Occupy This

So we have young people once again camping in the streets in front of financial institutions and complaining that they have massive student loans that are burdensome. Hmmm. They would like to see the nation's wealth more evenly distributed. Hmmm.

I'd like the wealth to be more even distributed, too. I'd like the taxes I paid all my working years to be refunded to me. It was burdensome. But it was my responsibility to pay for my share of the costs of government. So I paid.

I'd like the wealth to be distributed so that the money I paid for the mortgage on my home to be refunded to me. It was burdensome. But I paid it off two years ago.

I once had some overwhelming credit card debt, but I managed to pay it off. It was burdensome but I bought the stuff with plastic so it was only fair that I pay for it. Yes?

Sorry, but the college crowd enjoyed the years of money dropped in their laps while they went to school, got an education (we hope), enjoyed the social life and the pizza and beer parties. Tuition wasn't the only thing paid when the checks came in. I personally know one young woman who used some of her senior year check to buy a car from a classmate. Was it brand new? No. Beside the point. She didn't seem to be concerned about how the money would be repaid. Now that she has graduated with a degree in multimedia (?) the piper has asked to be paid for the dance. And it's "burdensome".

Years ago, I can remember my Father, who worked very hard for his money and never had an opportunity to attend college, insisting on paying the milk man in advance. It was his contention that once we drank the milk, it was too easy to forget that we owed somebody for it, so he would leave money every Monday for six quarts to be delivered one at a time during the ensuing week.

Thinking that student loans should now be forgiven certainly gives me pause. These people - the ones who went to college with borrowed money - they must not have taken any econ courses. The money these young scholars borrowed was my money. You see, I have a bank account. That means that the bank has my money and they use it to lend to other people for businesses, for mortgages, car loans, and yes, college. Now there was a time that the bank would pay me for the use of my money. It was called interest. But those days are gone. They still pay me interest but not so you could notice. It's about .025 percent. They haven't begun to charge me for letting them use my money as yet, but I'm holding my breath.

Now they have graduated from college, with degrees that, in this economy, are unusable. And they are moving back home with Mom and Dad. Who have probably gotten pretty used to not having Junior or the Princess around for the past four years. But they won't turn the kid out and after all, they weren't using the spare room.

If I was Mom, it would be plain that as long as I'm getting up and going to work every day, I expect the same from my offspring. Can't find a job in your field? Find something else. Cashier at the Piggly Wiggly. Man the counter at Burger King. Try your hand as a barrista at the local coffee hut. Babysit. Mow lawns. Sure it's hard work. But it's honest work. And you can give Mom and Dad a couple of bucks and throw a few on the loans. Usually, if you ask real nice, Sallie Mae will work with you, as long as you give them something to rely on. Just like you relied on them while you were getting your education with my money.