American Horror Story: Student Loan Debt and Suicide Over Wilted Pancakes
Several weeks ago I visited Austin, Texas to report on the #Occupy movement there. The mood was festive, friendly, uplifting. Occupy Wall Street had already turned ugly on several occasions, especially the pepper-spraying incident involving an NYPD white shirt and several young women, but protesters elsewhere had yet to see such instances of violence (the police brutality in Oakland had yet to shock). That’s perhaps one of the reasons why things felt so comfortable and laid back in Austin.
The weekend after I was in Austin, I ventured to Tulsa, Oklahoma. There I met four smart and highly engaged protesters at a local IHOP. We received wilted pancakes and burnt bacon, scorched coffee and sickeningly sweet “juice” very early in the morning. One of the protesters said apologetically, “Sorry that we met here. We have to go across the street to protest Target.”
“You have no reason to apologize, it makes sense to me,” I replied, while drinking my high-fructose-syrup-pink-drink. (The fact that ISLOP can sell that kind of product and slap the juice label onto it tells me this country has loads of problems — a drink that is pink and sugary is not grapefruit juice. But I digress).
The conversation was invigorating for one particular reason. Here I was, practically in the dead center of the country, speaking to leftists about politics. Even more interesting, two of the young men were students of Oral Roberts University, not exactly a bastion of liberalism.
They both had met there as a result of studying church history. Sadly, one had had to drop out this past semester because he couldn’t afford the tuition. The other one, Sam, was wrapping up his final semester, but also spoke bitterly about his financial situation as well as his father’s.
The sense of possibility seemed quite out of reach for these two men, and they both knew it.
It’s hard to make light of that fact. Too many young people feel that a world of potential is not available to them, and so many of them feel that way because they are drowning in student loan debt. Hopelessness pervades the country, and that is why #OWS is so critical – it’s offering a space for hope. These spaces are democratic and fighting against being consumed and entrapped within an oligarchic state. The heaviness of the conversation veered into an area of great concern to me: suicides and suicidal debtors.
I told them that I had been working on the subject of suicide and student loan debt when Sam leaned over the table and said, “Well, she…,” pointing to his fellow activist who sat right next to him, “She just lost two neighbors last week. The woman, who was a mother, killed herself and took her daughter along with her, because of financial problems.”
Of course, that type of story is not new. When the housing market collapsed in 2008, there were scores of people across the country, generally men, who killed themselves and committed similar acts of homicide. I have learned of people who have taken their lives, in part, because of their student loan debt. How many have been lost, know one knows, but in my view, one is too many.
Sam admitted to being suicidal, and said, “I recently checked into a hospital for suicide because of my student loan debt.” Because of this debt he feels unable to marry his girlfriend of several years, and he is enraged that his father, who has worked as an attorney for several decades for the state of New York, has seen his pension fund shrink, his pay go down, and so forth. His father is basically hanging by a thread, and his parents might lose their home. It was hard for this young man to understand why his father, who worked so hard his whole life, is now barely making ends meet.
While I understand systemic collapse and why we’re facing this crisis, I could relate to his bafflement. Since I met with these young men in Tulsa, things have turned violent for occupiers in various cities across the United States. The most egregious situation, of course, being the two events in Oakland, where two Marines were severely injured by riot police. Isn’t this supposed to remind me of the home of the free, and the land of the brave? When I see tear gas being chucked at protesters and bullet guns being used, is that what I am supposed to think about this country?
I just spent all of last week on the Hill — the cesspool of corporate and monied influence — spreading the word about the indentured educated class. Oh, if you don’t got no dime, you don’t got much time up there. I know. You’re shocked, right? To be fair, some of the meetings went remarkably well, while others…uh…not so much. What was also nice? I didn’t go alone; I had the honor and privilege of being joined by David Hunsicker. If David wins in the primary in Richmond, VA, and then goes on to defeat Eric Cantor, I will have a permanent place on the Hill. That means I will be heavily involved in trying to shape legislation that will actually help student loan debtors. That’s the goal. The work of the warrior for the indentured educated class continues. Stay tuned for more updates.
Cryn Johannsen is the founder and executive director of All Education Matters (AEM). She is currently writing a book about the student lending crisis and how this mess can be fixed. Read her full HyperVocal archive here, and make sure to follow her on The Twitter @cjohanns.
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