My Name is Stevie and I’m a Student Loan Deadbeat

Very long article, but one of the better first-hand-accounts I’ve read. This guy covers ALL the bases.

I support this guy 100%.  I’d like nothing more than everyone defaulting on student loan debt.  And that includes Ms Freud, who still has $30k left to pay.  (But it would be a cold day in hell .. as she is very responsible.)

First, it would cleary help crash the system.  Burn this mutherfucka down … the sooner the better … there is no other solution.

Second, because the guy wrote this; —- “If the numbers seem fuzzy it’s because my student loans, private and federal, have been sold and resold and serviced and managed and payments lost and interest rates changed so many times that it’s become impossible for me to track.” ——– What a scam … been there, done that!!

I got divorced. Part of the settlement was that I got stuck with the Office Max credit card, about $1,500.  I had a huge amount of bills, way more than the monthly income, so I had to decide whether to pay “Peter or Paul”.  I let the Office Max bill slide, although I had every intention of paying it off. Well Office Max sold off the debt.  I get a call (and letter) from the new owner of the debt …. it’s now about $1,900.  (Even though they probably purchased the debt for $700, or less.).  They were willing to drop maybe $100 bucks, but no more.  I told them they can go fuck themselves  Fast foward …….. the debt was sold many more times, accumulating more and more penalties, fines, charges, and other bullshit …. eventually reaching around $8,000.  They never got a dime from me.  Somebody won.  Somebody lost …. and it wasn’t me.

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“Hello, My Name is Stevie and I’m a Student Loan Deadbeat”
By Stevie Diogenes

I am a Student Loan Deadbeat. This is a story of how I accumulated nearly $200,000 of student loan debt, escaped the illusion of debtor’s prison, and manage to get by in spite of crushing debt. I hope this serves as a guide for others who are struggling with overwhelming student loan debt, and helps them see that there is life after default.

I expect to be mocked and ridiculed by libertarians, those sanctimonious Randian cheerleaders who pepper their rants with the phrase personal responsibility while bragging about working 20 hours a day at 5 different jobs to pay their student loan debt and validate a rigged system.

And I expect to get death threats from tea party plebians who will grunt, in a nonsensical manner, something about me being a taker and mumble the afterthought, “if ya couldn’t afford schoolin’, maybe ya shoudda got yerself a job, ya damn libbrul.”

I know I’ll hear from right wing conservatives who believe that I got myself into this mess and, because other people in my situation paid their extortionists for freedom, I must do so as well, or starve and sleep on the street as punishment.

And I’ll get the certain condemnation from Christians who will judge me for not obeying my masters; those brilliant Cruzian elitists who think Jesus preached capitalism and died for the sins of the wealthy.

But I write my story anyway, in spite of the risk of ridicule and death threats and judgment. I write my story because today, in America, lives are being ruined by a rigged student loan system.  Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens just like me are struggling with student loan debt they cannot pay. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens just like me are in default. This is America’s shameful little secret, and it must be exposed.

MY STORY

They tell me my total student loan debt is approximately $185,000 and increasing everyday, with about $90,000 in default. I’ve carried some of this debt since 1986; I know I’ve paid approximately $40,000 over the years, and they tell me I owe more today than the total of all the original loans combined, thanks to interest, penalties, other usurious fees.

If the numbers seem fuzzy it’s because my student loans, private and federal, have been sold and resold and serviced and managed and payments lost and interest rates changed so many times that it’s become impossible for me to track. I’m not sure what I owe, to whom I owe it, what I’ve paid or the interest I’m being charged. About that student loan interest rate fight in Congress? I couldn’t have cared less. Frankly, my student loan debt could be a $1 million now and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.

I’m married to this student loan debt. For better or for worse, richer or poorer, she has stayed with me through a divorce, a bankruptcy, and years of unemployment. As I grow older and less able to pay with each passing year, she becomes more demanding, a cranky old woman losing her hearing, continuously nagging me in increasing volume, unable or unwilling to hear my responses. She annoys me daily and will be at my side when I die. But the annoyance is trifling compared to my glee over the fact that she, too, will die, right along with me.

Like so many other naive souls — poor, wretched trophies of human traffickers — I was lured into my trap with a promise of a better life. But, unlike the others, led to their traps by shadowy, sneaky pimps, I was coerced by flashy hustlers who deceived me with legitimized aplomb. Those oh-so-righteous bankers who rode into my life on sedan chairs, supported on the shoulders of the U.S. government and shaded beneath a banner sporting all the colors of law.

