Question: So what you are saying is that the org. should not try to lobby > congress now, but try to build a network of student debtors and share > information about issues related to them? The clock is ticking, and > many won’t care to participate if nothing constructive comes out of > it, as after their own debt is paid, why care anymore? But yes, there > have been some stories out there about debtors getting into trouble, > but its not stuff for nightly news. I personally have been exposed to > only a few, and at random intervals spaced so it is meaningless. If > there were an org. to present the stories in a systematic way, to the > public, then it might make an impact. So far there are no efforts in > this area.

Answer: Very true. Seems like people with student loan problems almost invariably think there’s something wrong with them, that they’re the only ones who are having these troubles. They crawl into a hole and hide. Every now and then I do a search across websites or newsgroups and try to find random individuals and mention to them that we’ve been discussing student loans in this newsgroup. There definitely would be more of a sense of group effort, that they’re not alone, if people with student loan repayment difficulties realized there was a place where they could go for what they need — support, advice, a base for political action, whatever.

Incidentally, I am beginning to suspect that perhaps the majority of people who have taken anti-debtor positions in this newsgroup are, or have been, employees of student loan guaranty or collection agencies. I don’t believe most ordinary people have such harsh attitudes. Many of them have their own horror stories in dealing with other kinds of creditors — bankers who screw up their accounts, credit card companies that charge incredible rates of interest, etc. I believe that, when we run across fiercely anti-borrower attitudes here, we are dealing primarily with people who have had to harden themselves to the realities of the student loan situation in order to stomach their daily jobs as student loan enforcers and collectors.

Anyway, if you’ve got a way to lobby Congress, I say go for it. If you prefer to carry on your discussion in some other website or discussion forum, by all means feel free. If you want to create an organization for such purposes, that would be great. I’m not investing time in such efforts now, not because I don’t believe they have their possibilities, but just because I’m deterred by their drawbacks at present, as follows:

(1) Lobbying: a handful of aggrieved individuals does not ordinarily seem to have much legislative impact. Expert review committees appointed by Congress itself have already recommended to Congress that the prohibition against discharge of student loans in bankruptcy should be repealed; Congress has ignored that recommendation. Seeing that, I’m waiting until I see a larger base of aggrieved student debtors who can make that sort of recommendation stick. You’re right: the clock is ticking, but it always does that. The mere passage of time does not make a compelling case.

(2) Other discussion forums: my previous note outlined what I consider the drawbacks of this idea. Political issues always seem to generate splinter groups, and I suppose there’s no avoiding that. Maybe it’s even a healthy thing in net terms. But it’s not my preference right now.

(3) Creating an organization: it’s just that the required filings and other overhead of creating an organization can be so burdensome and tedious. This isn’t to say that it would be a bad idea to come up with a name and an agenda for an organization, if you’re so inclined. It’s just that several energetic individuals have already passed through this newsgroup, demonstrating great initial motivation for lobbying Congress or otherwise making some kind of change in the student loan default situation, but the sheer immobility of Congress has discouraged them. A few may have been co-opted, as you suggest, by having their loans discharged or repaid or otherwise getting the loan burden off their backs, but most had student loan problems that seemed likely to be permanent. They’re probably still stuck about where they were; they seem simply to have given up. In some cases, maybe they saw themselves as the dashing rescuers of a bunch of people who needed their help, and maybe they lost heart when they realized that this race was not going to go to the swift. An organization, by itself, accomplishes nothing; it is only as good as its people.

We can make a difference, but at present I’d say it’s going to take a while. Not that there aren’t things we can do. If you’re interested in canvassing other websites and newsgroups to notify other student loan strugglers of the existence of this newsgroup (or of whatever discussion forum you prefer), it seems like that would be helpful. Or if you want to work on specific proposals for Congress, and maybe hunt for comrades in arms among the student union groups online, that would be good too. Or if you know of any sympathetic media that would be interested in carrying a story on an ordinary student loan victim, or whatever … well, let’s just say there are definitely things we can do to start the ball rolling. You probably have some other ideas on how to make a difference, and so do I.

I think my basic point is that we’ll know when the time has arrived to create an organization and do some lobbying: there will be, not just one person you, but a number of them, all insisting that the time has come to make a change, all demonstrating some degree of long-term commitment to the issue.

Related posts:

1. Student Loan Horror Stories: Is There A Book?
2. Excessive Student Loan Debt — Looking for Your Stories
3. Student Loan Default Questions
4. STUDENT LOAN DEBT
5. Student Debt? New org. is forming to lobby Washington to forgive debts
6. Student Loan Consolidation Center, San Diego
7. Diamonds in the Rough
8. Western honors colleges with full tuition? Long.