This is not the first book that I’ve read about middle class
debt in the last five years, and something tells me it won’t be the last. First
there was Broke USA, then there was End of Suburbia, then Assault on the Middle Class, Opting for Elsewhere, American Way of Poverty, and now this.
Right now, I expect nothing new, and as I read this book my suspicions of
getting another “oh poor me, I borrowed five figures to pay for college and can’t
pay it back” are being confirmed. Fortunately, the author writes about a
problem not seen in the other books – pregnancy discrimination – that does in
fact seem to be a recurring problem in the USA. The author uses two examples,
in law firms and airlines, where women are losing their jobs. Even if the boss
can’t fire you for taking time off, he can still eliminate your position and
stick you with lousy clients (or demote you to the mail room.) Either way, these jobs involve high pressure,
and you don’t have the protections that teachers or civil servants have.
Perhaps that’s why civil service jobs are so popular?
The next example
of “educated but can’t afford it” is a college professor in Chicago. She
teaches English composition, makes 24k per year, has a disabled eight year old
son, and raises him on her own with no help from his father. The professor has
no student loan debt, so far so good, but she’s an idiot. She lived the hipster
life, got pregnant at 28 by a 20-year-old punk rocker, and now she’s trapped.
The author goes into detail about her struggle, but I couldn’t really feel any
sympathy for her. Why doesn’t she go for a higher-paying teaching job in the
Chicago public schools? What about the Chicago PD or the Cook County Sheriff
Department? I suspect that either she wants an easy job, or she’s just not
tough enough for others.
The next example
of the author’s is a Baruch College professor in NYC with a 74k salary and her
husband, a church organist, makes 50k. They spend most of their money on
daycare and are too wealthy for affordable housing. Now here’s the problem; in both instances,
they were warned against an academic career, which is poorly paid and with few
benefits or protections. If the professor complains that daycare is too much, I
bet she’ll complain about the cost of private school. Will she make her kid
tough enough for public school? I bet there are people in Yonkers who send
their kids to less-expensive private schools, but then they’d lose the thrill
of living in Manhattan. Furthermore, why haven’t these people tried to join (or
start) a food co-op?
Okay, that’s it,
I’ve had it. Opt for a cheap college so you won’t have student loan debt. Do a
2-year paralegal degree at a cheap community college, go to work at a law firm
or a bank, and work your way up to a 4-year degree. Or you could do a degree in
nursing, which is a lot cheaper and pays a lot more (with benefits, I add) but
whoops, I forgot, nursing isn’t hip or cool. Maybe you could enlist in the
military and get the GI Bill for college? Let’s say you got silly and got into
student loan debt, you could always go into law enforcement for the high pay,
and work off the loan. Or maybe you could skip college, find an electrician who
will take you on as an apprentice, and work your way up?
I’m sorry, this
book is about people who waste time and money. They chase after the dream of a
cool job, while ignoring the facts of life – rent, food, childcare, health –
that can make or break you. I see so many blue-collar professionals who make it
work, with few debts and stable families. How do they do it? There must be some
way. Why not write a book about them? We’ll call it Debt Free: How Uneducated People Lead Uncool Lives and Achieve the
American Dream.
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