The trap was skillfully planned and executed, born of a brilliant collusion among government, bank and financial industry scoundrels. Through contracts, social and legal, they bargained for their benefit (obscene profit for themselves) while guaranteeing me a lifetime of servitude and unmanageable student loan debt.

 THE ARGUMENTS 

“Those loans paid for your education. It’s your responsibility to pay them back.”   

My response: I earned my education through hard work and perseverance. If only I could have purchased it, I would have saved myself years of hard work, hours of sleepless nights reading and studying, stress-filled days worrying about making the grades and passing the classes, and thankless jobs, struggling to impress temporary bosses in unpaid internships so maybe, just maybe they would hire me upon graduation.

Student loans DID NOT pay for my education – I earned my education. But because I was born to the 99%, the gate to the opportunity to earn an education was locked to me.  Student loans allowed me to rent the key to open the gate; student loans allowed me to join the lucky children of of 1%, those born within the gates who will never need a key.

Little did I know that that key I rented with student loans would also open the door to a trap from which I would never escape.

“You signed a contract. You must honor it.”   

My response: a legally binding contract requires a meeting of the minds. In a rigged system, there can be no clear, mutual understanding of the terms so no meeting of the minds can exist. Even if there was, unjust enrichment for one party at the detriment in perpetuity of the other party should clearly make that contract null and void. After all, who in his or her right mind would sign up for a lifetime of enslavement to debt in exchange for no guarantee of a verifiable or tangible benefit? [Obviously I am not a lawyer; my argument may sound reasonable, but it has no legal basis].

“I paid my student loan debt and it would be unfair to me if you didn’t have to pay yours.”   

My response is this: at which point did fairness become a factor? Is it fair that children of the wealthy are free to work hard and earn an education and enter the job force with no crushing financial afterthought while the rest of us must become indentured servants in exchange for the mere opportunity to work hard and earn that same education?

In the U.S., college tuition is a regressive tax. To a wealthy citizen, $200,000 buys a pair of earrings or a couple of designer handbags; to the wealthy, education is merely an accessory.   For the rest of us, college education is essential. It can mean the difference between reliance on taxpayers and food stamps while juggling jobs at Walmart and McDonalds, or getting a real job, paying taxes and providing opportunities for our own children.

Fairness? Suppose a man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for possession of an illegal plant. After paying five years of his debt to society, a second man enters the same prison with the same charge and the same sentence as the first man.

One year later the illegal plant is declared a legal commodity. The first man is released after spending six years in prison and the second man is released after spending only one year in prison. Is it unfair to the first man that the second man is released from his debt?

 PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY 

Some will decide to embrace the chains of their student loan debt using personal responsibility as justification for their sublimation while chanting the following mantra:

I must pay off the student loan debt I was forced to take in order to get the chance to work hard and earn an education that would hopefully qualify me to hopefully obtain a job that would hopefully pay me enough so that I could hopefully pay off the student loan debt that I was forced to take for the opportunity in the first place.

Back-breaking denial feels good to some people. They see debt as bad and hard work as a virtue, closing their eyes to the fact that people who work 20-hour days making poverty-level wages are nothing more than pathetic victims of a rigged, cyclic system from which there is little chance of escape. Thanks to Fox News, these victims see themselves patriots as they take second jobs at Walmart and McDonalds, the sweat of their backs easing their slide into the abyss of modern day slavery.

But not everyone watches Fox News. There are people who see the “work ethic” lie for what it is, mass hypnosis shared by shackled, happy slaves. They see the student loan debt trap for what it is. And they are beginning to revolt.

PLAYING THE GAME & THE “INEVITABLE DEFAULT” 

Although my federal student loan debt ($95,000) is current and managed through Income Based Repayment (I pay $50 per month, which doesn’t even cover the weekly interest), my private student loans have been defaulted through no fault of my own.

For a while I bought into the personal responsibility lie. I managed my private student loan debt meticulously for 25 years. When I couldn’t make the payments, I filed for deferments. When those ran out, I had my student loans placed into forbearance. When that was no longer an option, my loans became delinquent. I consolidated twice to buy time.

After I got a job making $30,000 gross a year, I set myself up on the IBR plan for my federal loans, calculated what the private student loan debt collectors could garnish, divided that amount by the number of private student loan servicers I had to pay, and sent regular payments to each student loan servicer, not missing a month for 5 years straight. It wasn’t enough.

