Free science fictional graphic novel about the student debt conspiracy

[doctorow]

[Permalink]

[newliminted]

I haven’t read it yet, but ‘science fictional?’ I think the premise would be non-fiction.

[Astragali]

I’m glad I didn’t read the whole of the BB article until after I’d read the story!

[Chuck_Holt]

I’ve already had some very similar suspicions. (OK, perhaps not with aliens.:-P)

[dobby]

A great short story, more importantly inserting the topic into discourse. I was able to take advantage of a second passport and flee the student loan trap, most people can’t and are slaves to the banks receiving federal corporate welfare in the form of interest subsidies and failsafe repayment protection.

[ckosek]

Thanks for reading my story and I’m glad everyone is liking it. I really do think that its important for fiction and comics to tackle relevant issues like this. The student loan crisis is one of the biggest problems facing our generation, so lets take the conversation to different places and have some fun with it!

Thanks again for featuring my Graphic Novel and to everyone that’s checking it out. Also a big thanks to all the kind people who have taken advantage of the “pay what you want” option. You guys are awesome!

[anon68287401]

I heard that the British Government estimates that it will not be able to recoup the cost of university education from current graduates - £9000 a year and 3 years for a degree, and 6.3% interest, coupled with the fact that you don’t have to start paying back the loan until you earn £21000 a year means that we’re making loans that will never be repaid. Perpetual debt seems to be a good way to recreate the servile class via legal means.

[craigoda]

Thanks for raising awareness of this issue. I’m in the SF Bay and keep hearing super-talented and smart kids saying that they don’t plan on going to college because of the costs and wastes. I’m also hearing a lot from students that are thinking of dropping out. IMO, college is a great time to think and debate about a range of bigger issues. It would be a great loss if the problems with student debt (and the related high tuition issue) make the ideas in college more homogenous by making it difficult to certains groups to participate. There’s a group of young people that are looking at the debt and just saying, f*ck it, I’m going to work. These capable minds are exactly the ones we need to get into the university school system and keep them there so they can contribute to the overall learning environment.

[Elusis]

Thanks for doing this. I’m 40, with $110K in debt and a 30-year payoff. Yes, I may start getting Social Security (if it still exists) before I pay off my loans. Forget saving for a house.

The real kicker is that I have just shy of 3 out of 10 years needed working at a not-for-profit to get “public service loan forgiveness.” But I’ve been without a full-time job for the past two years, and even though the jobs I’ve cobbled together have all been at NFPs, those don’t count because they’re not full-time by the govt’s definition.

Added punchline: I have an offer for a temporary full-time position starting this fall with an NFP that might turn into permanent work. But they’ve just voted to turn themselves into a B-corporation. So there goes that.