AND THE

Universe

AS I SEE IT

Forgiving Debt, Forgetting Debt

Student Loan debt is 1.75 trillion dollars as of 2022. $1,750,000,000,000.00. So many 0s, wow! This number is way too large to simply forgive, right? No, not even close. The number is paltry. It could be forgiven without blinking. The questions is, should we?

The federal government spent $6.82 trillion and collected $4.05 trillion in 2021. The federal government spent $2.77 trillion more than it collected, resulting in a deficit and adding to the national debt. The current US National Debt stands at over 30 trillion dollars. (and rapidly growing)

  • Social Security has 22 trillion in unfunded liabilities
  • Medicare has another 34 trillion in unfunded liabilities
  • Total unfunded liabilities is 170 trillion.

Our total unfunded liabilites are 100x the student loan debt. Student loan debt is a penny on the dollar.

Can we forgive student loan debt? Yes. Should we forgive student loan debt?

"Yes" -student

"No. Pay your debts!" - Boomer

OK Boomer, I agree.

But surely this shouldn't be limited to students only. Older generations can lead by example. Anyone over the age of 35 is considered part of the older generation. Why 35? Arbitrary, but also this is the cutoff for when you can run for President. Anybody younger is constitutionly barred from running so they are exempt.

There are about 175 million people in the US 35 and older. 30 trillion divided by 175 million is $170,000 per person.

We want to make sure people pay their debts, since this is responsible. Anyone over the age of 75, the bill is due in 30 days. You can't die to try and get out of your debt, that is irrresponsible, so you have to pay it now. For those younger than 75, payment plans can be setup so that your debt is paid off by your 75th birthday.

That fixed a small piece of the debt puzzle. We still have to deal with the big ones, Social Security and Medicare. We could send a bill of $318,000.00 to everyone over 35. This would pay the debt off. Sadly we would immediately start accruing more debt.

We need to pay our debts and more importantly, stop going further in debt. SS and Medicare need to halt. Medicare should be phased out. Procedures scheduled for the next 7 days can go forward, after that Medicare is terminated. SS checks that are already in the mail can be cashed, after that SS is terminated. No more Social Security benefits payments, no more Social Security tax.

"But I paid into SS, it is my money!" - Boomer

Kind of true, but the numbers don't lie. SS was paid for with a credit card, now the credit card bill is due. Medicare, by design, is older people passing off medical debt to younger generations. What a horrible example to set! No wonder young students think their debt should be forgiven. Lead by example.