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.
================================================================== =
“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.
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.
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.
.
I’m impressed! I’ll be glad to loan Stevie a gun and a bullet so he can fix the problem and stop whinging.
What a dumbass and I wish him all the bad luck in the world to accompany his bad judgement and bad choices.
MA
I am with Muck.
I have the perfect solution, No more Government backed Student Loans.
Most of the horror stories I hear about student loans seems to be somewhat self-inflicted. My college education costs were pretty spartan. I had the GI Bill, not gread money, but a nice stipen, plus worked in the cannery during the summer, and was a intern during the school year. I don’t remember having money problems.
I went to the state university, which was not costly, and I never knew any students that had student loans. Either their parents footed the education fees, or they worked during the summer.Some dropped out for a semester or two to save for college expenses, now it seems most get out of college have sudent loans.
Being a debt slave is not good for the human soul. The loans that really get to me, are the ones people take out to go on fancy vacations, talk about dumb and dumber. Then they tell you they are still paying for that vacation to paradise four or five years later.
Well, you know what they say, “You cant squeeze blood out of a turnip.”
What pathetic rationalization.
The banks should have known I was a deadbeat; it’s their fault for making the loan.
If the bank had turned down the loan, this person would have screamed that that was how the 1% keep the 99% from being able to advance.
This is why the banks should have never been bailed out. Bailing out the banks was wrong and people walking away from their debts is wrong. Two wrongs don’t make a right. That’s like saying the president lies so it’s ok that I lie.
I also like the rationalization “Student loans DID NOT pay for my education – I earned my education.” HOLY SHIT!! That’s like saying “I’m the one that washes this car every week, the bank doesn’t, so why should I pay them every month?”
Totally twisted rationalization.
This piece sucks. Reeks of class envy. I don’t care, junk me. Once I read “thanks to Fox News”‘ I stopped taking this piece seriously. I don’t watch television, but damn, one cable news station is responsible for Americans suddenly embracing personal responsibility?
I’m supposed to feel sorry for a guy that went bankrupt and then borrowed another $100k? Sounds like a gambling addict. Oh, I’m also supposed to feel sorry for this guy because he didn’t pass the bar exam? He casually mentions that fact, with no mention of the real reason for his failure. He just lets it dangle in space and hopes you associate his student loan debt with his failure. He had three years to study, which I guess he didn’t. It sounds like he gave up after that failure. For all his talk about an illegitimate system he continually complains that he cannot be a part of that system. He claims he’ll never own a house or get married or have a “good paying job”. Hypocritical. Complain about the system and then complain that you cannot become a part of it. Envy.
This dude sounds like he EXPECTED things to go his way because of some preconceived notions, as if he deserved it.
Yeah, we’re all fucked. The system is fucked. Not argument from me but hey guy, your generation rubber stamped this system for 20 years and continues to do so. If anything, fuck you.
Stucky, I want the system to crash as well but this guy just annoys me.
Not a guy, try paying attention.
With this person’s total inability to handle logical thinking, would you want him as your lawyer?
It does not surprise me in the least that he couldn’t pass the bar.
WTF was this whiner’s degree in? Probably some useless shit that nobody would ever pay him to do. He makes boomers seem rational and reasonable.
Fuck him.
“I had the GI Bill, not great money, but a nice stipen …. worked in the cannery during the summer ….. intern during the school year. I don’t remember having money problems.”
——Welshman
Same here … GI bill … summer jobs … paid internships during the school year. Graduated with zero debt.
I didn’t brag about it here. But I did use my example to proclaim “I did it, so can others.” On older posts I have called student-loan-deadbeats every bad name under the sun.
Then someone — it was either Admin or Calimity — pointed out what should have been painfully obvious; that was then, this is now. I was able to pay-in-full each semester’s bill simply from my GI Bill money and part time jobs. Not too difficult at $35 per credit hour. “Paying in full every semester” would be fairly impossible today. Time to reconsider my hard-ass stance.
