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Student Loan ‘Forgiveness’ Implies We Did Something Wrong. We did not.
This is a repost of a piece I wrote in 2021. Sadly, it is still completely relevant. Today, President Biden announced that he would continue his targeted debt relief actions, cancelling another $7.8 million in student loans. And yet The New York Times and the major press outlets continue to use the term “forgiveness.”
I am not one to wade into the choppy waters of renaming common terms or phrases. Yes, I do believe the pen — or the keyboard — is mightier than the sword, and I stand firmly by the leftist creed that “words matter” (as do full sentences). But, seeing as the sky has been falling for the last four years, as have bridges and now power grids, I usually feel our time and energy are better spent fighting other fights. However, the term “student loan forgiveness” drives me full-on mad. I have few triggers, but that is surely one button (constantly) pushed.
Can we please come up with a better way to discuss the $1.6 trillion economic problem we have on our hands? The whole conversation has been framed as a moral issue, and it is not. “Forgiveness” is an Old English word that reeks of Biblical overtones. It implies offense, crime, sin. Is this really how we want to discuss this? We would be much better served to move the conversation from the emotional/spiritual/religious realm into one that is…
