In anticipation of what Biden would do regarding "student loan forgiveness", last night's news cycle was rife with speculation — both hopeful and dreadful.  Under the direction of CNBC, a third-party company conducted an online survey of 5,142 adults on the issue and found that "59% of Americans are concerned that student loan forgiveness will make inflation worse" — a position that remained true "across most demographic groups."

What I find most fascinating (yet disheartening), is that apparently 41% of Americans are indescribably uninformed, and yet they likely vote.  Or the fact that people who make incredibly foolish decisions honestly believe it's moral to demand others pick up their bill — jury's still out on which is worse.

In the current economic climate, inflation recently peaked at 9.1% in June, which is a direct result of massive government spending.  When a private bank which controls the money supply prints trillions of dollars out of thin air, the strength and purchasing power of those dollars weakens — it shouldn't be a hard concept to grasp, but apparently it is for nearly a third of those polled for CNBC (this is the class of the "indescribably uninformed").  However, Nina Turner, a former legislator, takes the cake for dim-wittedness:

FYI—Student debt cancelation isn’t paid for by the taxpayers, the federal government is the lender.

It’s costlier for the government to hold on to the debt.

— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) August 21, 2022

Next, let's take a look at Tonya Edmonds, for example.  She took on six figures in student debt, earning a bachelor's degree from Temple University and a master's degree from the highly prestigious and private Sarah Lawrence College — all to be an "artist" and secretary.  (This is not intended to diminish those career paths, rather it is to emphasize the absurdity of taking on exorbitant debt in their pursuit.)  According to Edmonds:

I think there should be forgiveness because the majority of the time unless you start out with a job that is a high-paying job you can't afford to pay. ... I'm not a doctor, I'm not a lawyer, I can't, you know, pay the $100,000 or even the portion. ... They always ask for a portion that is too big, like the minimum amount for them is always more than I can afford.

Why should Edmonds's financial woes (for which she is solely responsible) be vectored onto the shoulders of someone else?  After all, "canceling" the debt is not the same as forgiving the debt — forgiveness implies that it is an actual gift, where no one pays.  Matt Walsh said it best:

There is no such thing as student loan forgiveness. There is only student loan transferral, where the debt is transferred from the person who took out the loan to someone else who did not take out the loan.

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 24, 2022

The debate over student loan transferral is indicative of a larger problem: there is a substantial portion of civic-illiterate Americans participating in civic decisions.

Image: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized for compatibility)