Private student loan debt collectors made my life a living hell. They called me, my family, my office, and my references continuously, sometimes multiple times a day.  I received at least 5 letters a week, issuing threats and demanding more payment.

I tried to reason with the private student loan collectors. I wrote letters showing them my budget, telling them I had little money to live on ” and they responded with a letter in which they actually admitted the system is rigged against me. In the words of Student Loan Servicing Center:

“We sympathize with your situation; however, we do not offer a program to reduce your balance …”

“You may benefit from an extension if you are unable to pay due to financial hardship ” keep in mind that customers who are experiencing long term financial problems will not benefit from this as it simply post pones the inevitable default.

Inevitable default?

My private student loans were put into default by the private student loan servicers because my five years’ worth of consistent monthly payments was unacceptable. Legally, they could set the payment terms to whatever they wanted, so when they declared me in default, I began to see the light.

I immediately stopped paying on the defaulted private student loans. And I eventually stopped hearing from them. And I started to finally find relief from the mental trap of student loan debt.

REDEFINING PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY   

Are the 600,000 people forced into default on their student loans each year really personally irresponsible? Or, can it be that the student loan system really is rigged?

Banks, the government, brokers and collection agencies found a way to unjustly profit off the desire of the 99% to earn an education. They designed a system that would reward lenders and collectors for forcing debtors into default. Creditors reap a 25% collection cost profit on top of the original debt amount if a loan goes into default. Naturally, that 25% is added to the balance of the debt.

They call the part we play in their unscrupulous little game our Personal Responsibility. I think we need to redefine Personal Responsibility.

Consider this:

If I had irresponsibly gambled and lost $200,000, and had no means to pay, I have the option of going to bankruptcy court to get my gambling debt discharged.

If I had irresponsibly bought a bunch of designer purses and shoes and clothing and gallons of martinis on credit, then lost my job and found myself unable to make a payment on my credit card, I have the option of going to bankruptcy court and getting my credit card debt discharged.

If I’m a corporation or a banker who carelessly loaned money to people I knew would be unable to make the payments, I have the option of being bailed out by the government and the taxpayers, or filing for bankruptcy and getting a fresh start.

But if I am an individual seeking an education, and I borrow money in order obtain the opportunity to go to college, work hard and earn an education, then find myself unable to obtain a job or afford my student loan payments, I go into default. The legal protection given to careless corporations, irresponsible gamblers or mindless shopaholics is not offered to me. Bankruptcy court is off-limits; I’m legally bound to my student loan debt forever.

LENDER RESPONSIBILITY 

The question of personal responsibility should be directed toward the lenders and the U.S. government. In the case of student loans, money is loaned carelessly and without restraint because the intent of the banks is not to be paid back; the intent is to make an obscene profit, either by selling or defaulting the debt  . The banks have no financial incentive to help a debtor stay current on the debt; quite the contrary.

Perhaps banking responsibility is different than personal responsibility. The banks couldn’t wait to give me money to attend law school, and they gave me even more money for living expenses while I studied and worked countless hours as an unpaid intern. The fact that I was a poor risk (female, over 40, with a terrible employment record, a former bankruptcy and a low credit score) was not a factor when the banks considered my loan application.

After finishing my first year of law school, I knew a career in law wasn’t for me.  Unfortunately, it took a whole year of my life, plus $25,000, to find that out. My only hope to pay off my now $50,000 in student loan debt was to obtain my law degree and become a lawyer, so I went deeper into debt and hoped I’d eventually make a lot of money. My grades weren’t great, but that didn’t matter to the banks. They gave me even more money secured only by my hope.

Imagine my surprise when, in my third and final year of law school, I received a letter from the Board of Admissions telling me I may not be financially fit to sit for the bar. Although I submitted my application at the beginning of my first year, it took the   Committee on Character and Fitness nearly three years (after I buried myself in approximately $90,000 more student loan debt) to question my fitness to sit for the bar since I had had a prior bankruptcy on my record.

My financial character was good enough for the banks to loan me over $100K to go to law school, even with a former bankruptcy on my record.

My financial character was good enough to get me into law school and keep me there for three years, even with a former bankruptcy on my record.

My financial character was only brought into question after the banks gave me the money to attend law school, after the law school was paid, and after I earned a law degree. For nearly three years the Committee on Character and Fitness couldn’t be bothered to review my application — in which I clearly admitted my former bankruptcy.

