Student Loan Hysterics Distracting from Far Greater Crises

Opposites meet, Compete in Blinding Americans to a Forest in Flames  

Talk show talkers and nattering nabobs knowing virtually nothing; the left right center up down all around natters are having a field day. And like all extremists, in their insobriety, they are missing critical context and perspective about the USA Brand or Situation USA. Here’s some of what’s missing in the student loan hysteria fest.

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ebt and Deficit ingrained (consumerism, gluttony personified)

In America debt and deficit are endemic in personal and institutional, private and public matters

Excess, consuming more, gluttony is the character of the realm.  From presidents days to holy days to remembrances of slaughter days—all decreed holidays are decreed shopping day. One contemporary president even suggested shopping instead of mourning our dead and wounded.

In America, considered responsibility and efficiency are replaced with

• buying (i.e., piling up debt) schemes and
• lottery schemes (from sports to politics) —“gambling problem, dial ‘555-you’re on your own,’” the promoter says
• plastic and high tech exchange (debt incurring) schemes
  

CALLOUSNESS, CRIMINALITY INGRAINED 

Venality, Health Devalued

In America, there are no principled generally accessible, widely available, well staffed, efficient, caring, and competent mental health (and physical health) centers

In America, there is no principled generally accessible and widely available permanent affordable housing.

America’s power brokers do not operate on principles. This is evidenced in their propensity for criminal behavior (ingrained).

Revolving door Federal Washington has created and maintained a pattern of waste, fraud, and abuse which trickles down into and through state capitals and municipalities and related industries of NGOs and nonprofits profiteers and conglomerates and venture capitalists. They are an incestuous breed.   

There is foreign and domestic higher echelon collusion in and perpetuation of criminal activity (bribery and anti democratic schemes) “legalized” by this cabal for their own purposes—legalized crime in foreign and domestic affairs, relations within, and relations between the US and nations of the world

• In public office, political campaigns, public sector elections, and redistricting
• In interference (breach of sovereignty) in affairs of governments, economies, leadership abroad
• Controlling access and mandating exclusion (who is permitted speech, who is silenced, who is permitted entry, who is barred from participation, who is prosecuted, who is allowed to “get away” with crimes, even murder)
• Deploying and enabling commerce and trade, foundation “charity” and “humanitarian” schemes known to be harmful to individuals, regions, and societies the world over

Character of Annihilative Waste Fraud Abuse

In America, waste, fraud and abuse (personal and institutional, private and public) are encouraged, promoted, demonstrated, and legalized by power brokers.

WAR (relentless and legalized) fraud and waste is modeled by an incestuous cabal in and around Washington

Washington promotes foreign and domestic (NGO, nonprofit, public office) waste, fraud and abuse; collusion in actual illegalities of bribery, graft for private gain

Washington, private conglomerate, nonprofit industry-promoted dependency, casual employment and artificial intelligence schemes and apparatuses operate insidiously to

• Ruin essential core centers of basic and worthwhile creation and industry
• Weaken families and individuals
• Stymie human growth and development
• Deny individual creation and industry
• Impair legitimate economies
• Destroy an essential healthy core, a connector, a anchor within the economic sector and within the framework of general society. 

 

Portrait of the American Brand: Situation Neglect

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OMELESSNESS

 Statista Research Department 2021-2022 estimates, in 2021, there were 326,126 homeless people living in the United States. During the pandemic, nobody bothered to count America’s people languishing in homelessness.

Youth homelessness

Homeless Youth are described as people between the ages of 12 and 24 who have no permanent place to stay; and who are living in shelters, on the streets, in cars or vacant buildings; or who are “couch surfing,” or living in other unstable circumstances.

Safe Horizon 2016 (approximations)

• 35,686 unaccompanied homeless youth on a given night
• 31,862 (89 percent) between ages 18 and 24 (HUD, 2017)
• 3,824 (11 percent) under age 18 (HUD, 2017)
  

National Alliance to End Homelessness 2020 (approximations)

• 550,000 unaccompanied Youth and Young adults (up to age 24) experience a homelessness episode of longer than a week; more than half are under age 18.
  

• 2020: on a single night 34,210 unaccompanied youth were counted as homeless.
  

