I think it is madness to openly say that a nation investing heavily in the minds of its people is a bad idea. The strength of this country is not only based on military might but an unprecedented 60 year economic winning streak that was fueled by the GI Bill after WWII and the continued fostering of accessible higher education through the Baby-Boom generation (until they fucking wrecked it). The very same Baby-Boomers now depicting Millennials as cry-babies about debt are also the very ones who benefited greatly from subsidized education. Obviously, they got theirs and now the rest of us can fucking eat a dick.
Nothing bad comes out of educating the masses (despite what the anti-intellectual wing of the GOP may say) and many positive unintended consequences crop up when smart people are trained to use their gifts. For example, Sweden, notorious bogeyman of the Right, dominates the Pop Music industry because they decided to modestly invest in music programs starting in the 1950s (thought to deter pop/rock music...whoops). As it turns out, all those properly trained and educated people started doing some interesting things and have increased the return on investment many times over. Read about it here. It is interesting:
http://www.psmag.com/books-and-culture/swedish-pop-mafia-music-world-influence-73966
As for completely wiping the slate clean on loans, I think that may be drastic. However, clearing the decks of much of that sequestered $1 Trillion would have nothing but positive effects on the economy. In light of how we not only let those assholes on Wall Street off the hook for driving us off a cliff, but also subsidized their stupidity, there is no moral argument as to why we can't find ways to relieve some of the debt burden for those who have contributed to the nation's interests. How about:
I. Total loan forgiveness for military personnel with at least a full year of deployment to a combat zone (that is for those whose education wasn't already paid for by the government).
II. 75% loan forgiveness for vital life-saving personnel like nurses, EMTs, PAs, police and firefighters etc. Also for those teachers brave enough to do a tour in inner-city schools.
III. Across the board reductions of some percentage.
I know many of our friends on the Right love trickle-down economics and the effect of lowering the loan burden would result in a Housing-Boom, a Wedding-Boom, a new Baby-Boom, a huge boom in consumer spending on items like cars and the opportunity to start investing money as well as planning for retirement. The alternative is the continued delayed maturation of an entire generation and all the attendant economic and social consequences (example, women are delaying having children which increases the chances of birth defects) it carries. Whether one agrees are not on the principle of loan forgiveness, we do have a national problem and it must be addressed.
Reform of the whole system is necessary. I don't think higher education should be free. However, we had a workable system as recently as the late-90s so it is possible to satisfy most parties involved. We must return to properly investing in our future rather than trying to fleece it.
