If 2008 was the year of "Hope" and "Change," then 2009 is the year of Action. Since the beginning of the year, people from all walks of life have begun to realize that, for too long, their destinies were being written for them by people and institutions who didn't have their best interests at heart.
The ever-growing Student Loan Forgiveness movement is a perfect example of how the concepts of Hope and Change have translated into real Action by people who have decided to stand up and demand that their voices be heard.
Since authoring the original essay that sparked this movement, over 227,000 people have joined the group on Facebook and thousands more have participated in the growing online community of the indentured, educated poor here at www.forgivestudentloandebt.com.
Whereas a mere seven months ago, nobody was talking about the looming student loan crisis in America, today, barely a day goes by without news concerning corruption in the student lending industry, proposals to overhaul the way we finance higher education, and heartbreaking tales from people whose financial lives have been ruined because of the iron shackles of student debt.
Rest assured, we ARE making a difference. The lending industry is in a frenzy, unsure how to maintain their stranglehold on the American student body when the very people they prey upon to maintain their business practices are actually listening and participating for the very first time. It was a lot easier to successfully lobby Congress to strip student loans of all basic consumer protections when nobody was paying attention.
At ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com, people from all walks of life are sharing their stories, all with a common theme: an inability to reach for the American Dream simply because they chose to better themselves through education. An entire generation has been placed into indentured servitude because the costs of education have risen even faster than the costs of health care - at more than twice the rate of inflation, and those costs have been completely shouldered by students who have no other option but to amass enormous amounts of debt simply to get an education.
In order to keep this momentum going and to ensure that the powers that be in Washington hear our call, we need your help. A modest donation of $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 or more would go a long way to helping us continue to fight the entrenched interests who make a living off the backs of young students.
The irony of asking for financial assistance from a demographic defined by its lack of disposable income isn't lost on us, however; even the smallest of donations could make a huge difference in terms of our ability to continue to spread the message of student loan forgiveness as a means of economic stimulus.
A new era of freedom, prosperity, entrepreneurship and innovation is just waiting around the corner - but we still need to continue to grow our numbers and continue to make our case that the American economy must be rebuilt in a way that reflects the realities of the 21st century.
But this is just the beginning. Making noise is one thing, getting results is quite another.
PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION TODAY.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Thank you, once again, for all of your hard work and support. Please keep spreading the word and keep your heads held high. There IS a light at the end of the tunnel and we're all in this together!
- Robert Applebaum's blog
- Login or register to post comments
yes i have read this about 2009 this year is full of hard work for me because this year i have started my mcse training and its really a tough job
Just wanted to say THANK YOU for making noise on this issue. There are times when I regret choosing a good school (Tulane University) for graduate school and taking out the loans I did. After a friend shook me into reality & helped me analyze my financial situation, at 44, humbled to no end, I sold my car, move into shared housing (with 20-something housemates!), live like a student again just so I could really pay down my 2 private student loans! I also converted my Sallie Mae loans into Direct Student loans so I could take advantage of the public service loan forgiveness program. I still feel some shame at being naive and not realizing the compounding interest rate and my loans snowballing into possible bankruptcy. I have a good job working for the federal government (thank goodness) and can take advantage of the public service program. What makes me nervous is there is not a contract for this program (they tell me to keep track of my payments, and 120 payment later, talk to them) & the impending tax on the amount that will be forgiven in 10 years. I'm predicting I'll owe $60,000 or more on the tax. But, the program will save me from bankruptcy. When I look back, as one of the first of my family to go to college and graduate school, not once did any student loan officer or counselor sit me down and help me calculate the consequences/reality of borrowing money. Sallie Mae kept encouraging me to reduce monthly payment as I struggled to pay my monthly payments until I got a decent paying job, meanwhile interest was snowballing my total amount owed. Luckily, I have a good friend who heard me freak out one day and sat down and calculated the numbers.
I feel your pain. I went back to graduate school after my kids were grown and took out student loans to do it. Big mistake and now I am in a real mess because I cannot find a decent job.
Technology has affected cheap coldfusion hosting society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has best asp net hosting allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete ftp hosting service natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises best wordpress hosting new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.