Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! You are seriously bumming me out duderino Most people I know are still making student loan payments, actually. People making six figures.
The student loan payment system is designed to make it difficult to pay off.
Pissing away a couple hundred bucks a month on a shady bunch of fucksticks empowered by the Federal Government and the politicians that despise you, is all part of becoming an adult.
Oh... and when they increase your debt right at the time you are least able to pay it (when you are unemployed)? Yeah. Bankruptcy doesn't help. Sallie Mae has protected student debt from bankruptcy protection. So even if you go bankrupt (I have many friends who have), the day after you get out of court, having lost all of your belongings and job... there's a bill from SallieMae for your student loan payment in the mailbox. Due in 30 days.
Multiply your history by a hundred million. That's this country. It's ridiculous. I'll take this moment to plug my idea for a solution. A (non-compulsory but highly encouraged) service program, wherein 18 year olds spend a year or more in service to the country doing all the work that needs doing--caring for the elderly, daycare and education services, infrastructure improvement and development, etc.--and in exchange, you get free tuition at a public university. What do you think?
The WPA Program was kinda like this. And many countries have compulsory military service. I think every American should spend maybe 18-20 in public service, and earn a basic wage. Let them go crazy when the crazy is most crazy, and make them do good honest work for their fellow man. Then let them loose in the workforce, better human beings.
Lol. I'll start at the "laboratory of democracies" level first. See if Maryland is up for it. Hopefully that will mitigate some Republican hostility.