In hindsight, I should have walked away. But I fought and was eventually allowed to sit for the bar (a high price, paid with student loans). Needless to say, I did not pass, I did not become a lawyer, I did not get a good-paying job and I did not earn enough money to pay for my freedom from the soon to be $200,000 student loan debt.

THE COMING REVOLT

What the banks and the collection agencies and the brokers fail to realize is that there is nothing easier than practicing civil disobedience when you have no other choice.

I carry the label of “Student Loan Deadbeat” with pride. I made no mistakes and committed no crimes. My situation is not a result of any sin. I was lured into this student loan debt trap, and the idea that I should seek forgiveness for my predicament is as ludicrous as expecting a human sex slave to seek forgiveness for being unable to pay for her freedom after being bought and sold against her will.

As a Student Loan Deadbeat, I no longer see myself as a victim. I know I have no chance of earning the kind of money it would take to pay off my debt. I don’t work crazy hours at menial jobs so I can futilely toss hard-earned money into the bottomless pit in an attempt to gain the respect of half-wits and brag about my bootstraps.

As a Student Loan Deadbeat I don’t see myself as irresponsible. I see myself as a freedom fighter, a promoter of justice for other Student Loan Deadbeats, a rebel against the phony debt prison pushed upon me and others like me by a criminal U.S. Banking Cartel. Student Loan Deadbeats don’t play a game that is rigged against them. Student Loan Deadbeats are not obedient whores working to enrich their wealthy criminal pimps.

So what is our personal responsibility as Student Loan Deadbeats? Since we have seen the fallacy of the trap of student loan debt, we have a personal responsibility to warn others and expose the lies told by society, government, corporations and banks. We have a personal responsibility to free ourselves and others from the illusory debtor’s prison. And we have a personal responsibility to change a corrupt system.

WHAT TO EXPECT AS A STUDENT LOAN DEADBEAT

Student Loan Deadbeats do not have it easy. We cannot live like everyone else. Our struggle is continuous; mindfulness must become a way of life. I’m in my 50s, with no hope for retirement or even a full-time job. I earn money when I can get work from friends, live with roommates, barter, exercise and write. I live for today and fight my battles when I can.

And I do so with understanding and acceptance of the following:

I will probably never be bailed-out.    Because of my student loan default, I will always be treated as less of a person, refused the same rights as others with “legitimate” business, gambling and consumer debt. There will be no fresh start for me.

I will never be employed.   At my age, with my employment record, getting a good job is hard enough. A default on my record and a bad credit score (whatever that means) makes it virtually impossible to find long-term employment. Even if I got a real job, it would be difficult to keep due to constant phone harassment by debt collectors, the risk of embarrassing garnishments (after 2 garnishments an employer can legally fire you) and a looming court case.

I will never be able to run for political office.    I am suspect, dirtied, worth less than others because my student loans are in default. Oh, if only I had merely hired prostitutes, or had illicit sex in a public restroom, or took secret, illegal contributions from powerful corporate interests or unscrupulous business owners ” I could be candidate material

I will never get a credit card or rent a car.   I pay cash for everything. I will never have a credit card or finance anything again. If I need a car, I borrow one from my friends, or rely on others to rent it and sign me as a second driver.

I will never live alone.   I cannot get a lease with my credit history. I must live with roommates and rely on them to obtain the lease in their name.

I will never get a cell phone in my name.   This is probably a blessing anyway; no harassing calls. I have a friend who buys a package deal and I pay him to use his second phone. I never answer calls from someone I do not know.

I stay off social networking sites.   If I share my story or a comment or opinion, I use a pseudonym; why make it easy for the thugs to find me? I know that anything I say can and will be used against me in a court of law, and I do everything I can to avoid being stalked, hounded and harassed by student loan debt collectors.

If I get a message saying I won something, I ignore it.

I will never get married again.    Potential spouses are afraid to be associated with my student loan debt.

I will never have a savings account.   I will never have more than $500 in the bank. I will never have a retirement account or assets or anything that can be taken away from me. I know the government can empty my bank account at any time, without warning.

If I get any extra money I immediately use it to pay medical expenses or buy essentials like glasses or get my teeth fixed or fix my laptop or shoes or buy second-hand clothing or luxury non-GMO food.

