Being In Service: Presence, Passion, Compassion

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Where does integrity Live?

"I have a controversial idea about paying off student loan debt: don't take out debt you will likely be unable to pay off, and don't ask others to pay off your debts." - ben shapiro

I recently read this quote and it elicited very mixed reactions within me. On the one hand, it was surprisingly simple and logical, and on the other, it smacked of a contempt for real situations faced by young people every day. Coming out of high school, we (or they) know or should know that some form of further education will be necessary to improve their position in life or be successful. However, what that looks like is never very clear beyond the typical mantra that goes something like - go to college, study a degree that leads to a high-paying job, and then get hired by a "Firm". Unfortunately, that really only serves a small spectrum of people within a particular disposition or set of aptitudes and leaves the rest of us either conforming to a norm that never quite fits or rebelling against that norm without a clear path forward.

And the narrative outlined above fails to capture an entire spectrum of pursuits such as tradesmen (or women), military, or apprenticeships. (That last term I use freely to mean any kind of on-the-job training such as the car business, which has made my brother so successful.) It also fails to capture the context that created the story in the first place. After World War II sent an entire generation of young men to war, those that came home received the benefits of their service in several ways, but most relevantly in the form of the GI Bill. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 provided not only free access to higher education, it also included a living stipend while in school. In effect, the bill moved a significant portion of that generation from working to middle-class status and established an expectation or standard for upward mobility. Within this new context, the narrative shifted to the one alluded to above - go to college, etc. - as a model for success. Perhaps an ill-fitting model for many.

Nonetheless, Ben Shapiro is right about one thing - expecting debt forgiveness for a debt freely incurred displays a lack of integrity. We make choices and we should expect to be accountable for those choices, despite whether the conditions or context is unfair. The issue of fairness involves a much broader conversation about fundamental inequity in the execution of the original bill and the inability to make coherent comparisons between that historical context and the current conditions. Forward movement as a society requires that we examine why this is so and if we choose to do something about it. Additionally, an discussion around debt forgiveness must include consideration for those who did pay off their student loans under the very same constraints.

Yet, none of these considerations alters an individual's accountability to the choices they freely make. Every choice we make is an investment in our future and being honorable about those choices includes being accountable to them as well.

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