Over on Twitter, a new hashtag campaign spurred by none other than 2020 Democratic contender Elizabeth Warren is making the rounds.
It’s mind-numbingly dubbed #CancelMyDebt, and primarily features an avalanche of younger Americans – mostly Millennials and Gen Z-ers – complaining about their student loan problems, blaming others for their interest rates and demanding that taxpayers – you guessed it – cancel their debt.
That they voluntarily took out for an optional degree they don’t plan to return.
And the amount of “woe-is-me” grouching is staggering. Here are just a few folks who think willingly signing up for an expensive college or post-grad degree is tantamount to being forced into indentured servitude at the point of a gun – and even a few who claim they’re being unfairly “forced” to pay interest on a debt they freely took on.
Someone who doesn’t want you to focus on their whining:
I make $600 payments every month and my student loan debt has only decreased by 2k in 2yrs... #CancelMyDebt is less about us whining about owing money we borrowed, and more about pointing out that having interest rates on student loans is financially crippling and needs to stop.
— Jessaca Willis_Author (@jessacawillis) May 22, 2019
This law student-turned-political candidate who doesn’t understand how interest works:
I borrowed $180K to go to law school:
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) May 22, 2019
•After 7 years of never missing a single payment—my law school debt is now $200K😳
•Students are forced to take high debt & borrow at 7-8%😑
•I’m running for office to fight this injustice https://t.co/n1PpDHefwa #CancelMyDebt https://t.co/OPisFIfXqE
This person who should probably have spent more time in that expensive English class:
Doesnt mean the new generations can??
— 🙊🙈🙉 (@Scarelett013) May 22, 2019
17 hrs is what we would have to work in order to pay our debt by ourselves!!
Then a job straight out of college isnt guaranteed. But were expected to study what makes money be what we enjoy in order to achieve financial stability.
Someone who took out $60,000 to get a notoriously low-paying job:
I borrowed $60K. I paid back $35K. I now owe $78K. I’m on an income based repayment plan. Never missed a payment. I’m a public school teacher. Public service loan forgiveness is not guaranteed. My interest rate is 7%. #CancelMyDebt
— Paul DeNovi (@PDenovi) May 22, 2019
These people who took out $200,000 for the same reason:
Two deaf adults, no children, no other debt, stuck in low-salary jobs with no raises ever, no retirement savings, and nearly $200K in debt for degrees we will never be able to use. We will never be able to retire, and will die in debt. #CancelMyDebt
— David S. Evans (@DavidSEvans29) May 22, 2019
This person who can barely make $100 a month in loan payments, but somehow has enough to donate to a politician’s campaign:
With my student loans canceled, I could put that 100/M into a retirement savings. I currently have $0 saved for retirement, so Im literally taking on a 2nd job, part time, to save for the future...I start that 2nd job June 2nd, wish me luck! #CancelMyDebt Also, I just donated 2 U
— Rich Kearney (@FWard46870487) May 22, 2019
This person who thinks optional student loans are basically slavery:
#CancelMyDebt It must be nice living in #Socialist countries where this isn't even an issue. The American system is geared towards slavery. You need college to get a job and then need your job to pay off your debt. This is why other industrial nations are ahead of the US.
— Stephen Sipila (@StephenSipila) May 22, 2019
Interestingly, not a single person telling their “story” under this hashtag includes the time and place in which the bank and/or government held a gun to their head and demanded they take out $150,000 for their underwater basket-weaving degree.