I am constantly afraid of being arrested.   I review the State and Federal court dockets each week, looking for my name. I know the tricks debt collectors have been playing. I know they can file a lawsuit against me, not give me proper notice, and have me arrested for contempt of court for not showing up for a court appearance for a case I never knew existed.

Fridays are especially unnerving; debt collectors work with law enforcement to arrest debtors on Friday afternoons so they cannot process bail and must remain in jail until Monday.  This is illegal is some states but, in the case of debt collections, legality is irrelevant.

HOPE FOR CHANGE?

Student Loan Deadbeats cannot buy houses. We don’t pay much income or property tax since we don’t make much money or own assets. I’ve learned to live below my means. I am a “non-consumer.”

On a lighter note, I am free of the headaches that go with full-time jobs and “owning” houses and cars. No more office politics, no more maintenance and repairs, no more worrying about making a mortgage payment on a house actually owned by a bank.

I’ve discovered James Altucher  and his unique perspective. He has helped me see my situation as a positive rather than a negative. His words have given me the incentive to fight.

Making a living by my wits, living off the grid, leaving the rat race and conquering silly materialistic urges has helped me grow as a person. I fear less and take more risk. And I practice “onedownsmanship” with pride.

I’m learning not only to embrace my no-strings-attached lifestyle, but to love it. You can call me a loser but, the way I see it, I’m a winner.

If you’re drowning in student loan debt, or are now in default, stop being a victim. Stop playing a rigged game. Avoid applying for credit. Live simply, and stay off the grid. Live with roommates, borrow the things you need and barter your talents in exchange for necessities. Keep track and claim all your income and make sure you pay all taxes you owe. (There is nothing wrong with paying taxes; everyone should pay their fair share. Only greedy criminals and spineless lemmings avoid paying their taxes.)

Become a proud Student Loan Deadbeat and show the world that student loan debt is nothing to be ashamed of. Talk about it. Write about it. Debt prison is a mental construct, so free yourself in your mind.

But remember, you’re still a target of the powerful game players so be careful and mindful as you embrace your newly found freedom.

.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Hello-My-Name-is-Stevie-a-by-Stevie-Diogenes-Education_Education_Responsibility_Student-Loans-131102-24.html

 

Author: Stucky

I'm right, you're wrong. Deal with it.

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Llpoh
Llpoh

Billy – I do not think he attacked your mother. I agree family should be off limits. Ha asked what your mother thinks of you being a dumbshit (I do not think you are) but did not disparage her. A subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless. I thought you did a fine job, but you need slightly thicker skin. Think rhino or elephant. Because if you keep posting, and you should, you are gonna catch some serious flack sooner or later.

I liked your post. Post more. That you got under Stuck’s skin is something to be proud of. Great job.

Please note the skewering I gave him above. Surprised he is still showing his face around here.

Llpoh
Llpoh

Teresa, efarmer will not like your last line. Good post.

Billy
Billy

@ Llpoh

“Billy – I do not think he attacked your mother. I agree family should be off limits. Ha asked what your mother thinks of you being a dumbshit (I do not think you are) but did not disparage her.”

All respect, but I feel he did.

Family, and bloodlines, are very important in my family. We’ve had family members disowned and driven away during my lifetime for what I will refer to as “poor life choices”. That he would say my own mother would give birth to a dumbshit (directly implying that my own mother was somehow genetically deficient and passed that on to me), well, you just don’t do that… it’s the one unwritten rule that everyone knows.

And I did read your posts upstream… you are more subtle than I am, but still funny.

By the way- I’m no Master Jedi when it comes to banking, but did not the FedGov mandate that banks would make loans to people who were bad risks? Did that deal only with housing or did that cover everything? Because if it covered everything, it would explain much with regards to the titanic school loan debt that is owed…

TPC
TPC

Author of the article doesn’t really give details into how she got into the debt, just what happened after she accrued it.

Previous bankruptcy? How did that happen? Law school? After a bankruptcy? Why would you choose one of the most expensive school options? Why would you choose a law school that charges $25k a year? (There are cheaper alternatives). Didn’t have the best grades? Why not?

The only time I hear stories like this is when the individual tried to use college to “find themself” and for that I have zero pity. Such people float from degree to degree and school to school with no desire to finish college and no idea what they are doing in life. They hold down jobs that rarely add to their resume, and spend a lot of time partying when they could be networking, building a resume, or paying down on debts.