I believe the author (Stevie is a woman) makes a powerful argument in her “Lender Responsibility” section. Why the fuck did the bank lend money to someone who was / had; a poor risk, terrible employment record, a bankruptcy and a low credit score? For pure profit, of course. They didn’t give a flying fuck when they lent the money …. I won’t cry for them if they don’t get repaid.
All you people who call “HIM” a whiner and to fuck off etc. etc.
It’s not a HIM … it’s a HER. Clearly, you people didn’t even read the fuckin’ article. Hilarious. You see “default”, and your mind is already made up.
You people hate bankers (rightfully so) …. but when someone writes that the Bank is complicit for making the loan in the first place, you all crawl up HER ass. This too is hilarious.
Thank you! I was starting to lose faith in humankind upon reading all of these insensitive posts.
Most student loans are sub-prime loans with greater default rates.This should be no surprise.
I got about one quarter of the way through this shit and had another look at the title which now read:
“My Name is Calamity and I’m a Student Loan Deadbeat” with a subtitle that read “And I Just Thought of a Dozen More Reasons To Justify My Own Personal Failure To Pay”
Scumbags like this guy can justify this shit anyway they want. It does not change the fact that they willingly and knowingly signed on the dotted line. They are simply part of the problem. Fuck ’em!
I_S
Not a guy, and sheeple like you that take the side of bankers are the problem.
Stuck – I guess we were all thrown off by you calling him a guy several times in your intro.
Maybe you can get the Admin to edit your intro so you do not look like such a fucking dickhead. Or maybe he will highlight the several times you called Stevie a guy in red so as to highlight you being such a dickhead.
Guess Stuck did not read the article before he posted it. Hilarious.
By the way, banks take more risk with these loans because they are not dischargeable. They can chase you forever.
Stucky said:
“You people hate bankers (rightfully so) …. but when someone writes that the Bank is complicit for making the loan in the first place, you all crawl up HER ass. This too is hilarious.”
I matters not one bit if the bank was complicit or not. The fucking deadbeats willingly and consciously signed up for the terms spelled out in the contract. If the banks defaulted on that contract then by all means, make your payments into an escrow account, hire a lawyer and get a little justice. To just walk away and stick someone else (likely the US TReasury, ie. Taxpayers) with YOUR fucking debt is wrong.
By Stucky’s logic, two wrongs now make a right. He must not know maff cuz two negatives never equal a positive.
I_S
Wow you’re thick.
(-1)(-1) = 1
Don’t use irrational analogies. Makes you look like an idiot.
Paragraphs 2 through 5 are hilarious. Setting up straw men to potentially defeat any would-be detractors that might attempt to make HER responsible for her own actions.
Yeah, all Randian libertarians are unsuccessful and work 5 part time jobs. Excellent analysis. Of course, since this fictional group doesn’t have “a good paying job” then well, their opinion isn’t valid. HER’S is though, of course, because she has automatically disavowed Ayn Rand.
Death threats from tea party plebeians?! Wow. And then she attempts to categorize all their arguments into one bumbling redneck response. SHE is going to get death threats because she fucked up her life? Wow.
Right wing conservatives. Right. That’s a nice, tidy way to group people isn’t it? Then SHE goes on with a black and white statement. Yeah, pay extortion or sleep on the streets. That’s exactly how it works. My friends that are skilled laborers with no schooling and no debt, yeah, they are living on the streets because they didn’t voluntarily choose to go to school, take on debt, and hope to join the “good paying job” class. Absolutely fucking stupid.
“A legally binding contract requires a meeting of the minds.” Obviously SHE wasn’t able to bring a mind to the meeting.
Oh here we go, obligatory Christian hate! Nice way to lump in Ted Cruz, too. That’s right, Jesus said serve your masters, just like that. He also loved capitalism. I’m glad SHE is able to tell people what they think.
What a pathetic person. Really. Same old arguments. Same old solutions. Same old boomer tripe. It’s not “oh fuck, I messed up and so did my contemporaries.” It’s always “oh fuck, we’re all brilliant but somehow, even though we’re brilliant and deserve an easy life because of our obvious brilliance, some evil boogie man fucked our lives up. Redistribute so I can live easy!”
