HLN Interview Today

Tune in to  HLN today at 3:15 est / 12:15 pst to hear me  discuss the Student Loan interest rate hike act 2012.

Suicidal Debtor Writes Again, "Through my tears, I decided to come back to the blog to see if there was anything new, and I found my story posted."

If you are suicidal, please call: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
 
I am really glad that this poster came back and found that their remarks had been turned into a short piece about the student lending crisis. Here is why we must work on outreach, so that people know that they are not alone, and that we must band together to fight back.

Here's what they just wrote:

Today was an especially low day for me; I spent it pacing and panicking. My dark thoughts came back into my mind again and they're really starting to scare me. One of my loans is coming out of deferment this month and I'm terrified. Through my tears, I decided to come back to the blog to see if there was anything new, and I found my story posted. Thank you, Cryn. I feel touched and in a strange way, loved by a fellow human being. Thank you to those of you who responded. I've seen so many negative comments online (in opposition to student loan relief) from people who just don't understand, so I was surprised to see some support. I still feel rotten, but it feels as if someone has lit a candle in my dark room - so that's good at least.

I think we need the support group. If there's a way to open it up to good people who won't say abusive things to those who are already down, I think we should go for it. It might give us all some peace. Maybe we can find a way to band together somehow and fight back like you said in the post, Cryn.

If there's something I can do to help with that, please let me know. I don't exactly have a job anyway and it might help me divert my energy toward something positive.

And to the person living south of the border: it'd be great to learn more details regarding how to go about doing that (if you're willing to share). Exile seems to be my only living option.

The negative and nasty comments can be emotionally draining. So refocusing one's energy on the work that people are doing to raise awareness about the crisis and also provide solutions is a smart move. We need to be reminded that there are a lot of compassionate people out there who care about our mental health. We're in this together, and we'll get out of it together.

Listen to me discuss the student lending crisis and suicidal notes I receive with Rose Aguilar (@roseaguilar) on May 7th.

Interview with Rose Aguilar on Your Call

I was interviewed today by radio host Rose Aguilar (@roseaguilar). If you missed the conversation, you can listen to it here. Pamela Brown (@pambrown15), who helped launch the Occupy Student Loan Debt "Refusal Pledge" Campaign, joined me to discuss the student lending crisis.

The lines were jammed, and we heard from people who have fled the country and used to feel suicidal. A young man called in and told us he has no hope about the future. It is an alarming thing to hear from a person who is so young. It should be considered a national tragedy.

Thomas M. Cooley Has Subpoenaed Me

So, it looks like Thomas M. Cooley is subpoenaing me too. Law Professor Paul Campos also wrote today that the law school has subpoenaed him. 

Stay tuned for more details.

Lawrence Meyers at InvestorPlace.com says, "profit from" the misery created by the student lending crisis

So, Lawrence Meyers over at InvestorPlace.com wants everyone to know that we shouldn't be angry about the student lending crisis. In his piece, "How to Profit From the Student Loan Bubble," he spews out a bunch of advice to help all of you greedy investors make some bucks from this wonderful form of debt bondage!

This dairy cow wrote an article for InvestorPlace too. He doesn't entirely agree with Meyers.

Meyers makes it clear. Don't be angry. Nope.  Instead, you should profit from the fiasco. Oh, and he places the blame on "fiscally irresponsible" states. Yeah, uh, that's a really nuanced understanding of the crisis, dude. Way to go with that neoliberal-mumbo-jumbo. The states and the local governments are to blame. It has nothin' to do with how higher education has been privatized and led to the creation of a fake, greedy, usurious industry. Nope. You got it right, Meyers. 

"Man, like, I'm not sure that what you're sayin' is, like, totally true . . ."

On a side note, I'd like to ask Meyers, so what if 36 million people - that's how many people have outstanding federal loans - took your sagely advice, and invested in the companies you suggest. How would that turn out? I'm curious.

We know that these folks, however, can't invest in the balloon, because they are barely making ends meet. But this great guy wants you to invest in the bubble that is destroying millions of lives in your own country, and eroding higher education. That's how you're a real patriot! You invest in stuff that hurts other people! Great work, Meyers. Classy advice.

Hmmm . . . maybe she's onto something . . . (Photo Credit: AP/Peter Dejong)

He closes with this great remark: "Keep your eye on the situation — more profits can be made from this kind of uncertainty." Ah, yes, spoken like a true capitalist. Just turn a profit, and don't ever, ever consider issues surrounding morality or ethics. That's just silliness!

