Segue: Alternet points out that young people are being buried under student loans. In fact they point out, (emphasis mine)….
There is social control in loading young people up with financial obligations. Burdened with debt and desperate to have and keep a job, there is no way they can take a wild year off, and there is certainly no time for protesting, organizing or causing the kind of social and political trouble young people cause from time to time.
How many young people turn away from low-paying but vital professions because they can’t earn enough to pay back their loans? How many potential social workers, pro bono lawyers, journalists, environmentalists, teachers, artists, secondary medical professionals and community workers are we losing?
How ironic that the very next item I should read on Alternet would argue that we could sure use the kind of political activism we had in the 60s.
Reprise of theme: The Motley Fool scratches their head as they realize that a lot people with credit card debt are just trying to pay the darn bills. Maybe it’s because of the student loan debt.
Variations on thematic material: 2005 brought us a record level of personal bankruptcies, up 30% from 2004, as people rushed to file ahead of new rules. Expect to hear creditors complain about this any moment now. They got the new law they wanted, now let them wallow in the results.
And now for something completely different: by now you might have heard (assuming you keep track of such things) that Microsoft is delaying the next version of Windows until early 2007. Some people think this is bad news and some people think this is good news. I think it is irrelevant news. So what if they miss the Christmas sales cycle? Nobody is going to say “Oh well, the new version of Windows isn’t out so I might as well buy a Mac.” Some people will go ahead and get their Christmas PCs with the old operating system, planning to upgrade (Microsoft makes even more money), and others will simply put off their purchase a couple months (Microsoft makes the same money, but in a different accounting period). Someone, please point out the bad part for me.
It’s nice in the Forest: Dave Johnson over at Seeing the Forest has been absolutely on fire, on target, and on the money the last few days. Where to begin? Bloggers on the nature of our Government, Listening to Everyone including privileged communications, letting the Chinese run the radiation detectors at American ports, or Who is the Economy For are all great posts in a sea of good posts.
And finally, *itch, PhD tells us she might respect the Pro-Life movement if they actually supported life-affirming, mom-supporting, abortion preventing policies.
Listening to Everyone… ahem… is this thing on?… I have often warned my friends (thus their likening of me to Conspiracy Theory guy) that computer cams and microphones are innocuos ways of introducing/desensitizing everyone to constant scrutiny. Kinda trumps the right and power to alter or abolish, ne. Cell phone cams and gps locators as well. Think how quickly your computer sends information. How difficult, and undetectable, would it be to sample any of these media, remotely? Have you noticed that your microphone still transmits whether you are recording or not?
as for allowing “the chinese” or “the arabs” to run the ports… I think that it is no longer a nationalistically divided world (we still only pay lip service to that) it is a corporately divided world…
concerning the internet (a governmental creation? oh yeah, thank you Mr. Gore) is another way for the outspoken to be located and counted.
all of this bloggin and emailing, texting is like handprints in the concrete left for all to see, forever. Registering your opinions…
And allowing “the chinese” or “the arabs” to run the ports or check cargo?: it is no longer a nationalistically divided world (although that illusion is carefully sustained) but rather is corporately aligned.
as for respecting the “pro”life movement… the only rational argument I have heard coming from either camp was on a website for which you had provided the link: Molly saves the day. Nurse kathy writes an insightful comment about being kind to one another…
apologies for the sloppy editing