Nope, I don’t mean medieval torture, but I do mean something almost as bad: moving back in with your parents.
The LA Times ran a pretty good article about the economic situation of young people, especially as it relates to the current recession.
The gist - young people are facing some tough economic times as they enter the job market, forcing many to move in or borrow money from their folks, as well as cut back on the lifestyle they are used to. Along with the steady trend towards higher student and credit card debt, the bursting economic bubbles have meant that young people are now more concerned with economic issues than, for example, ending the war in Iraq (although, of course, they are related issues - money spent on the war could help alleviate the crisis at home).
As you have probably heard, we are going through some rocky financial times. A “credit-crunch” fueled recession means that many financial institutions will have a harder time making ends meet, and this, of course, includes student loan companies, as the Washington Post points out today.
Higher education advocates are worried that these lenders are exaggerating the effects of the crisis on the student loan industry as a way to secure unneeded bailouts and get back some of the wasteful subsidies that Congress cut last year in order to increase student aid. They are also worried that all of the hype will mean debt-averse students may be discouraged from “investing” in a college education. Don’t worry – it is very unlikely that you won’t be able to get the loans you need to finance you education.
We have been warned again and again that seeing the world as an "us versus them" proposition is a fatal error. It's polarizing. It leads to "class warfare." It absolves "us" of the collective responsibility we all have in a democracy. Can't have it, not allowed.
Well, here's some news for "them". It is precisely an "us versus them" world. We live in a nation where tremendous wealth calls the shots without respect or regard for the public will, fails miserably again and again, and then hides behind "collective responsibility." We're supposed to believe that somehow "we all allowed this to happen."
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