Of Entitlements and Investments

First off, good for them.  It’s a start.

From the Republican position, doing anything to make it easier for the poor and middle class to go to college seems to be heresy.  The elitist response from Republicans whenever they cut student loan and student aid programs boggles the mind.  By identifying these investments in the future as the problem, Republicans lose sight of the bigger picture.

 The average master’s students’ debt is $32,500.  For law and medical students, the numbers are nearly triple.  The reason this is important is because lawyers and doctors (to say nothing of social workers, engineers, architects, etc.) who graduate in such conditions of indentured servitude are forced to make choices that affect society as a whole. 

A young, idealistic lawyer who would like to help people and uphold the principles of justice is given a choice: help the poor and earn less than the payments on your six-figure student loan, or work 2000 billable hours a year at Dewey Cheatum and Howe LLP.  The lowly public defender position often ends up going to the lowest ranked graduate from a nearby law school.  The indigent who need his services will end up with a less than stellar defense, and if he is innocent and working towards improvement for his life, a conviction will certainly put that dream to rest. 

Similarly, the doctors who enter medical school with the dream of joining Doctors without Borders, or of helping out at the free clinic one day a week are saddled with student loan payments larger than my left testicle (I should probably get that looked at).  There aren’t enough doctors working at the free clinic, causing the somewhat sick and injured to rely on emergency services, clogging the system and increasing the economic burden for everyone.

The example can be carried across to almost any profession, since there are always people who want to help.  Helping people get an education benefits everyone and is not an entitlement. 

An entitlement is a handout to already wealthy campaign contributors.  A program that allows the lender to reap massive profits with no risk by guaranteeing massive loans that cannot be forfieted.  Interest rates higher than mortgages and car loans, while the collateral is the persons life.  Shylock would be proud.