"I just made a huge profit on student loan debtors' debt! Thanks, Larry!"

So, yeah, the crazy conclusion is this: it's great to be greedy. Who gives a sh*t if it's at the expense of others? I mean, if you can make a profit, then you are good to go. Then you can by that big-a$$ RV that guzzles gas and drive it all over the U.S. While you're out on the road, you'll probably see more homeless people like I did when driving across country again. There are more of them. Also, you'll see more abandoned homes and abandoned animals. But, hey, you made a profit and you deserve that trip across America Miseryland.

Also, don't think about generations to come who will join the ranks of the indentured educated class. Nope. Just make that profit. Look out for yourself, and to hell with the rest of us!

Another Suicidal Student Loan Debtor: "I feel like I've lost all hope. I have been suicidal for a while now."

If you are suicidal, please call: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
 
This is neither easy to read nor easy to write about, but it is important to acknowledge the voices of those who are in such low places that they would rather be dead than alive. They see their lives as ruined. They have little energy. They have no hope. We need to remind them that there are groups fighting for them, and if they have the strength they too can join with others in this battle.

I'm receiving more desperate notes again, and I want them to be heard loud and clear. They should not be hidden in the comments - they deserve to have full light and total exposure, because people need to be aware of how punishment in the form of debt bondage destroys a person's soul and will to live.

Check out the Occupy Student Loan Debt Campaign

This woman's voice moved me deeply. In a response to questions I asked in an earlier post, here's what she had to say:

(Author's note: I have reformatted and omitted some of her remarks - she answered numerical questions)

[I owe] almost $200,000.00 and my husband owes almost $200,000.00. Together, [it's] almost $400,000.00. If we were in full repayment, this would cost us almost $4,000 a month in minimum payments. This exceeds our take-home pay. And no, we are not doctors.

I have a B.A. in Sociology and an M.A. in Educational Psychology. My husband has a B.S. and an M.S. Both schools that I attended were state universities, in-state. One of which was Arizona State, whose in-state tuition rivals that of for-profit schools and is rising. I am not employed. I'm looking for work. We live off of my husband's salary. So no, I am not employed and no, we are not able to pay on our student loans with one salary.

 We rent an apartment on the other side of the country from our family. We're trying to move back home so that we can at least try to make our minimum payments, but despite aggressive attempts to find jobs in their area for the last 10 months, we've been unable to and are still stuck paying about $1,700 a month for our one-bedroom apartment on the east coast. And this is a 'good deal.'

I've developed insomnia, anxiety and depression. I cannot get out of bed in the morning without physical pain because I'm so depressed. I am on medication that only slightly helps take the edge off, but that has been difficult to afford. Even when it's sunny outside, I have such a dark cloud over me that it feels like it's dark. I don't enjoy anything anymore. Even good news is painful to me because I'm sad that I can't enjoy it. I feel like I've lost all hope. I have been suicidal for a while now. The only thing that keeps me living is that I don't want my poor husband to have to face his debt without my emotional support.

I feel like a failure. I just turned 30 today and I don't see having children as an option at any point in my life. My husband is 40 - he's never had children or a house, either. I'm afraid to answer the door, check the mail or look at my E-mail because I'm panicked that there will be bad news. I feel like I'm developing agoraphobia. I fear for my future - if I default and the banks can go after my retirement, bank accounts and social security, what will happen to me when I'm an elderly person? Will I have to live on the streets?

I am often angry. I'm angry I was scammed, angry that I've lost control of my life and angry that I'm a modern-day slave. There are a whole lot of people who do bad things - they steal, kill and spend irresponsibly. They all get second chances, but I do not because I went to college. I am angry because evil people have been allowed to lobby Congress and evil leaders of this country allowed themselves to be tempted and failed to protect students. Everything I went to school for is now out of my reach because I went to school.

Oh, and before you judge me, I got stuck with my ex-husband's loans, so my debt includes student debt for two people... not to mention the usurous [sic] interest that can quickly double, triple, or quadruple a loan in no time. My husband also went to flight school which is why his are so high. He graduated only to find out that major airlines in today's world hire pilots at $25,000 a year.

What has this world come to? Why even try anymore? 