I sure as hell didn’t pick a profession that was in my top 5 jobs when I entered college. I would have rather been a doctor, a lawyer, a historian, a writer, a musician….all of these were roles I showed aptitude for, all of which I eliminated step-wise, on the basis that I wanted to make a living, and not spend the rest of my life making so little I couldn’t survive (music) or paying off so many loans that my life was on hold until I was in my 40s (doctor).

Llpoh
Llpoh

Billy – he said “raising” – implication being you would be a disappointment to her. Whatever – keep posting, you are doing well. If you can needle Stuck, you have talent.

When pressed, call him “Lurch”. He loves that.

TeresaE
TeresaE

@Llpoh, that shouldn’t offend efarmer, is your sarcasm meter broken, or is mine? thanks!

Forward_Idiocracy
Forward_Idiocracy

Billy – Shit slinging is a profession around here. Lots of pride to protect. In the end, I’m pretty sure everyone is a decent person. Why care if someone starts throwing the poop? For some there is no need to fling feces, for others there is. Our movement is fractured enough, no need to widen the divide. Just my two cents.

TPC
TPC

The first thing you learn about TBP:

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Llpoh
Llpoh

Uh-oh.

Kill Bill
Kill Bill

Dont take it personal like Billy. We butt heads one day and cry over beer the next.. Stucky ‘actually’ likes you to go thru this much trouble. Jes Sayin

AWD

Billy and his blushing bride

comment image

Llpoh
Llpoh

Billy – Stuck has some weak points. You gotta find them yourself. Use your noodle and you will see.

For instance, he has been trying to marry off his sister pictured above for years. Do not fall for it. He popped her cherry long ago, and you deserve a virgin.

Kill Bill
Kill Bill

Why would you choose a law school that charges $25k a year? ~TPC

Yanno, anyone that is thinking of being a lawyer should look thru the yellowpages under lawyer in their city, or one they hope to work in….because there is buku beaucoup of them.

Kill Bill
Kill Bill

comment image

Fukkity fuk fuk…where is my hot dogs n popkorn?

Administrator

An old time TBP shitfest. Get out the popcorn.

Llpoh
Llpoh

Wait til I get back. I been saving up.

Administrator

Are you still on vacation?

Jesus Christ!!!

There are employees to berate back at the plant.

Kill Bill
Kill Bill

Im pretty sure AWD is rooting for the skinny guy.

penguinfucker
penguinfucker

there are plenty of people out there who do not have what it takes to go to college
stevie is one of them
going to school at age forty for something that racks up plenty of debt is stupid and short sighted
she shoulda thought about it for 30 seconds first
and the age old adage, don’t throw good money after bad certainly applies here

I had GI bill
went to an inexpensive community college
paid off my small student loans by working three part time jobs totaling about 65 hours a week
personal responsibility bitchez
accept no substitute

IndenturedServant

@Reverse Engineer said:
“If you do wanna “Do the right thing” and you are earning some money, pay your college debt out of your paycheck and live on your credit cards, then discharge them in bankruptcy. That’s how I did it.”

“Indeed it is Genius. The problems of the rest of the Taxpayers are not My Problem, it is THEIR PROBLEM. My suggestion is they STOP paying their taxes. If they wanna keep paying taxes to bail out banks who made bad loans to Student debtors, this is THEIR stupidity, not mine. LOL.”

Normally I don’t say things like what I’m going to say to you to people on the net because there is so much to human communication that gets lost in such an impersonal environment. Based on your two statements quoted above, you have no honor or integrity. This puts you firmly in league with the scumbag politicians, bankers, Wall Street criminals and Free Shit Army. You are (part of) the problem and exactly the kind of person who needs to be and deserves to be purged in the coming reset.
I_S

TooDolla
TooDolla

been reading a lot of these comments and although they are a few months old I’m going to weigh in here as most of these comments are just extremely bias and political based.
Lets get to the point here people about you all being pissed off at this woman. Your just angry because somehow you think that its your tax dollars are being spent to cover this woman’s debt… I would think by now with everything that has gone on…. pointless wars, foreign aid, war on drugs, obamacare, Fast and Furious, welfare, food stamps, unemployment….etc the list goes on. That when you really think about it in the grand scheme of things…. Who the fuck cares? I mean really? your going to get your dicks all tangled up because a lib pissed you off? All of you that see this article in the same negative light have all the same excuses on why you don’t like this person. You are missing the fucking point, these schools intentionally misled students into thinking that they will have employers lining up and competing for your services. When all these students are doing is just following the norm of what society expects of them….which is go to college. No one tells you that in cases like this Stevie individual it happens to people that weren’t warned and now their lives are fucked because:
#1 they can’t find work because thousands of other students and unemployed are looking for the exact thing you majored in.
#2 when they are finally ready to start paying they wracked up so much interest and fees from deferments that some are paying 50-75% more then what it costs.

