Financial Aid and Hypocrisy

[Erik_T]

Hello all!

So I've come to a crossroads, and I would very much appreciate some wisdom from you erudite fellows. I'm wanting to go back to college to finish my bachelor's in English because I want to teach the subject in private schools. However, to do so, I would need to accept financial aid through FAFSA. My family does not have enough money, and neither do I. So here's the obvious dilemma: by accepting financial aid, I would be using the gun of the state to force money from people to pay for my degree. I would not be applying the non-aggression principle consistently, which makes me feel like a hypocrite. The only way I can justify it is knowing I am merely reclaiming the money that was taken from me through the many years I have worked. What are your thoughts, guys?

Thanks

[abcqwerty123]

Hello all!

So I've come to a crossroads, and I would very much appreciate some wisdom from you erudite fellows. I'm wanting to go back to college to finish my bachelor's in English because I want to teach the subject in private schools. However, to do so, I would need to accept financial aid through FAFSA. My family does not have enough money, and neither do I. So here's the obvious dilemma: by accepting financial aid, I would be using the gun of the state to force money from people to pay for my degree. I would not be applying the non-aggression principle consistently, which makes me feel like a hypocrite. The only way I can justify it is knowing I am merely reclaiming the money that was taken from me through the many years I have worked. What are your thoughts, guys?

Thanks

 

The way I see it is, people are sometimes forced to accept things from the government because that is how the system is set up. Taking financial aid money is no different then taking anything else, such as driving on public roads or using the restroom in a court building. In a free society, stuff would be better/cheaper and people would have more opportunity for careers and such, but we aren't in a free society. We have this monster constantly pushing us down while throwing out some money that they have stolen to keep society quiet and working, and sometimes you have to take that money to survive the beating. It does suck, no doubt about it, but that is currently how the world is.

[RyanT]

First off, massive respect to you here Erik, for your commitment to consistency,

 

abcqwerty123 nailed it though and it's not like you're qualified and weighing up the choice between teaching in a private school (again kudos) or taking the easy option of a job for life regardless of performance, provided by the state. Here the 'choice' has pretty much already been made for you.

 

Besides like you say, with all the money you've either been taxed directly or had stolen through inflation...you've already paid for it many times over. 

[NGardner]

If the government controlled all the food I would not feel hypocritical eating that food. Besides isn't this a loan? 

[Brentb]

FAFSA just provides student loans right? Won't you be paying the money back?

 

If I remember correctly, the student loan market was taken over by the federal government. You can't help it that you can't get your aid from other financial institutions. I would put government student loans in the same category as driving on government roads.

[DrTruthiness]

I remember Stef addressing something like this in a podcast a long time ago. He said that there can be no morality in a situation of coercion.

 

You have no choice to peacefully opt-out of funding FAFSA. You will be forced to pay for it either through a direct tax or being used as collateral to borrow more money. If you had the option to step away and peacefully not contribute any money, yet decided to tap into money stolen from others, that may be different.

 

By asking yourself, "Am I being morally inconsistent by using some of that money that was forcibly taken from me?" you are trying to apply morals within a situation of coercion, which abusers thrive on.

 

It is a mental framework that focuses too narrowly on your decisions, your behavior, and your actions, while unjustly ignoring the influence of the abuser's actions, behaviors, and decisions responsible for the situation in the first place. The best thing you can do with that stolen money in this time and place in history is to transform it into skills that generate real wealth, while remembering to advocate and demonstrate wherever you can that there is a better way.

[abcqwerty123]

I remember Stef addressing something like this in a podcast a long time ago. He said that there can be no morality in a situation of coercion.You have no choice to peacefully opt-out of funding FAFSA. You will be forced to pay for it either through a direct tax or being used as collateral to borrow more money. If you had the option to step away and peacefully not contribute any money, yet decided to tap into money stolen from others, that may be different.By asking yourself, "Am I being morally inconsistent by using some of that money that was forcibly taken from me?" you are trying to apply morals within a situation of coercion, which abusers thrive on.It is a mental framework that focuses too narrowly on your decisions, your behavior, and your actions, while unjustly ignoring the influence of the abuser's actions, behaviors, and decisions responsible for the situation in the first place. The best thing you can do with that stolen money in this time and place in history is to transform it into skills that generate real wealth, while remembering to advocate and demonstrate wherever you can that there is a better way.

 

Yes, morals can not be involved when under coercion. If a man breaks into your house and starts swinging a sword at you and you shoot him in the head and kill him. You cannot be immoral for defending yourself.

 

See, I didn't go to college. I mean, I went to like 5 different community colleges, took a couple of courses at each, and I discovered that college is worthless. One class I took was for webdesign/photoshop. My professor also taught at CSUN (cal state univ northridge) where he was the professor for the highest webdevelopment and computer graphics courses offered at the school. After my 3rd day in his class, I was extremely bored and asked if we could sit down after class when he had a chance to talk. We scheduled a little lunch meeting on campus, and I brought my laptop in. I showed him some of the work I had done when I was 14-15 years old and asked what level class he felt I should be in. He told me that I would be in the top class at CSUN and some of the stuff I had shown was beyond what he even teaches in that class. I mean, I taught myself both webdesign and graphics using only the internet, when I was 14 years old and 5 years later, that work was still beyond what they teach in the highest class offered at a university? At that point, I said screw it and quit college. I realized that everything these teachers were teaching were things I could learn on the internet at a much quicker/cheaper pace and I don't have to take classes in 20 topics that I will never use or has anything to do with my degree. Now, I will say that I am sure there are some excellent professors/teachers out there who teach the correct way and there are subjects that you may not find on the internet to the degree you may find in college, such as becoming a brain surgeon, but discovering those professors/teachers is extremely difficult and most of the time, it still wouldn't be worth the 150,000+$ debt you will be in after a 4 year degree. So for me, I will never attend college nor will I suggest anyone does attend college UNLESS... The only reason I would tell someone to go into debt from hell is if they have a career choice that they cannot be hired for without a college degree and that they would be able to pay off their debt within 10 years of being hired, and even 10 years of debt is absolutely ridiculous but that is the shitty society we currently are forced to live in.

[Erik_T]

Thanks for your insight, guys. Very helpful, indeed. To answer some of your questions, yes, FAFSA does dole out loans, but they also provide grants. When I had first enrolled in UC Berkeley, I was awarded such grants that I was going to go nearly for free, and not have to pay anything back. The situation, I would imagine, should be similar this next go around, but I won't know until I've been readmitted.