. Lost a lot of respect after that for him.
I know there is a lot of stuff happening at the state level, but really don’t have a good view of the internals for more than a couple states. In NC. I have a friend that is part of a group of libertarians that have had a lot of success taking over chunks of the state’s republican party even at an administrative level. The stories I hear from my friend about what goes on within our political system have little relation to what you hear on the news. So far they have spent years working to do this in NC and I see it grinding them down. It’s a constant high speed grind to gain ground getting ethical libertarian bent people elected and then losing them to corruption or the system within a few years. My hat is off to them but it seems like a race where your running as fast as you can go and going nowhere while your engine is wearing out. I suppose they have had more success’s than it feels like to me but talk about a brutal fight.
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The biggest problem with libertarians (from my limited perspective) is that it appears to me that none of them want office, because they would rather leave people alone than rule. So, the Libertarian Party, seems to have a conundrum of where to get people who want to leave others alone (and be left alone) to run for office.
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ROFL… yep… good libertarians are horrified by the thought of being in government 🙂
I have found the libertarian party. ie… the ones running for president every election pretty non libertarian. They seem to try and adopt positions from the conservatives and the progressives as if they are trying to say.. see we aren’t that different that who you vote for now. Loved the libertarianism shown in the fiction of L. Neil Smith (was sad to hear he passed away recently
My view into the national libertarian party makes it seem as if all the crazies that call themselves libertarians have found a home. like what the heck is a anarchist libertarian? libertarians are huge on law and order. Just not so much on government. Courts and contract law, individual liberties etc are core to libertarian beliefs.
my wife and I have conversations almost daily where we see some head line and just go “The world has gone insane” used to be that only happened once a week or once a month years ago. I think that the pace of insanity is accelerating to the singularity point of societal destruction.
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