As an attorney, I have seen people come and go through bankruptcy discharging everything from plasma screen tv's on their credit cards to gambling markers at a casino. Meanwhile - I struggle to pay my student loans and use all of my forebearances [sic]. I forgo health insurance and a social life because paying for a night out would mean having to deal with more credit card debt. Perhaps it's better to gamble and hope I win and, if I lose, discharge it. I cannot even dream of getting married in my lifetime as I would never want to burden someone else with the debt I am saddled with. Marriage + kids + student loan debt = divorce!
Many student debtors have expressed similar sentiments to me. One woman recently told me that she planned on breaking up with her long-term boyfriend because she was ashamed of her student loan debt and didn't want him to know how much she owed. Sigh. It sure would be great if we could all get to work on the student lending crisis and solve this absurd problem. Can we stop for a moment and think about the Kafkaesque world we've created for the indentured educated class? (If my previous advisor happened to read this post, she'd croak with the way in which I falsely invoke Kafka in that way. Oh, well, I ain't a super-duper scholar like her).
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