Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ My Uber Driver Just Doesn’t Get Student Loan Forgiveness

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Since one assumes the 'President & Fellows of Harvard College' know better, we must conclude that their publication of articles like this is deliberately deceptive. Here's the set-up: Frederick Hess imagines himself in a conversation with an Uber driver about the plan to forgive billions in student debt. "I pay for this car," she (the Uber driver) said. "I paid for community college. These people borrowed money to go to college. They promised to pay it back. Why am I supposed to pay their bills, too?" Well, first, because living in a society isn't a quid pro quo. Second, at tax time an Uber driver is declaring business expenses like car payments, which offset the cost. Third, it is recognition that without addressing tuition fees college is something that could never be accessed by the working class, as used to be the case. And finally, neither students nor Uber drivers should be paying more in taxes than they get back: in a just society, those with the means (including Harvard and its $50 billion endowment) who benefit the most from society should be paying the freight.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 11:49 a.m.

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