I’m proud of HER though, at least she didn’t hammer home on how sexism derailed her.
“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.” Yep, you didn’t make any mistakes. Not one. You were unwittingly lured into student loans, because I’m sure you did extensive research into different professions and thought hey, $100,000 in loans is probably the most profitable route. In reality, this idiot wanted glitz and glamor, SHE wasn’t lured into shit. And of course, HER situation is definitely comparable to a sex slave. That’s right. SHE chose to try and be a lawyer, failed, and now she is as disenfranchised as a slave that gets raped daily. I could go on all day with this piece. But I won’t.
🙂
“The federal government is poised to make $185 billion over the next 10 years on student loans, with no way out for the young borrowers: ……… “Even gamblers can declare bankruptcy, but kids who enter into student loans will never, ever be able to get out of this debt.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-20/matt-taibbi-dirty-little-secret-inside-student-loan-bubble
That stupid bitch cuntbag Boomer loser deadbeat piece-of-shit irresponsible Ho!!
hahahaha. You guys all sound like Bankers.
Hard to say if he’s wrong, or he’s trying to screw the government. If he’s trying to screw the government, then I’m all for it.
It’s sad that kids have to go into debt to pay for bullshit deans and administrators at school, and all the liberal douchebag professors. And then the scam of the for-profit online worthless mail-order diploma schools. What jobs are there? None. They’re all gone.
Since when did the government turn into a bank anyway? The imbeciles are $17 trillion in debt, but are loaning money so kids can go to school? The government as banksters, hilarious. Same usury, different name.
I’d be so happy to see every single person with a student loan just stop paying, and every single person with a home stop paying their property taxes, and every single person with a job quit paying their state and Federal taxes, and every person quit paying sales tax, and taxes so they can drive their cars. The only way to kill the Leviathan government is to starve it, and starve the parasites that dependent of the government stealing your money. If everyone did it, it would work.
The student omitted blaming the schools who benefitted the most from said loans.
Why is that?
hey, most millenials are just their parents, but less educated and more prone to whining where their parents prefer arrogant demands. The millenials didn’t go to college for ANY RATIONAL REASON, they went because their boomer parents told them YOU NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE OR YOU’LL BE POOR. Boomer parents were manipulative and volatile, and millie kids just want to be left alone to drink, smoke, fuck or play games, because the real world is from day one a weird dystopia of contradictions and arbitrary punishments, to be avoided as much as possible. The boomer parents majored in english, and went on to be editors. they majored in history or philosophy, and went on to make a good living as lawyers, writers etc.. they managed in music, and taught kids how to play piano and were nice and middle class. they almost flunked out, well they still got to be public school teachers or some other low level middle class job that makes 2x what a millenial will working an entry level job today. So their advice was not very helpful or accurate. In fact many boomer parents teach that going into debt is a basic tenet of good finance. good luck with your finances after internalizing that advice as a pre-teen.
The millenials were totally unprepared for their non-plan of going through the motions and ‘experimenting’ thru college like their parents did NOT TO WORK. The alternate smothering with material goods and mindfucking manipulation (with prison-like chaos youth culture teaching them nothing but social groupthink survival skills) didn’t really leave them with an ability to individuate quite like they should have. So they will NOT respond initially to their predicament in a Christ-like, morally responsible fashion. Instead, they will do something conditioned into them by their boomer parents: whine, cry, and act helpless – make a scene and shame others into bailing you out. While boomers talk a great game about the real world, they always come running with money to smooth things over when their offspring cry out in real or imagined pain. They teach this explicitly too: “you need to stand up for yourself in every situation and demand what’s coming to you.”
