The Patriot Post® · Mike Rowe: Forgiving Student Loans Is Unfair

“I don’t want to see more people borrow money they can’t afford to pay back … nor do I wish to pay it back for you,” Mike Rowe wrote in a recent social media post. He also addressed the flawed, irresponsible, immoral, and unjust “college loan forgiveness” policy supported by many leftist Democrats, including Joe Biden.

Rowe, the former “Dirty Jobs” host who has long been an advocate of the blue-collar worker, challenged the notion that higher education is the only means for people to attain rewarding, fulfilling, and lucrative careers. Of this latest forgiveness push, he said, “My reasons for opposing student loan forgiveness are not a secret. I’ve written at length on this page about the fundamental unfairness of doing such a thing — especially to the millions of Americans who have paid their college debts, and sacrificed much to do so.”

Rowe went on to say that a major factor in his opposition to student loan forgiveness is the fact that it’s essentially a wealth redistribution scheme — except that it redistributes wealth from the poor to the rich. He quoted National Review’s Kevin Williamson, who calls it “welfare for the wealthy” and explains: “The majority of student debt is held by relatively high-income people, poor people mostly are not college graduates, and those who attended college but did not graduate hold relatively little college-loan debt, etc. As the New York Times puts it, ‘Debt relief overall would disproportionately benefit middle- to upper-class college graduates.’ Which ones? ‘Especially those who attended elite and expensive institutions, and people with lucrative professional credentials like law and medical degrees.’”

Williamson gets to the root of the issue when he dubs it “a pure culture-war issue.” And indeed it is. Those on the debt forgiveness bandwagon are all for wealth redistribution and “equity” without any genuine concern for individual liberty and the personal responsibility that comes with it. They view higher education as a “right” and therefore the cost should be covered by the government (read: taxpayers). It’s pure socialism that, if left unchecked, will bankrupt the country. Mike Rowe, whose biggest calling card is working hard to earn what you get, is right on target to fight against it.