National Conference of State Legislatures (approximations)

• 4.2 million Youth and Young adults (annually) experience homelessness; 700,000 of them are unaccompanied minors, meaning they are not part of a family or accompanied by a parent or guardian.
  

• 41,000 unaccompanied youth (ages 13-25) experience homelessness on any given night.

 

W

AR waste (estimate on the conservative side)

 US Budgetary Costs: $8 Trillion

Brown University Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs “Cost of War Project”: a September 2021, paper estimating the budgetary costs (economic impact) of war, including past expenditures and future obligations to care for veterans of US aggression in the post-2001 period against countries such as (but not limited to) Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures

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EBT

 Personal debt, distinct from public and corporate debt, “is amassed primarily through consumption, rather than investment.” It includes debts incurred through the purchase of goods that do not appreciate in value and are consumable. “Personal debt, a term similar to consumer debt, is used in economics to denote the outstanding debt of consumers as opposed to businesses or governments.” 

Personal (Consumer) Debt

• September 2020: $4.161 trillion. 
• January 2022: $4.4 trillion

“Nearly 10 percent” of Americans’ disposable income is “owed in household debt (mortgages, car and student loans, and credit card debt)”

Lexington Law 2022 Consumer Debt Statistics reviewed by Brad Blanchard, May 4, 2022 https://www.lexingtonlaw.com/blog/loans/consumer-debt-statistics.html#:

Student loan Debt 2020 (average) Statista Research

• Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): $45,000 
• Generation Z (born between 1981 and 1996): $17,338

Government Debt

In the United States, government debt refers to federal debt held by individuals, corporations, state or local governments, foreign governments, and other entities outside of the United States Government less Federal Financing Bank securities.

• June 2022: $30,568,582 (USD millions)
• July 2022: $30,595,109 (USD millions)
  

 

L

ook carefully at the Washington and Co example (copied by the masses of Americans). 

Take a hard look at the character of callousness toward neighbors, fellow human beings at home and abroad. Make an honest assessment of the crimes committed by the high and mighty against just about anybody and everybody else, anywhere, anytime, and against any and all essential institutions. 

See clearly the nature and scope, the sectors and long-term dire consequences of debt and wastefulness and careless mistreatment of human and material resources—and you will get a truer sense of the American condition.

Perhaps you will garner the courage to work with others in altering America’s annihilative course.

 

 

Sources

“Estimated number of homeless people in the United States from 2007 to 2021,” March 28, 2022

Statista Research Department, https://www.statista.com/statistics/555795/estimated-number-of-homeless-people-in-the-us/ “Youth Homelessness documented by Statista Research Department (approximations): California 2020: 12,172 homeless youth (under age 25)”

Safe Horizon, “Youth Homelessness Statistics & Facts,” https://www.safehorizon.org/get-informed/homeless-youth-statistics-facts/#statistics-and-facts/

National Alliance to end Homelessness “Youth and Young Adults: Every night, thousands of young people experience homelessness without a parent or guardian — and go to sleep without the safety, stability and support of a family or a home.” https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/who-experiences-homelessness/youth/

National conference of State Legislatures “Youth Homelessness Overview:  How Many Youth Are Homeless?” https://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/homeless-and-runaway-youth.aspx

“Number of homeless youth in the U.S., by state 2020,” March 26, 2021 https://www.statista.com/statistics/727835/number-of-homeless-young-people-in-the-us-by-state/

Statista Research Department, April 8, 2022, “Personal debt in the U.S. - statistics & facts,” “Public debt in the U.S. has grown steadily since 2008, a trend that is forecast to continue throughout the next decade.” https://www.statista.com/topics/1203/personal-debt/#dossierKeyfigures

“The value of outstanding student loans has been consistently rising over the past few decades.” https://www.statista.com/topics/1203/personal-debt/#topicHeader__wrapper https://www.statista.com/statistics/1176727/share-student-loan-debt-generation-usa/

Statista Research Department, February 21, 2022, “Average student loan debt in the U.S. 2020, by generation”

Trading Economics (orig source: U.S. Department of the Treasury) update July 2022, https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-debt

 

World and National Sources
Collage composed of individual Internet images
Composition, Commentary excluding quoted material and individual images 

Copyright © Carolyn LaDelle Bennett