Forum Post: Wall Street Protesters:
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 15, 2011, 11:59 a.m. EST by JMeeda17
(32)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Dear Wall Street Protesters,
Your student loans should not be forgiven. When you decided to take out a loan for your education, you took a risk. There was no guarantee that your risk would pay off. Suck it up and figure out how to succeed. That is what successful people do. And if you do not believe that, then you were never going to be successful to begin with. You were all destined to be losers.
If you are not a loser, then figure out how to lift yourself up, because no one is going to do it for you. My student loans are almost already half paid off in just 2.25 years after 4 years of a bachelor's degree and 2 years of a post-bacc professional certification. While I have been paying off those loans, I have also completed 18 credits toward my master's degree during these hard economic times. I did not get lucky; I worked hard.
Grow a spine, quit blaming others for your unfortunate circumstances, figure out what you need to do, and get to work. The harder you work, the "luckier" you'll get.
Sincerely yours,
Hard-working Capitalist
Hey I'm paying my student loans and I'm also working on a MS degree in global health and guess what I'm also an occupier. I work during the day, I take classes at night. Whenever I have some free time I have joined protesters. So what's the difference between me and you? I think it's because I have the ability to empathize with my other unlike you buddy. You don't have too be in a bad position in your life to see that things are really wrong in our country. I mean have you seen the candidates for the republican party. These guys are a bunch of loony tune. That in itself tells you our country is going backwards. I know our political spectrum has really been narrow over the years, but we used to have some realistic presidential candidates at least.....Also as a biologist I worry about climate change and how concentrated private power is playing a game with the environment. Well, guess what, we can get away with failed backs, but a failed environment means he extinction of the species. There is no bailout of negotiation with mother nature. We should really think about these things very seriously. So far governments and corporations have not even began to scratch the surface. That's why I'm out there trying to bring attention to these things. With all due respect, I care.....I'm sorry you don't
You are right. I have no empathy for those who took risks, failed, and are now crying about it. The candidates for the GOP nomination are much better than the current clown in the White House. In fact, I think that a potted plant might be better than our current President. President Bush was certainly not the greatest president in history, but I would take him over President Obama. The rest of your comment seems to be based on false premises, so I do not care to comment on it.
Bush is the reason why we inherited a national debt. He is the reason why we are in Iraq for no other reason than to expand the American Empire, which is sucking the people in the heart-land dry my friend. Bush is the reason Obama inherited a quagmire in Iraq and Af/Pak.....So unless you are trying to rewrite history, I don't know what you are talking about. I don't agree with most of the Obama policies and I know he promised change and he hasn't delivered yet, partly due to republican/tea party recalcitrant politics, but I can tell you with full confidence that the like of Rick Perry, Mit Romney, Michele Bauchman, are just a laughable bunch....Not to mention the pizza CEO, with his 999...Might as well be 666
Actually, Alexander Hamilton is the reason we inherited a national debt. He created our financial system, and we have been in debt for the entire history of the U.S. While it is true that President Bush regrettably increased our debt greatly, President Obama has more than doubled it in a very short period of time. President Obama has also overseen an increase in the Debt/GDP ratio from 70% to 100%. If you understand basic economics, this means that President Bush was a Nobel Prize-worthy economic genius compared to President Obama (and Mr. Bush really was far from that stature.) Also, concerning foreign policy, Mr. Obama has now taken us to Pakistan, Libya, and now Uganda. Granted, these are currently lesser expenditures, but that could change rapidly (i.e., Vietnam.) So you see sir, it seems that it is you that is trying to rewrite history.
I find it interesting that you call Representative Bachmann* “laughable” and then go on to use her pithy remarks concerning Mr. Cain’s 9-9-9 Plan. BTW it certainly does not appear that the 9-9-9 Plan will be very fruitful. I ran the numbers myself, and it looks as though it will result in a drastic decrease of revenue. Some of the candidates do seem to be less desirable than others. The lesser ones will be weeded out through the process, but certainly not all of them are “laughable.”
9-9-9 success hinges on whether 9% of all new goods sold in the US is greater than the across the board income tax breaks that come with it. It should be fairly easy to determine, once the exact list of products is finalized.
If it is revenue neutral, the simplicity of it would be an enormous driver of revenue for every US business and individual (Except for accountants, who will suffer massive cuts). I think we can throw the accountants under the bus for the sake of the rest of the country. If only we could figure out how to throw the attorneys down there with em.
I am a protester so I will respond to your letter from my personal perspective.
I do not have any student loans. I was fortunate enough that my parents could pay for my education. I am married and have a young son. I am fortunate to be able to be a full time homemaker and live a comfortable lifestyle. I enjoy volunteering 10 -15 hours a week at my son's elementary school. I could go on, but I hope you get the idea that I do not fit your perception of a protester. But yet, I protest, because I see things happening around me that is not right in this country.
And I have a "spine" thank you very much. And I'm using to protest and speak up about our problems in this country. I hope you can appreaciate that.
I was referring to a single issue that some of the protesters are representing. You have no business even replying to this.
Also, perhaps mommy and daddy should have spent a little more on your education so you could actually analyze an opinion accurately, and you wouldn't make grammatical errors.
"They see me trollllinnnnnn...."
I agree, it does seem like she was a bit.