And about this ‘hey they majored in english they deserve to be weeded out of the gene pool’ argument. To make this claim presumes that an alternate strategy with a plausible chance of success was in play, which is not the case. Even ‘safe’ majors and career paths have been destroyed IN LESS TIME THAN IT TAKES TO COMPLETE EDUCATION TO QUALIFY FOR THOSE CAREERS (millenial law school grads, LOL ENJOY BEING KICKED TO THE BOTTOM RUNG OF ECONOMY, THANKS FOR PLAYING!) . Becoming a lawyer or doctor is statistically a highly focused, masochistic form of gambling at this point – can you imagine if all those SILLY ENGLISH AND PHILOSOPHY MAJORS had crammed into the ‘career’ majors along with all the try-hards that were already in there? Do you think the mega suicide corporations would just come up with jobs for them? or maybe we were all supposed to move to China with our engineering degrees, to follow the jobs our parents created for us OVERSEAS??
It’s too late though. The birth rate is headed into the toilet for this generation. The self esteem is trashed, the load of their youthful vigor is being pointlessly ejaculated in the moldy basements of frat houses on major campuses and it’s down the tubes for all of us now. I don’t know if you can import mexican people, or kill arabs fast enough to make up for it at this point.
Lloph
Your right, It’s obvious Stucky didn’t read the full article either. He keeps referring to Stevie as a guy in his intro. He didn’t catch it until after he had posted his intro and article. He tries to play it off like he knew all along in his second comment. Lloph, I also think admin should start going over Stucky’s intros to save him from potential embarrassment.
Scott
I read the article. Then I copied and pasted it paragraph by paragraph. Then I read it again checking for typos and wordpress errors. That’s 3 times. It was a pretty honest mistake …. much like your brain disorder.
@ Forward_Idiocracy
I made it this far- “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.” before I quit reading… you actually made it farther than me, since the next sentence is “Thanks to Fox News…”
This whiney bitch hasn’t had his ass kicked enough.
I won’t bore you all with a story about how I got out from under debt. I had debt. A lot. I worked it off and got out from under it. The End.
But this POS? Man, I haven’t read anything this entitled for a long time. Are there people who really think this way and are alive and breathing? How do they go through life without balls? If I said anything remotely like this to my father, he would have knocked my teeth out. Then he would have taken me to the dentist to have my teeth fixed. Then he would have made me pay the dental bill to make sure I remembered why I got my teeth knocked out in the first place…
This fucking ball-less whiney bitch needs to cowboy the fuck up, admit he stepped on his dick and at least make an effort to make good… Thing is, the government insured the loans with tax money- OUR money- so, by not paying his debt, he is ripping us off. I don’t like getting ripped off, and reading this shit- knowing that probably some of my tax money went to this asshole- I was thinking: “He doesn’t need to worry about courts or bill collectors… he needs to worry about ME.”
A female wrote this??
Phhht… Doom on me for assuming “Stevie” was a guy.
Whatever. My comments stand. Whiney bitch is right, but I suppose “stepped on his dick” should be amended….
Still, she signed the paperwork and agreed to pay it back. It’s not MY fault she got some useless ass degree and couldn’t get a job in “Gender Studies” or Marketing or whatever bullshit she went for.
Then to stick US with the bill, while simultaneously running us down for actually paying our debts?
Man, I have never hit a woman…. but if ever one deserved an ass whoopin, it’s this one…
Billy – Admittedly I read the first paragraph and skipped to the body. If I had read the second paragraph I would have instantly dismissed the author. A little biography about her, probably self-written.
“Stevie L. Diogenes, 53, is the freethinking daughter of a right-wing prepper and a lover of wit. She dreams of joining an island commune where she can raise animals and grow organic food. A 20 year resident of Chicago, Stevie lives in elegant poverty with her boyfriend and her cat.”
The stupid just drips off of her. I’d love to see her on an island commune. Guarantee she would be a shitty farmer and would have to rely on others to meet her needs. She has a boyfriend she lives with but complains she’ll never get married because of her debt. The tard is strong with this one.
You’re right. She is about as entitled as they come.
“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.”
NOTHING is her fault. I’ve gotta stop, really. Nearly every sentence takes the retard cake.
Good on you for working out of your debt and not blaming Randians/tea party plebians/right wing conservatives/christians/bankers/government/aliens/bacteria/NASCAR for forcing your hand to sign the documents.
Peace, man.
