Are AmericansToo Selfish to Support Prosperity for the Next Generation?

I was married and had a baby when I went back to school to finish my degree. My husband and I took out a small bank loan to pay for a portion of my classes. I drove a two hour round trip to my night classes. My husband babysat for our son. I became a certified public school teacher and taught grade five for twenty-two years.

I’m still in favor of student loan forgiveness.

During the second half of my career, I worked and earned a Masters in educational leadership. Three and half years of full time work and part time master’s classes. My weekends were spent on course assignments. My school district paid for my degree. (I’m not so sure that’s a common practice these days) I graduated and applied for a job as an elementary principal.

I’m still in favor of student loan forgiveness.

My husband and I paid thousands of dollars out of pocket in order to send our two children to college. Both received fellowships and scholarships which helped a lot, but our daughter graduated with almost $25,000 of student debt. We paid most of it off for her over the course of about ten years.

I’m still in favor of student loan forgiveness.

My choice to earn two degrees pulled my family out of poverty. The determination to see our children pursue higher education never waned. I was the first girl in my family and my husband’s family to get a degree.

I’m still in favor of student loan forgiveness.

We sacrificed vacations, new cars, and many other luxuries in order to see the dream fulfilled. I knew lots of parents who didn’t pay for their children to attend college. Our parents didn’t.

I’m still in favor of student loan forgiveness.

However, I’ll take my support of student loan forgiveness a step further. I think all state universities should be free for student’s who reside in that state.

FREE I tell you.

Why? Because we need to level the playing field in order to rebuild a dwindling middle class that is drowning in debt. We need more nurses, doctors, and teachers, not less. We need more highly educated people. Not less. We need more engineers, future thinkers, scientists, and researchers. Not less. In order to compete on the world scene we need to invest BIG time in education.

Trust me, we’re already losing our edge internationally. And, domestically, the shortage of qualified people to fill the above careers is of critical concern.

Here’s what I keep hearing instead.

I paid my school loans, and you should, too.

It’s a typical sentiment of the American philosophy. Most Americans HATE to help anyone, even their own children. Sadly, that kind of selfish, narrow mindedness will come back to bite us all in our big fat American butts.

Americans are so shortsighted that they regularly sabotage their own well being. Then, they’ll fight anyone who tries to help them pull themselves out of the very hole they dug in the first place.

Listen, the rich don’t self sabotage.

Only the working class demands that their own children should be strapped with years of student debt. The rich will use their influence to get their children into the most prestigious universities, keep their wealth in offshore banks, send lobbyists to Washington to represent their interests, and then turn around and tell the working class that getting an education is no longer necessary.

What a perfect setup hoisted upon dimwitted, ignorant citizens who refuse to allow their own children to have massive student loans forgiven or accessible free state colleges available to them.

Duh! That’s why I laugh when working class people pretend that they have a chance in hell of becoming one of the coveted rich. I know that not only are the odds systemically against them, but also most of them are just too ignorant to take advantage of an opportunity when it comes knocking at their doors.

Nope!

Ignorant and selfish. They simply can’t unite, not even if it would further their collective interests.

I’m for forgiving student loans, offering free college at state universities, and breathing some life back into the middle class. Call me a socialist if you want, but while you’re at it, don’t forget to take note of the shortage of doctors in your region. Rich kids don’t become doctors.

Middle class, working class, even the poor when given opportunity to do so become our doctors, nurses, and teachers.

Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.