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"One's own money"

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musenji

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Simple question. A person owes thousands of dollars in loans. They are paying back the loans monthly, on time.

Is the money they earn at their job considered "theirs"? Or is it considered the money of the person that the loan is owed to?

The answer does seem obvious upon second thought: it is their money, less the amount per month they are to be paying. Is this right?

I just want to clear up my thinking on the subject.

[edit] Also, feel free to move this if it's in the wrong place--I didn't think it quite fit under political philosophy either...

Edited by musenji
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It is your money in this moment, but that's in the context of the agreement, which was to pay back the money, presumably plus interest. Entering the agreement means that the thousands of dollars do not belong to you anymore, after the agreement is over according to its terms. It's still a value swap, just over a long period of time. The debt holder can't demand payment in full, because that isn't what you agreed to, and you can't demand to stop paying, until the terms of time have been reached.

I'm not too sure about defaults. I suppose that would play out as a mixture of existing laws plus case-by-case as a person's financial situation demands, as decided by a court.

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The money is yours until you refuse to pay, lose at court, and have the wages garnished by court order.

Absent the court order, the only way to regard money owed as not yours is to disregard time and consider the money as equivalent to your ultimate plans for it. But the plans are yours.

There appears to be some forgetting or context dropping going on here. What did you get in exchange for the debt? Generally, you do not fully own that which is not fully paid for which leads to the practice of repossessing automobiles and foreclosing mortgages. Only debt wasted on consumables such as coffee shops, dining out or movie tickets cannot be recovered that way.

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An education.

It's not about me, but a friend, who has 70k in loan debt after getting a bachelor's and a master's.

Right, the next big financial bubble to burst will be education. Except the corrupt Congress has made educational loans non-dischargeable even in bankruptcy. This is the reintroduction of indentured servitude.

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Hardly any attention is even given to the student loan bubble and it is going to be a shock to the economy. I went to Bentley University my freshman year and it cost me $20k for one year (I recieved a $30k scholorship). Once I learned about the bubble, I transferred to a state school and am currently there paying 8k a year. While I do think people have to take responsibility for their actions, parents aren't doing a great job in telling kids about the severity of debt and many times are pushing them to go to these expensive schools. Not to take blame away from 18-year olds though, as it is their duty to educate themselves. I know many people taking loans of over 100k for a communications degree and go just to party.

This is a speculative bubble that is similar to the housing bubble as its origin lies in governmental policies from the federal student loan program and subsidies to universities, which allow schools to raise their tuition prices. Bentley raised their tuition 3% in one year, which is another reason why I left. Unfortunately, my current school just raised tuition as well. As people keep believing that you need a degree to succeed in the world, it enables this to happen.

And while it is true congress has made this debt non-dischargable, I do suspect that in the future that will change once the bubble pops.

Edited by Matt Giannelli
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