She went for a law degree. Graduated, had three years to study for the bar exam, and then failed.
My opinion is that students have been brainwashed and when they finally figure it out the real revolution will begin.
Through the whole essay the schools are never blamed but the schools benefitted the most
gee, this story promoted me to the 1% (since my kids all went to college, doing so without borrowing–them or me).
What got me was this started in 1986. I get that credit inflation flowed massively into higher ed, raising its costs at multiple times the CPI, but not by 1986. I borrowed to go to a Private U. for a BA and a Public U for an MS (finished in 1986) and paid it all off and did the rest of the Middle Class gig from there.
I concur with AWD: The fact that the FedGov became the Nation’s Banker is the Biggest Elephant in the Living Room that no one seems to see.
Yeah, wasn’t my story. Sorry to disappoint.
I Stucky, Da HeisenJudge, am ready to rule.
Stevie is a lazy fuckwad entitled bitch.
Banks are wonderful and only try to help.
Banks win.
Stucky, you ignorant slut
Voting for banksters? and the government? I’ll have Oreo send you a DHS application, you can apply for “supplementary staff” privileges. At least you won’t get droned, and joining the “ruling party” will get you a FEMA camp in Florida instead of Alaska (where you were previously assigned, due to your problems with the Chatham police).
Calamity says:
“Yeah, wasn’t my story.”
Yes it was. The name was changed and there is a greater number of justifications but it’s the same story.
I_S
Education loans are uncollateralized. You cannot Repo an Education. If somebody is stupid enough to loan money for somebody else to go to Skule, the lender should expect to take a bath 99 times out of 100. Nobody except the 1% should pay back these loans. The banks that Loaned the money never HAD the money before they loaned it out. They created the money AFTER you signed for it! The fact they did not have the money to loan abrogates the contract, they lied.
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. 🙂
RE
RE 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.”
Yeah, and then the banks get bailed out AND they get an IRS write off and the taxpayers (current, future and unborn) get fucked twice plus interest. Pure genius.
I_S
Llpoh said, ” By the way, banks take more risk with these loans because they are not dischargeable. They can chase you forever.”
Because they are not dischargeable means the banks take less risk.
“Yes it was. The name was changed and there is a greater number of justifications but it’s the same story.”
Um, no. Did you read the part that this was her second round of loans? She has been carrying student loan debt for the whole time span of my life. Knowing how impossible it is to pay off her loans she took out 6 figures to finance a career, later in life, that she did not like.
The only similarity is about the loans being sold and resold. My loans have been sold 3 times since I started borrowing. I don’t agree with most of this article. Mostly because her claims are not backed up with facts and figures. Rather a tug on the heart strings story.
What a joke the article is.
All these schools have “guidance counselors” who guide students directly to financing and funding whatever useless English, liberal arts, or psychology major they wish to choose. All the money in the world is available to continue funding ridiculous majors while all school teachers, administrators, and workers live the good life of an easy retirement at “other peoples” expense while pretending to help people.
Rip offs all the schools have become and none of you have the stones to call a duck a duck.
“Yeah, and then the banks get bailed out AND they get an IRS write off and the taxpayers (current, future and unborn) get fucked twice plus interest. Pure genius.”-IS
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.
RE
Printmoney – my point was that banks are prepare to loan to people they ordinarily would not as the loans are non-dischargeable. I could have said it better., and I agree with you.
I stopped reading at fairness. The christian and fair thing to do is discharge the loan.
Ever meet a banker willing to discharge a loan? No? That’s why legislation is required, if they weren’t in bed together.
Hmm, maybe the gun and bullet should be for them. Problem solved.
The GI Bill was the first give away program at the end of WWII beginning the modern era of deficit spending. Why was the bill necessary, because we needed more bean counters all of a sudden?
You reap what you sow and no charity reaps the same.
F_I
“Stevie L. Diogenes, 53, is the freethinking daughter of a right-wing prepper and a lover of wit. She dreams of joining an island commune where she can raise animals and grow organic food. A 20 year resident of Chicago, Stevie lives in elegant poverty with her boyfriend and her cat.”
