The “unity president” is at it again. With the swipe of a pen, President Joe Biden sent a clear message to Americans: personal responsibility is dead.
I was ushered into adulthood by a mother who instilled an enduring message: We’re responsible for our behavior and decisions, all of which have consequences.
Mom practiced what she preached. When my brother found himself on the wrong side of the law, she let him languish in jail overnight. Her message was unequivocal: If you make your bed, you’ll sleep in it.
I bring this lesson to the controversy surrounding Biden’s legally dubious decision to transfer billions of dollars of student loan debt from one group of Americans to another.
Though it would benefit people I care about, I can’t ignore Mom’s lesson. People chose to take out loans, understanding they had a legal obligation to repay them. They made their beds. Though they may be lumpy or messy, they must sleep in them.
Americans want a sense of fairness. This program has none. Regardless of how expensive colleges have become, of how employable graduates might be, they have a responsibility to repay their own loans.
I did it. Millions of other Americans did it, which is only part of the reason why there’s so much uproar.
Most Americans don’t attend college. They have zero interest in paying for those who did.
Progressive politicians have been driving this program. I’ve watched the messaging. They insist the president must “cancel” student loans as a matter of equity. They ignore the fact that people acted on their own volition.
They don’t care that decisions have consequences. They haven’t learned that if you make your bed you need to sleep in it.
Anyone who toiled to pay their debt can attest to that feeling of accomplishment when they sign that last check.
When we solve people’s problems for them, they lose that sense of satisfaction, as well as the motivation to deal with the consequences of future actions.
What kind of expectations are we setting for future students? Is it fair for them to expect their loans to be “canceled,” too?
It’s not just that the government is shifting personal debt. It’s that this administration and other Democrat leaders are disincentivizing Americans to take personal responsibility, which is vital to a thriving nation.
Student loans are emblematic of a larger problem.
We have undisciplined children disrupting classrooms to the detriment of other students.
We’re losing frustrated teachers who can’t control young boys who curse at them or young teens who engage in fistfights. That actions have consequences is being lost on too many of today’s students.
We have teenagers jacking cars, getting arrested, then being released, only to do it again because they experience no meaningful consequences.
When our government shifts the debt burden of one group of citizens onto another, it’s obviating personal responsibility and pushing our country one step closer to a very worrisome future.
As Thomas Sowell said, “You cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible.”
Caryn Sullivan
A retired attorney and author of the award-winning memoir, "Bitter or Better: Grappling With Life on the Op-Ed Page," Caryn Sullivan has inspired readers with her thoughtful commentary for the past two decades. To learn more about Caryn’s work or to connect, visit carynmsullivan.com
