I posted this answer:
In the context of government student loans, yes, it’s a valid argument. But it’s not fundamental. And it’ll never win the argument.
The reason student loans should not be “forgiven” is that a loan carries a moral obligation for the borrower to repay it. The money borrowed was loaned in good faith that the borrower would repay. Therefore, the only people qualified to “forgive” a loan are those who loaned the money in the first place. Since government loans are financed by taxpayers, only taxpayers can forgive the student loans. Since no one asked for my consent, and I haven’t given it, the government has no right to “forgive” student loans that my tax dollars helped finance.
Of course, the government should not be taking taxpayer money to extend student loans to begin with. But that is a broader issue.
PS:
(Please don’t remind me that some taxpayers consent to “forgiveness.” That line of argument points to the fundamental moral and practical problems of democracy and socialism. Democracy is majoritarian tyranny. Socialism is the legal (coercive) chaining together of everyone into a collectivized system that obliterates individual choice: Forced collective action, whether instituted by dictatorial fiat or the vote, always violates someone’s rights to make their own choices and exercise individual responsibility. My right not to “forgive” is just as valid as others’ right to forgive. Government loans make those differences irreconcilable, requiring one side’s rights to be trashed. Socialism, the political implementation of collectivism, necessarily creates conflict. In a private student loan system, no such conflict exists.
(Since we have a collectivized student loan system, my view is that no student loans should be forgiven unless you can get every taxpayer’s unanimous consent, not just a majority’s consent via elected officials. On the personal level, having put two daughters through college, including with student loans, and having paid back every dollar of the loans, I resent having to now pay for others’ college. It’s a slap in the face. I don’t consent to forgiving today’s student borrower, so their loans should not be forgiven. The fact that other taxpayers consent does not justify screwing me over.)
Related Reading:
Student Loans Should Be Repaid
Federal Student Loans and the GI Bill
End, Don't Reduce, Federal Student Higher Education Funding
America; Democracy or Republic or Both--Why it Matters
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