Good Lord!
You’re right. The stupid not only drips off her, it jumps out at you and tries to strangle you. I read that bio and my head almost imploded.
And that last name- Diogenes? She had to change her name at some point. I have NEVER met anyone with the last name of “Diogenes”. I mean, people just don’t run around with the last names of Greek philosophers.
The rest? I’m ashamed to say it, but the bio, and the entire story, could have been written by my sister. Spent years in University pursuing some useless degree, got asshole deep in debt, defaulted, changed her name to something REALLY FUCKING RETARDED, overblown sense of entitlement, narcissist, not married at 49, etc… oh, did I mention she’s an Obamatard? Yep. Voted for the Mulatto Messiah twice. Hardcore libtard, too.
God help her if we ever go grid down for a long time… she thinks guns are ‘icky’…
“I have NEVER met anyone with the last name of “Diogenes”.” ——— Billy
“75 results for Diogenes ” — here, http://www.whitepages.com/name/diogenes/
Billy, you would make a fine Lawyer …. attack the person, ignore the facts. How does your mother feel about raising a dumbass?
Stucky, Do you really believe the deadbeat is using her real name just because you found 75 of them? Hell, there are 100 Stucky’s so are we to assume that is your real name ?
The last name was a dead giveaway as to a hidden identity…Diogenes.
~~~~
Anyway, I blame Bernanke / Yellen for not printing money and clearing these hard partying students debts from the balance sheet. Heh.
i am quite torn, she seems like quite a dumbass in many ways who has had moments of clarity with bad fortune interspersed. i don’t like the insinuation that she “earned” her education and the loans only “paid” for the access. that would only be true if everything at the school was donated adn the profs worked for free. resources cost money, even crappy subsidized govt ones run my egomaniacal shit-stains staff
but i will give her an attaboy for doing more than her fair share to hasten the collapse that is long overdue.
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She had zero blame for the schools. Zero, even though they use free federal cash and bankster loans to enrich themselves while (amazingly) managing to reduce the level of education. I firmly believe most college grads today would fail out of college from other eras, and I base this just on communication, breadth of knowledge and business acumen.
Typical liberal lawyer, it is ALWAYS the guys with the obvious cash fault. Banks, mega-corporations, yep, at fault. Her? The School? No WAY, she’s broke, the school has an entire department propagandizing the fact they are broke, so obviously, they COULDN’T be at fault here. Jeesh, follow the dollars ya’ capitalists.
Yet little to no condemnation of the RECIPIENTS of her debt, the schools and god knows she surely wouldn’t blame a socialist gubment that is a very large recipient of the value of education.
She failed the bar and then opted out, so in addition to being biased and a communist, she is a quitter.
So law degree, no right to practice, in debt, and low paid, thrown in with her blaring omission of the schools, I’m going to bet she is some worthless low paid college sycophant that sits around with kids that know nothing of the world, and liberal rich professors that believe they know everything, and out comes her bashing of anything not “liberal” and her belief that the rich guys fucked her over while the gubment was hogtailed and couldn’t save her.
Loving her life dream, quitters that are entitled victims make the best farmers, so I hear.
@ Stucky
“How does your mother feel about raising a dumbass?”
Better than yours does.
Tell us, did your mother take one look at you and then cut her fucking throat, or did she wait till you were a confirmed embarrassing stupid fuck and then off herself from shame?
Stuck, you can say whatever you want about me, personally- I don’t give a shit. Been called worse by better. But lay off family- that shit’s off limits. Only someone who wants a serious ass-whoopin or gutshot runs their fucking piehole about someone’s mama…. even bad men love their mama.
Oh, and about doing a white pages search? There’s 300+ million Americans. What do you think the odds are that a few dozen changed their names to something stupid? I’m sure that if I did a WP search on my sister’s “new” name, odds are I would get a few hits…
And attacking that deadbeat bitch? Yep. Sure did. And will again. Retards like her DESERVE to be held up and ridiculed publicly- same with socialists, communists, Marxists.
Got anything else or are you gonna run down my mama again?