Tuesday, September 16, 2014

John Oliver discusses student debt



Student debt in America is bigger than credit card debt and auto loans. Incredible, isn't it (especially when education is free in some countries, our economic competitors)?

Yet student debt differs from other debt in that you can't get out from under it even through bankruptcy. Funny, isn't it (especially since it's guaranteed by the U.S. government, anyway)?

Actually, it's not funny at all. It's a travesty. As we've decided we don't want to pay taxes for anything but prisons and the military, college costs have shot through the roof. But instead of helping students get an education, we're helping banks and other financial institutions take advantage of them, so the rich can get even richer.

And we're helping for-profit colleges take advantage of them, too (and of us, don't forget - this debt, again, is guaranteed by the government).

I know I say this every time I post a video by John Oliver, but he does a great job, doesn't he? I might note that he spends enough time to really get at the key points. And he's very entertaining while he does it, too.

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