No, you buddy. :)
If you say so. I was just looking to inspire people to do better in life.
"Also, perhaps mommy and daddy should have spent a little more on your education so you could actually analyze an opinion accurately, and you wouldn't make grammatical errors."
Very inspirational.
I am a hard-working capitalist, and I think that student loans MUST be forgiven for (a) equity reasons and for the (b) economy.
Student loan debt is chocking this economy to death!
So tell me family now what do you think? Watch it all go down the great big sink. Watch how the scum it rises to the top. DOn't you wonder when it's all gonna stop? Sometimes I wonder how we do sleep, serving the dodgy companies we keep. All kicking and scrounging for the very first place - dictionary defintion of a rat race. Pay off those losers we elect to lead. stealing from the mouths that we're meant to fee. Enslaving the very clothes upon my back, I feel the sting but I hear no crack, no crack, I'm sayin
Running through the fire, running through the flame, running through the hatred, pushing through the blame, running through the hopelessness and shame, revolution already underway
Big heavy pirates man digging those holes, messing with something that they can't control. Trespassing lands where they don't belong, all I hear is screaming whee there once were songs. I got my brothers there fighting those wars, fighting over scraps and scraping their sores. Under a blanket of a fire and pride that can't keep us warm for the cold inside.Big heavy pirates man digging those holes, messing with something that they can't control. Trespassing lands where they don't belong, all I hear is screaming whee there once were songs. I got my brothers there fighting those wars, fighting over scraps and scraping their sores. So tell me when you think we're gonna rise? Wake from this slumber wipe the tears from our eyes? Yes from this nightmare yes I must now wake, open my fist my destiny I take! Good people sick and tired of being pushed around, we call them kings but I see no crown. Tell me when you think we'll just stand up? Say enough is enough is enough, enough! Take back your feet, take back your hands, take back your words, take back your land. Take back your heart, take back your pride. Don't got to hide. Revolution! - John butler trio
Education should be free.
Really? Who should pay for it?
Government.
So you are willing to pay 50% tax like Germany so your education is free?
No, but we wouldn't need to if we had the kind of country I wish we had.
Okay, so where is the money coming from if it's not from taxes?
It wouldn't come from taxes in a socialist, Marxist society. Like it doesn't in Cuba. The economy would have to be socialized though to make that work.
Okay... and I would love for that discussion to be had in Washington in a genuine setting. But you do see how that is impossible right now, right? This isn't anti-capitalism or anti-rich. This is about policies being changed because of money instead of what is best for the country and majority opinion.
Then the protest should be focused on Pennsylvania Avenue, not Wall Street.
"http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124578152192043001.html"
Unless you are one of the chosen.
very interesting and worthy of discussion - and this is more specific to government employees... an interesting issue as well.
I guess my point was, what does this have to do with occupy wallstreet or the very big problem of money dictating policy?
The whole thing makes me sick. We the people screwed it up, we slept while the banks and the pols fixed the system. We the people need to fit it, not gov, not biz, we the people. My .02. Cloudy and cool in Colorado Springs. Where you at?
we fix it by demanding the public servants to stop allowing heavy influence through money and get back to being for the people. We promise to stay our votes for candidates, even if we agree with them, until there isn't obvious multi-million dollar influences and outside spending. We the people stand on the streets as we have done many times before and demand honest discussion and the prohibition of manipulative and dishonest marketing for the purposes of controlling elections. That is how we the people fix things.
I agree.100%. You said it better than I did. No more representation by the highest bidder. How do you begin? Peel off the scab and disinfect the wound.
for some reason I couldn't reply to your last post...so i replied to this one... yes the amendment he wants? What is the site name for that petition, do you know? I wanted to check it out to see what it was about, but couldn't find it on msnbc and missed it on his show.
you begin by uniting folks who may disagree strongly on policies in this country and form a temporary alliance that demands our politicans change the law of the land so the inflow of money into our political system is stopped, or in the very least slowed down.
have you seen Dylan Ratigans idea?
No, the contract was absurdly unfair tilted in favor of one side and therefore is null and void.
It happens all the time in court when there is no meeting of the minds so there you go.
That is not true in the case of student loans. Generally, borrowers are required to go through pre-loan credit counseling. This is put into place to make certain that the borrower understands the terms of the mastery promissory note and loan agreement. This process is so ironclad that student loans cannot even be claimed in bankruptcy.
I beg to differ. If what you said was true there wouldn't be this discrepancy. And most of all it wouldn't take so long to pay off the loan. A lifetime to pay of a school loan is just WRONG. Plus, these kids are so close to being minors it seems even more wrong. Therefore the contract is unjust and unfair with no meeting of the minds. Checkmate!
Checkmate? You are far from it I'm afraid. There is no discrepancy. Pre-loan counseling provides the borrower with several different schedules for paying off the loan. Many of these "kids" are simply foolish and pay the minimum every month, or they simply neglect to make their payments. They may be close to being minors, but they are NOT minors. They need to be responsible adults. Perhaps if society did not baby them so much, they would be in better shape.
Like you, I have already paid of my student loans by being smart and working hard. The protest is much bigger than student loans.
Allow me to repeat myself (See above.) "I was referring to a single issue that some of the protesters are representing... perhaps [you] should have spent a little more on your education so you could actually analyze an opinion accurately..."
It did not sound like that, just so you know.