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The Beast That Swallows Its Young

Posted by Isaac Fitzgerald, AlterNet at 10:58 AM on June 24, 2008.


A great music video by Matt Kresling highlights the cost of education.

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Artist Matt Kresling's latest creation, The Beast That Swallows Its Young, encourages viewers to consider defaulting on their student loans. The song was created using messages from Matt's own student-loan debt collectors.


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Change the system
Posted by: SallyD on Jun 24, 2008 12:51 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
On the one hand, the students should pay as they agreed to pay. When they don't, it's the taxpayer that picks up the bill.

On the other hand, the system is totally messed up, and feeding the beast will only serve to keep it going.

Young kids have to get a college education to get a good job, but that requires going into debt so they get a job (as a debt collector?) so they can pay the debt and they can't quit their job 'cause they have to pay and they can't complain about the health insurance because they can't pay if they get fired...
Fear, fear, fear. Work, work, work. Pay, pay, pay.

Ideally, the system could be changed. France has a pretty cool system. The taxpayers pay for educating kids all the way through college. Sure, it costs a lot and taxes are high, but the people are educated without the burden of debt and fear.

But Americans are taught from birth about "survival of the fittest". Socialists, however think that survival is for everybody and that SUCCESS is for the fittest. And everybody has a chance to succeed if they study hard and pass the exams they can go to the best schools and get the best jobs.

So, I sort of admire this guy for bucking the system and not paying his loans, but I hope he also spends some time trying to change the system to something that will work. Simply not paying is a bit of a cop out.

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Can't just not pay anymore
Posted by: juanpecan81 on Jun 24, 2008 3:08 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Thanks to Bill Clinton, all exiting graduates are made to do an "exit interview" where they have to sign that they will allow their paychecks to be garnished to pay their debts if they don't pay.

I get frustrated with my generation for our complacency and acquisence to an increasingly openly viscious system, but we are targeted for control like no generation before us (gonna get worse before it gets better). Rebelling ain't so easy when you're trying to get some semblance of a foothold/dignity.

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Dirty . . .
Posted by: Scientz on Jun 25, 2008 8:23 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
. . . I was a credit collector for five years. They really are just talking out of their ass.

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