A liberal author is lecturing "selfish" Americans for opposing the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness policy, describing their disdain for it as "dark jealousy, bitterness and animosity."
In a Thursday op-ed for NBC, Christina Wyman praised the administration's attempts to provide "much needed financial relief" to those burdened by student loans, but claimed that opposing the policy simply displayed "another manifestation of our country's fetish for individualism."
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 14: On the second anniversary of the student loan payment pause, We The 45 Million, use signs and projections outside the U.S. Department of Education to celebrate the pause and ask Education Secretary Cardona to cancel student debt on March 14, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We The 45 Million)
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"When news broke Tuesday that the Biden administration was going to relax the rules of certain student loan repayment plans … I thought of my close friends and students who’ve been knee-deep in education-related debt for almost their entire adult lives," Wyman wrote.
"What I did not think was how unfair it was that my husband and I, who once owed a combined $180,000 in student debt, wouldn’t be partaking in the loan forgiveness bounty," she added.
Wyman stated that although she was also paying back "a large sum" of money, it didn't stop her from hoping the administration would take action to help other borrowers.
She noted that not all were happy with the administration's decision: "Perusing the social media comments on nearly every story about loan forgiveness reveals a dark jealousy, bitterness and animosity toward those being given a taste of much-needed financial relief."
"It’s selfish, it’s extreme, and it’s pure, unadulterated American," Wyman said of the negative reaction. "The hotly contested student loan debate is merely another manifestation of our country’s fetish for individualism and the value it places on self-reliance and personal freedom above all else, demanding that we not look to the government for assistance of any kind."
President Joe Biden blows his whistle for the start of a race during the White House Easter Egg Roll, Monday, April 18, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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She argued that forcing people to pay off their loans just because borrowers before them successfully did was "not a compelling reason to watch people crumble under the weight of debt," and that "the pushback" on efforts to relieve debt struck her as "another sinister layer in our country’s long-standing problem with empathy."
"The debate about student loan forgiveness also reveals a misguided take on fairness. It’s not unfair to make it easier for borrowers to have their loans forgiven, as some have argued, just because many people who can afford to pay off their debt will benefit while those who never attended college won’t," Wyman wrote.
"What actually is unfair is that we now live in a country where student debt forces some to delay major milestones; or makes them choose between their housing, groceries, utilities and loan servicers; or threatens their ability to retire with dignity," she added.
Wyman stated that she saw "nothing wrong" with Americans receiving economic relief, and that even though she wasn't receiving it, she was "lucky" to be in a stronger financial situation.
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 22: Students protest the rising costs of student loans for higher education on Hollywood Boulevard on September 22, 2012 in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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"Indeed, those who continue to complain about student loan forgiveness might wish to take stock of how fortunate they were to be able to pay off their loans while living in a far more forgiving economy," she wrote. "Would it have been nice to have access to a loan forgiveness program myself? Sure. But because that was not to be, I’ll continue voting for those who make these financial programs possible for others."
The Biden administration erased the debt of 40,000 students earlier this week, marking the first of potentially 4 million more people having their student loans forgiven.
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