The notes continue to land in my inbox or in the comments section here - so many people, with crushing debt, write to me and express in difficult tones how they have lost hope, how they wish to be dead, and how they see no future. As I said in my article published by the Huffington Post (written with the support of the Economic Hardship and Reporting Project and edited by Barbara Ehrenreich and Gary Rivlin), I was stunned by these suicidal notes. That feeling has not gone away. Each time I read one of these notes, it stings. It stirs up frustration, anger, and deep sadness. But more importantly than that, it makes me more determined to continue fighting on behalf of the indentured educated class. It's not just the suicidal remarks, but the deep sense of hopelessness that absolutely infuriates me. We cannot allow our young people to give up hope - it's too precious. But many of them are losing hope, and for what? Going to college and being slammed afterwards with crippling student loan debt (they are also preyed on by credit card companies on their campuses).
One anonymous reader, who graduated recently, explained: "On a daily basis, I pray that I will die so that this will be over; being dead would be a relief compared to a life without hope." (You can read this individual's full response here; I asked the person for permission to publish the remark in its entirety, but didn't hear back. So, out of respect, I've only pulled this one powerful quote from the entry).
Currently, I am reading about the brutal history of slavery and indentured servants that came over from Europe when the Americas were "discovered." In Zinn's historical masterpiece, A People's History of The United States, he goes into great detail about the horrors of the slave system. He also describes the brutality that went along with being an indentured servant. They too were bought and sold. He describes the way in which these individuals would sign agreements that covered the cost of their passage across the Atlantic. In addition, they would have to work for a master for at least 5 or 7 years. Zinn refers to horrific historical records of how these indentured servants were chained on the boats, would die from starvation, and eat one another if the ships ran out of food. Once they arrived, as mentioned, they were sold off much like slaves. While they could buy their freedom, the laws were also against them. As Zinn writes,"the parties [master and servants] appeared on paper as equals, but enforcement was far easier for master than for servant." And the same goes with the laws on the books for student borrowers and student lenders. The laws, as we all know, are unequal and favor the lenders. Zinn also notes that records from Maryland show that there was a high level of suicides among indentured servants.
In a word, this sense of hopelessness, this desire to flee the status of being indentured by means of suicide is a common reaction, and something that has occurred in the past.
At the same time, we have come to see ourselves - as a society - as less barbaric than that grim period of time that Zinn captures with such brutal intensity, all of which is based upon historical records. That is why indentured educated Americans must focus their thoughts towards the possibility of freedom. This requires all of us to maintain a sense of hope. We must hold onto collective hope as well as personal hope.
Keep in mind: the fight has just begun, but we are making progress.
If you are suicidal, please call: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
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