If you were raised in a situation where your family made little money (and qualified for a large student loan), you would actually have an easier time than those who live within the bounds of 'lower-middle class'. Student loans from the government are the best deals you can get for paying for your own education, short of actually having the money up front. The government expects a lot of contribution out of your parents, but only if they work in an aforementioned 'better job'.
As a kid whose parents make enough to disqualify me from a student loan, but who still had to choose between fixing the car, paying down the mortgage or contributing to the RESP, I'm effectively an independent (I think they gave me $50 and a bag of Skittles). However, the government won't recognize that I am a legally independent adult, which requires a student line of credit, which I work two jobs to pay off during the year, and also where all of my work term payment will be going.
Anyone can get an education, from any background. It just depends on how hard you want to work. And in the end, those who work hard enough to pull themselves into a position where they can get a 'better job', they're the ones who actually deserve them.
Mind you, you do see a lot of kids riding Daddy's bluechip stocks right into college, but they rarely make it out the other end. Having to fight for your education gives you the strength to overcome adversity in life, which becomes apparent rather quickly. I'm only in my first year and I can already tell you who's working to be here just by their attitudes.
I'm one of those kids who doesn't get a government loan either. I know about it, trust me. But you're ignoring so many important social elements that extend far beyond the money involved in an education. Social stigma in their own communities and prejudice in the world in the rest of society. The vastly different qualities in education and opportunity for exposure to extra arts and sciences and the world at large in a lot of lower income communities. People who have kids to take care of, people who have broken families or disabled parents to take care of. Reality is way more complicated than just 'working hard'. A lot of people work hard their entire lives and only manage to survive. It's hardly fair to tell lower income brackets of our society to 'just go to school' or 'get a better job'.
Even if you took out all those other factors there's still the simple problem of numbers. There are far more people than good paying jobs. A large number of people will always have to work in those lower paying jobs. Telling them to 'get a better job' isn't going to solve massive problems of inequality and discrimination in our world nor is it going to stop problems in low income communities like crime, violence, and drug use. Being able to enjoy life a bit like everyone else and feeling valued and accepted as members of society would go a lot further, and a good way to foster that is by encouraging fair wages.
Plus, school just isn't for everyone. Why should someone be forced into a less than stellar state of life just because their interests and skills aren't in engineering or biology.
As a kid whose parents make enough to disqualify me from a student loan, but who still had to choose between fixing the car, paying down the mortgage or contributing to the RESP, I'm effectively an independent (I think they gave me $50 and a bag of Skittles). However, the government won't recognize that I am a legally independent adult, which requires a student line of credit, which I work two jobs to pay off during the year, and also where all of my work term payment will be going.
Anyone can get an education, from any background. It just depends on how hard you want to work. And in the end, those who work hard enough to pull themselves into a position where they can get a 'better job', they're the ones who actually deserve them.
Mind you, you do see a lot of kids riding Daddy's bluechip stocks right into college, but they rarely make it out the other end. Having to fight for your education gives you the strength to overcome adversity in life, which becomes apparent rather quickly. I'm only in my first year and I can already tell you who's working to be here just by their attitudes.
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Even if you took out all those other factors there's still the simple problem of numbers. There are far more people than good paying jobs. A large number of people will always have to work in those lower paying jobs. Telling them to 'get a better job' isn't going to solve massive problems of inequality and discrimination in our world nor is it going to stop problems in low income communities like crime, violence, and drug use. Being able to enjoy life a bit like everyone else and feeling valued and accepted as members of society would go a lot further, and a good way to foster that is by encouraging fair wages.
Plus, school just isn't for everyone. Why should someone be forced into a less than stellar state of life just because their interests and skills aren't in engineering or biology.
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