We are 17 trillion in debt….. you really think your tax dollars are going to ANYTHING important? I mean think people we have Death row inmates on death row for 17 fuckin years because of bureaucratic bullshit that can’t seem to figure out that one fucking bullet doesn’t cost so much. But nope gotta spend 100s of thousands of dollars keeping this worthless sack of shit alive. Again your tax dollars at work…. at least this bitch attempted to pay but legitimately got fucked by a rigged system.

lolol
lolol

These comments are fucking hilarious.

rixon
rixon

Libertarian here. I don’t think the nonsense about libertarians applies. I’m a libertarian, and I’ve defaulted on my federal student loans. I was convinced to go to college by a high school teacher who helped me fill out all the paper work. I had NO understanding of what I was getting myself into.

I took out loans equaling around $11,000. I now owe around $38,000. I’m done. They aren’t getting a dime from me.

The meeting of the minds argument is absolutely true. Being coerced into paying something I had no understanding of is not acceptable in my book.

The bubble is set to pop in the coming years, and with the economy in a perpetual state of recession, it will only get worse as time goes on.

I can tolerate your disagreements with the libertarian philosophy, but assuming your position necessarily butts heads with libertarianism is wrong. Coaxing children to sign themselves up for a life of debt before they even understand what the hell they intend to do with their lives is immoral and dishonest. The charade won’t last. Please consider revoking the needless attack on libertarianism, it doesn’t apply and it only takes away from the legitimate arguments this story makes.

Jake
Jake

Cute- lists the counterarguments in the delusion that naming them will somehow lessen their force. On top of that, the rebuttals provided to some of these counterarguments are patently illogical and self-serving. For example, stating that hard effort paid for his education as opposed to money is a grand illusory ruse to end all grand illusory ruses: you paid for the opportunity to attend an educational institution and be awarded a degree, license, or certificate. Whether or not you had to also work hard for it makes absolutely no difference to the fact that you PAID the PRICE that THAT institution demanded. Seriously, pal, how about you go name some more political leanings and their expected responses to your utter lack of sensibility- maybe if you throw in enough grandiloquent phrases, people will actually think you have a valid argument lol.

Happy White and Comfortable
Happy White and Comfortable

Bottom line: Stevie made a fucked-up choice after making some other fucked-up choices. There’s no denying that. But after all those fucked-up choices, the bank/lending institution STILL loaned her money, and plenty of it. If I went down to my local bank branch and handed them a business plan detailing how I was going to start a business selling vomit-flavored ice cream during the winter months only, they would not only look at me as if I were insane, but they would not finance a loan. Why? Because besides the obvious of being an incredibly poor choice for a business, it would be a risky investment. And so is loaning money with no collateral down to no-credit, bad-credit, and high risk clients. The only saving grace as to why this happens is because the banks and schools are off the hook while the government, which is taking money from the tax base, has backed these investments and declared them practically ineligible to be discharge via bankruptcy. Calling her names and attacking her character for making poor choices is sophomoric and only highlighting part of the issue. The real issue is why someone would loan out money to someone they know is high risk?

In the past, I’ve used various web platforms to make investments into different startups, businesses, and trade deals. There is always a chance (risk) that these investments may go belly-up. That’s the nature of ANY investment. You weigh the risk against the return and diversify. But as a lender, it is MY responsibility to invest wisely. Why? Because it’s my capital. There’s no ‘easy button’ I get to click that magically protects me from being a complete moron. If I invest poorly, are consequences. Sure there are actions I can take to recover my capital but the main action to protect my capital is to invest wisely. Both the I (the lender) and the borrower will lose if the original agreement is not kept: I may recover some of the lost capital, but not without giving up time and possibly court fees or selling the debt at a discount. The debtor loses reputation (credit score).

Face it, the government is securing and issuing toxic loans with taxpayer money fueling ever-increasing college tuitions under the guise of “social progress” and garnishing wages/income in order to balance the budget. Being mad at a Stevie fuck-up is not going to wash this con down smoother.

