Student loan forgiveness is being taken seriously right now by the bourgeoisie.

The Federal interest rate going near 0% has led to a massive boom in housing construction. Student loan deferment has led to many people saving up for a down payment on a house. The housing market is carrying the US economy right now.

If student loan deferment ends, this space that Capital found for expansion will disappear. There will be an immediate crisis.

Also, the effort to privatize student loans has been a failure. Betsy DeVos has been the Secretary of Education most dedicated to privatization. She killed the Perkins Loan, which has led many new students to private loans.

Although, after her reign, 92% of public student loan debt are still held by the Department of Education. It is unlikely that the Biden SoE will be more successful at speeding up the process. Capital is in crisis now.

Forgiving public debts is a method of privatization in America, where a culture of indebtedness exists. They want everyone with public student loans to take out private mortgages, owned by JPMorgan, Citigroup, etc.

I'm not saying student loan forgiveness is good or bad. It is good for me. But it serves a purpose that we should understand.

  • PhaseFour [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Their hesitation is because student loans discipline labor.

    The threat of student loans is the major reason I can't rock the boat at my job.

      • PhaseFour [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        100%

        Teachers went on strike in my city last Wednesday. The School Board revoked their health care Tuesday night.

        There was massive community support for the teachers, and the Board capitulated to their demands in a day. But still, it clearly illustrated the role of employer-based health insurance to people here.

        • Electrickoolaide32 [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Anyone that yanks health care during a pandemic earns a date with the business end of a crowbar

          • PhaseFour [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            It became a huge scandal that hasn't let up yet (thankfully). The Board is trying to save-face right now, but people are pissed.

            They will probably get voted out next year. They deserve much worse lol

      • Infamousblt [any]
        ·
        4 years ago

        And retirement via 401k / roth IRA / whatever the fuck people are doing. Tying literally your entire life to your job, every SINGLE aspect of it, is crucial towards maintaining a docile and servile labor force.

    • grey_wolf_whenever [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      This, plus the runaway engine of punishment. The individual actors in America arent thinking about "how can we keep capitalism going" but they do often think "young people deserve to be buried in debt."

    • acealeam [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      The crazy high unemployment should also be doing that

      • PhaseFour [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Great point. The reserve supply of labor is high. Back when unemployment was around 3%, they needed other tools of labor discipline (student loans). They are less needed now, so the bourgeoisie are more willing to consider student loan forgiveness.

    • Bread_In_Baltimore [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      This is true, but as someone pointed out, unemployment can serve this function, as well as the threat of underemployment via the gig economy. Mortgages are another way to discipline labor, and it's one that private banks can profit off of more directly than student loans. Once you own a home, you will run yourself ragged to hold onto it.

      I honestly have no idea what is going to happen wrt student debt. I think it's one of the only concessions neoliberals might dole out exactly for the reasons laid out in this thread. But at the same time I'm not sure of it, because they get some kind of sick pleasure out of the misery they inflict on the working class. I guess we will just have to see.

      • PhaseFour [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I was just about to respond to that post:

        Great point. The reserve supply of labor is high. Back when unemployment was around 3%, they needed other tools of labor discipline (student loans). They are less needed now, so the bourgeoisie are more willing to consider student loan forgiveness.