Non-Solution "Solutions"

[Yppej]

Joe Biden proposes to forgive some student loan debt but not do anything to control educational inflation so it will help some with current debts but not help those taking out loans in the future. A permanent solution would be Bernie Sanders's free community college.

This reminds me of immigration. Amnesty is granted to a group that has been here X number of years but nothing is done to address the root cause of illegal immigration so fast forward a decade or two and you get another amnesty/pathway to citizenship proposal.

Why is there a question mark in front of my title?

[Teacher Terry]

Yppej, you are right that neither solves these 2 issues.

[LDAHL]

I think these things make more sense if we ask whose problems they are aimed at. If I am a president looking for ways to pander to my relatively affluent constituents, a $10K gift without the battle a larger structural change would cost me could be a nice interim solution. If I am a president hoping to ingratiate myself with a voting block where my party has seen some slippage recently, an amnesty might give me at least a temporary boost.

[Teacher Terry]

No real change is coming from either party. The infrastructure bill spends less on infrastructure than other items. The stimulus plan gives more money to corporations than individuals. The democrats on the whole give more money to people than corporations so that’s somewhat better. No party has the stomach for real change.

[LDAHL]

When I consider the “real change” some wish to impose, I thank my primitive sky god and our slave-owning founders for the precious gift of gridlock.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I don't know if any of this is really the answer to anything. Community college is ALREADY FREE here. States can do this if they want to. But it's overcrowded. What did anyone expect if they make it free and don't build more schools and hire more staff? Okay, truth it was overcrowded even before it was free. Maybe the demographics will eventually improve with less young people.

The majority of community college students never even transfer to a 4 year school. It serves as a means of weeding 60% or more of people out I guess, maybe that is the purpose. And the next two years aren't free, and they are overcrowded. And desperately needed programs like more training for nurses has such a wait list through community colleges that people have to go to private for-profit colleges for it anyway!!! And nothing is done about it.

[catherine]

When I consider the “real change” some wish to impose, I thank my primitive sky god and our slave-owning founders for the precious gift of gridlock.

On the OPs topic and also on the "real change" issue:

On the non-solution solution of student loan debt: SallieMae is a horrible loan. DD took advantage of a government student loan for her last two years in college. The way that loan is structured you pay literally nothing but interest for YEARS. The amortization schedule keeps you deep in debt for a long time before you see a nickel going toward principle. So these programs for early forgiveness like the 10 year plan that UL was working toward is fine with me because it's simply like getting a refund for all the money you gave to the government and reallocating it to principle. That's the root problem of student loans. I have no problem with "real change" coming in the form of restructuring of the loan terms, maybe changing to low/no interest.

On another non-solution solution I'd like to nominate renewable energy. Yes, this relates to the reality presented by the book that I've really been thinking about--Bright Green Lies--and its thesis that renewable energy comes with its own burden of environment sins. The need to mine for batteries for PV cells, the disruption of marine life for offshore wind an hydroelectric power, the manufacturing of panels and turbines, the land use needs for biomass--it all comes down to "what is the lesser of these evils" and "which energy source will keep us going the longest before we still wind up plundering the earth and destroying biodiversity beyond the point of no return?"

As it has been noted here, the real solution has to address the root problem, and the renewable energy non-solution solution does not address the REAL environmental solution of minimizing consumption and economic growth. The "inconvenient truth" is that NO energy source will eliminate the consequences of unbridled consumption and unfettered capitalism. I'm preaching to the choir of this forum by saying the REAL solution is for more people to return to a more simple life. But not many are heeding that call.

[bae]

Princeton and several other such schools are essentially free if you can’t afford them, and don’t allow their students to graduate with debt.

[catherine]

Princeton and several other such schools are essentially free if you can’t afford them, and don’t allow their students to graduate with debt.

Isn't that because Princeton has the largest endowment fund of US colleges/universities? I know that used to be true.

[bae]

Isn't that because Princeton has the largest endowment fund of US colleges/universities? I know that used to be true.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_by_endowment

Note that there are two tables, one for private, one for public. There are some well-heeled institutions out there, in both camps.