After some months of quiet, some new reports have emerged over whether President Biden is willing to take action on canceling student debt. The latest chatter appears to indicate that Biden's become increasingly open to the possibility but is resisting going as far as progressives have been demanding; Biden told reporters on Thursday that he'll finally announce a decision in the next few weeks. Whichever way he chooses, I'm sure we'll hear a lot of bickering over what he settles on.
But the renewed discussions over student debt should turn your attention to this very timely story on a specific type of student loan that can tie survivors of domestic violence to their alleged abusers—even after divorce. Here's what one woman told my colleague Emma Rindlisbacher:
Michelle says the consolidated debt became a way for her ex-husband to continue to exert control over her life. The divorce decree said that Michelle would be responsible for the loans she accrued for her education prior to consolidation, while the ex-husband would be responsible for the loans he had accrued. But legally, the loans remained a single debt with a single monthly bill, and actually making the payments became a point of contention. Because Michelle was worried about the impact of delinquent debt on her credit score and her career, she felt an obligation to stay current on the payments. But to do that, she needed to interact with her ex-husband.
That's downright horrifying. While Michelle's case is rare in the grand scheme of student loans, it does certainly underscore the crushing cruelty behind so many elements of our financial systems. I urge you to read.
At the same time, I'd simply hate to leave you on such a distressing note! It's Friday, after all. Cue my excellent colleague Jacob Rosenberg, who's here to bring you a perfectly succinct, heady recommendation of the song he just can't seem to quit these days:
I can't stop listening to this song from 1980s Rochester new wave band Personal Effects. My theory is that it mimics my pandemic. A brooding calm ending in weird. For about two minutes, the band covers you in a strolling pop synth—it sounds it could go on forever; it is comfortable and disconcerting, dulled and delayed. Then, the lyrics come in: "What we heard is so disturbing / It takes time to settle in / Our destination doesn't matter / This is it / Life hereafter." Yep. Life hereafter. I wonder what that will be. I wonder if this is it.
Ciao!
—Inae Oh
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