Millie Sawyer
Millie Sawyer

I paid my small loan because I didn’t know better. Had I been smart I would have rebelled. How dare this government play mafia with young people; ruining their futures because they so badly want what they cannot afford. The goddamn education should be free. That’s how you uplift society, stupids. But educating some and catching others in debt will never make the country as one. Just pure stupid. Yay! Go Student Loan Deadbeat. It will be people like you that will make this world a better place!

insoo
insoo

you’re a moron school is already “free” you dipshit. after 18 yrs i didn’t learn jack shit i couldn’t have learned within one yr probably. Now we’ll all be over-paying for useless mandatory school for the rest of our lives in the form of property taxes dumbass

IndenturedServant

@Millie Sawyer……….poster child for biggest douchebag in America!

Did these students not receive their loan as promised? Did they not receive an education with said loan? Why not uphold your end of the deal and pay it?

Free education? Are you going to share the paycheck you earn from that free education with me?

Fuck you and your ilk! Pay for your own education!

TPC
TPC

I’m all for free education!

….and drastically increase entrance requirements.

Tiffany
Tiffany

I agree with many of the points you made, but I don’t understand why you gave up passing the Bar Exam so easily. After going through Law School and taking on all that debt, I would have passed that Bar Exam “come hell or high water”!

fuuukyou
fuuukyou

you dumb fucks are hating on “stevie” when really the banks getting bailed out and CEO’s still getting bonuses should end the argument! there is NO argument! Stevie is right! the system is fucked in the ass sideways. All you people that comment just are on your high horse because you’re able to make your payments. Look at all the blacks on welfare, it’s ridiculous! Not just blacks, white people too. I just said blacks because it will rile you all up. But really, half the blacks don’t work. fucking bullshit. i’d rather use my taxes to write off stevie’s student loan than pay for muthafucka jones’ rent and liquor expenses while he sells crack on the side and claims his 20 kids on his taxes, buys food with food stamps, no intentions of getting a job, he never bothered to get a student loan because he knew that the system is rigged. fuck you all…except stevie. and no i’m not racist, just go drive through the ghetto on a monday afternoon and see how many people are outside

Anonymous
Anonymous

Wow you momentarily restored my faith in humanity only to crush it a few lines later. Yes, Stevie is right and the game is rigged. You are also simple minded sheep if you blame the poor for being poor. How can you say that while admitting the game is rigged! For our entire history as a country, has it been rigged against anyone more than black people? Maybe native americans too. You may have driven through “the ghetto”, have you ever stopped and talked to any of the people in it? You may learn something if you did. Psychopaths are the bankers and CEOs, not the poor. The poor in the “ghettos” did not create this system based on greed and money making money, aim your anger at a more deserving group.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Glad I arrived at this party late. The thing that is most obvious to me is that nearly 100% of you commenting here, have clearly never even gone anywhere near a college campus. Perhaps, you should have begged, borrowed, or stolen to escape the ignorant world in which you obviously live!

Ghost

I will come back to this one when I read it and think a bit.

IndenturedServant

You had to go diggin’fer this one!

Ghost

It was very early in the a.m.

CraigThomas
CraigThomas

Well, I am late to this party. I am also a student loan deadbeat. The cool part is that after 18 years of 15% wage garnishment where my student loan debt was $96,000, I paid off $98,000 and I still owe $95,000. Brahaha! Now, I find myself at the ripe old age of 64, retired, on a pension, and a nice social security. While the student loan folks garnished my wages for 18 years, I am still waiting for the 15% garnishment on SS. I am sure this will come, and I don’t give a shit.

The worst thing anyone can do, in my opinion, is play the rehabilitation game. I begged the student loan service folks to garnish my wages, but had to wait two years to see it happen. Since my default, I waited out the credit reporting years of seven years, saved money, and seen my credit rating soar. If you are willing to walk away and live with 15% garnishment, your credit will recover in about 7 years after default. The trick is to never go into another student loan rehab program and start a new credit reporting line. My credit reports show no evidence that I ever had a student loan. I just qualified for a USDA rural home loan on a $220K home with land.

If you have patience, take the garnishment, wait for seven years and accept a lifetime wage or social security garnishment, and walk away. Don’t let someone else’s financial ego get in your way.

JR
JR

paid off all my debt in less time it took to get a 4 year degree, suck it bitches im buying a brand new car now 🙂
Being grateful for what you have goes a long way folks, dont end up like this guy with nothing to hope for!

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