Released as a single in April 1975, Charlie Daniels’ “Long Haired Country Boy” only reached 56 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It’s a great song.
Although the refrain would make an English teacher’s blood boil, it is something the current generation could learn from:
’Cause I ain’t asking nobody for nothin’
If I can’t get it on my own
If you don’t like the way I’m livin’
You just leave this long-haired country boy alone
The philosophy of not asking others for a handout is lost on many. There was a time when men and women were embarrassed to accept charity, let alone a handout from the government.
Not anymore. Some demand it.
On Friday, President Joe Biden canceled $5 billion in student loan debt for around 74,000 borrowers, bringing the total amount of canceled student loan debt by the Biden Administration to $136.6 billion for over 3.7 million, according to the Department of Education. That averages to just under $37,000 per loan.
Biden is doing this mainly because a politician wants a vote.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone has to pay these debts, and it’s taxpayers like you and me.
There are more who want their student loans forgiven. Earlier this month, Intelligent.com surveyed a small sample of 1,000 federal student loan borrowers, of which 25 percent admitted to not making any payments, with many saying they were delaying payment to pressure the government into canceling their loans.
Like a home mortgage, a loan for a car, or a personal loan, the borrower of a student loan is legally responsible for paying back the loan.
Many want to evade this responsibly. “As much as 70 percent of adults surveyed,” according to bankrate.com, “don’t agree that student loan borrowers should be held responsible for paying back their debt in full.” I doubt if that same 70 percent would be willing to send a donation to these students.
No one ever held a gun to a student’s head and forced them to take out a loan.
The third verse of Daniel’s song includes these lines:
A rich man goes to college
And a poor man goes to work
Although I grew up in a middle-class family, I was able to attend college at the University of Missouri Columbia, or MIZZOU. My parents paid for my room and board. I was responsible for the tuition.
When you pay for something — whether it’s a car, a house, clothing or your education — you treat it with respect. I finished college after four years.
To pay my tuition, I worked. Summer jobs included working in factories. In Columbia, I worked in the dorm’s dining hall and at Burger King. My favorite job in Columbia was delivering pizza for the best pie in the mid-west, Shakespeare’s Pizza.
One student who lived in the dorm with me during my freshmen and sophomore years paid his entire way through college, working 40 hours a week for UPS.
There are many stories of how individuals took responsibility and paid their way through college. They work hard, they live on a budget, and they don’t get stoned in the morning and get drunk in the afternoon.
Elisa Cinelli relayed how she paid her way through college on popsugar.com. “Paying my way through college was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it helped shape me into the person and professional I am today.”
Who do you think an employer would rather hire, Cinelli, or someone who refuses to pay their student loans?
For those who want to take responsibility for their student loans, financial expert Dave Ramsey has eight ways to pay them off fast. It starts with paying more than the minimum. That’s a good rule for any loan. Number three is cut back on your lifestyle by stopping streaming services and not eating out.
“If you have student loan debt,” says Ramsey, “your top financial goal should be to pay off this debt in full and as soon as possible.”
I left Columbia to work at the Hannibal Courier-Post in 1982 with a student loan debt of $5,000. Today, that translates to $15,787. I paid that loan off in three years.
Those who refuse to pay off their student loans insult everyone who paid their way through college and/or paid their college debts.
