Two weeks ago, one of my few Republican friends told me that I was “wrong to hate Trump and Rad Reps” and that I should go fishing instead. I hate fishing! But, since I do respect his opinions unless they involve politics, I decided to examine my attitude by first ensuring I understood what hate is.
Webster’s defines hate as “intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury.” I had it right.
The definition doesn’t seem to include violence, religion, mental stability or politics, but it certainly mentions anger as one of its sources. Am I angry with Trump? You bet I am, and it is based on the injuries he and his MAGA Republicans have caused: to name only a few, the deaths caused by the slow response to COVID, America’s loss of world respect, destruction of the economy Obama rebuilt after Bush II destroyed it, his hateful attitude and actions toward women, other less fortunate countries and anyone who is not MAGA, wealthy, white. I also fear the injuries will continue if he and his insurrectionists return to the White House.
But back to the word “hate” that I was accused of directing at Trump and associates. No, friends, it is not a minuscule dislike such as I would indiscriminately use toward loud noises, hot sauce, mosquitoes, etc. I have manufactured a special hate for the likes of Trump and his supporters. It is the same hate I maintain for the likes and actions, past or present, of Genghis Kahn, Nero, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao, Kim-Jong Un and Putin, all those despots with delusions of grandeur and intentions to take over the world. My hate will continue to be fairly directed at their actions and therefore at them.
Ned Sheats
Mission
Student loans
need reform
The $1.9 trillion student loan debt crisis does not only affect the 45 million borrowers in the U.S., it affects the integrity of the U.S. economy. One in five adults has student loans that were never going to be paid back; 85% of borrowers have distressed loans, and weren’t able to pay them back even before the pandemic.
Student loan borrowers over 50 years old outnumber those under 25, and older borrowers owe far more than younger borrowers. More than 50% identify as independent or Republican, and 19 states (mostly red states) have student loan debt that exceeds their state budgets.
By design, student loans have no consumer protections, which makes them unique in comparison to auto loans, mortgage loans and credit card debt. Bankruptcy rights do not exist for student loans, giving the lenders and U.S. Department of Education a decades-long, corrupt profit scheme that hyper-inflates college tuition costs and incentivizes predatory lending activity.
The U.S. government actually makes money (billions per year) on student loan debt, even on defaulted loans.
Loan cancellation must be enacted, complete with the return of bankruptcy rights (per the U.S. Constitution) in order to put the guardrails back on the lending system.
It is not the borrowers who need forgiveness, it’s the higher-education financing system that needs it.
Aaron Root
San Antonio
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