
Here’s the thing about debt: It’s not nearly as bad as everyone says it is - avyfain
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/07/heres-the-thing-about-debt-its-not-nearly-as-bad-as-everyone-says-it-is/
======
angersock
I--and I suspect many others of my generation--wonder a great deal about this
trumpeting idea that "Debt is good! Take on debt! All hail our moneyed
overlords!".

The article makes the point that debt is taken on expectations of future
growth, and that it is in fact what enables the creation of engines (personal
or commercial) to realize that growth. I think that that's a crucial point to
make: debt itself is not terrible.

The author though fails to really explain (beyond a slight waggling of
eyebrows and insinuation that it is peoples' own fault) that the future
payoffs look worse and worse. Anybody who saw the housing market tank in '07
will never assume (one hopes) that their homes are going to be worth anything
near what they paid for them. Anybody who was ever had been smacked around by
the arbitrary cost structure of American healthcare is not going to assume
that that debt will be managable.

Hell, anybody who is currently dealing with the rolling boulder of debt from
going to a top-tier school and studying something useful is still acutely
aware that things might not pan out.

It's absurd to pretend that somehow taking on debt builds character, that it
allows access to opportunities (empirically shown to be unlikely at best), or
anything else.

Don't buy what they're selling, credit or not.

~~~
jean_claude
> The article makes the point that debt is taken on expectations of future
> growth, and that it is in fact what enables the creation of engines
> (personal or commercial) to realize that growth. I think that that's a
> crucial point to make: debt itself is not terrible.

Quite true. Of course, not everyone who receives a good education, even in an
in-demand field is guaranteed success. Once you've built up all that
nondischargeable debt and real life happens, that rosy outlook may get a bit
tarnished for some.

> The author though fails to really explain (beyond a slight waggling of
> eyebrows and insinuation that it is peoples' own fault) that the future
> payoffs look worse and worse.

Don't you know that being successful is the highest of virtues, while not
succeeding is considered a mortal sin?

