OPINION:
Socialism benefits elite groups while the rank and file suffer at the hands of the elite, their enablers and supporters. The current campaign to lift the “burden” of student-loan debt and place it squarely on the backs of the American taxpayer is a perfect and horrid example.
The focus here is misplaced. It should not be on relief from debt, but rather on the irresponsibility of the students and parents who incurred it.
It does not make sense for a student from a middle- or lower-income background to mortgage their future for a degree from a big-name school when there are less expensive options. Yet many did, with parental assent and sometimes active participation.
Some students chose majors for which there are few or no positions and then complain they cannot find employment at a wage sufficient to pay off their debts. Others chose majors which required further education for even entry-level employment, and they therefore borrowed even more money.
In addition, there are others who should never have been in college in the first place because they lacked the necessary academic preparation. They required remedial instruction prior to beginning college-level courses, lengthening their stay and requiring additional borrowing. Others, unsuccessful even with remediation, dropped out, saddled with enormous debt.
These debts are the results of decisions made by students, and in some cases, parents. It is they, not the taxpayers, who should deal with the consequences.
HESSIE L. HARRIS
Silver Spring, Md.
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