 The question about what the world has come to is a good one. It's completely out of whack, isn't it? We have been left to our own devices, and yet we're still buried in debt, so self-reliance is damned hard, if not impossible, to truly achieve. Think about this - you might be a self-sufficient person. When there are economic downturns of this nature, you learn quickly how to make due with less, save things, strengthen support networks, and so forth. This makes you feel stronger and proud of your self-reliance. But when you stop to think about all the debt hanging over your head, and if one thing goes wrong, you're suddenly on a fast track to defaulter's hell, you realize that that self-sufficiency has been stolen from you too. Well, just as I said yesterday, we don't like the fact that our futures have been stolen from us, and we don't like that we can't feel entirely self-sufficient. We're here to get that back too. Oh, and did I mention that we want our damned dignity back as well?

We're here to collect a lot of things that rightfully belong to us.

Cesare Ripa's Allegory of Dignity

Student Loan Debtor: "[T]he reality is that I think of killing myself all the time"

If you are suicidal, please call: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255

Recently, yet another student loan debtor shared their thoughts about being suicidal, demoralized, and trapped because of their student loans on this post. When I receive these notes, my blood boils as I think about the cold distance that some policymakers in higher ed circles have from this obvious suffering.

The situation has become desperate for many people with student loans. Remember: you are not alone. It is important to remember that fact. And there are ways in which you can organize to fight back. For instance, get involved with Occupy. They are doing great things on this specific issue, especially the Occupy Student Loan Debt Campaign. Since the crisis is based upon enormous systemic problems, we will need to work collectively to come up with long-term and short-term solutions. If policymakers refuse, we will just come up with other options to bring much needed relief to debtors. One way or another, the crisis will come to an end, and that's why agency, collective agency, is crucial.

Here is what's happening to people now, however - this garbage, how we're shackled by these loans, has turned parts of our minds into wasted spaces. Our imagination has been stolen from us. We live in fear now. We are more fearful of the future. We think about our debt all the time. They have stolen time from us - all of our time. Our time now, our time in the future. But when you do this - when you commit the sin of usury - there is a time when it comes to an end. People don't like it when their futures are stolen from them. Those of us who are no longer stuck in this hell of sorts have decided something, too. We're done being enslaved by student loan debt. We're done being pawns in this usurious scheme. We're here to reclaim what rightfully belongs to us: our futures.

But right now, many of us are still struggling with these negative thoughts. These are not our own thoughts - they do not belong to us. They are the thoughts that you have foisted upon the indentured educated class. You have turned many of us into demoralized beings. You have turned many of us into suicidal people. Even so, many of us still have strength. Why? Because we have learned that we are not alone. We have become a collective of debtors, so our singular indebted identity is being lost. Our ranks are growing each day. That is what you are now facing - a collective that has broken free from being atomized by debt.

But we - the indentured educated class - need to get everyone out of the psychological shackles.

Like this person. They are getting there, but they need to be closer than they are. Here's what they wrote:

The general public doesn't understand how crushing and demoralizing student loan debt is. Somehow it's your fault of wanting a better life and doing it in the heavily prescribed manner. I exist and am fortunate to have family that cares, but the debt and unreasonable financial burdens it creates means I don't have a life. I do not have many experiences that make me feel like I have my own life. There is no way out and it forces me into cyclical patterns of depression where the realization of how unmanageable my student loan debt is leads me to think of how corrupt our educational system/government/financial leaders are in order to perpetuate such a cannibalistic system and I feel even less hope for my future and get further depressed. I fight to maintain hope and do a lot of reading to try and stay inspired to succeed but the reality is that I think of killing myself all the time and I don't feel ashamed about it because I think it is a normal response when humans feel that there is absolutely no solution available to them. In fact, the concept of suicide to relieve physical pain is so accepted that it is pervasive in our media (i.e. films) and is even practiced as medicine by some doctors. You can sign an order to not resuscitate and that is socially acceptable. Somehow for the anguish and pain that comes with facing a destitute and hopeless lifestyle when all you wanted to do was improve your life, suicide is not accepted. I could go on .... I wish everyone who is experiencing this crippling pain a quick change of fortune, a miracle, some hope and extend my sympathy. I did my research on my insurance policy, I can leave this place when it gets to be too much for me (probably soon).

I hope this person doesn't leave out of choice or any time soon. I want them to know, I want all of you to know, that you're not alone. We must organize. People are already doing it - get involved, get support, and get organized. We don't need a change of fortune or a miracle. We need to be firmly here, based in reality, and working together to break these damned shackles and ensure that higher education becomes free again.

Indentured educated citizens, unite!