When your life is in shambles and the road from ruin is uphill and rocky there is a tendency for our brethren to convince themselves that the flatter road with smoother terrain also (might) lead to a safe place.  In other words, once we discover the real villain, we often decide this person is too powerful so we instead decide to pick on the gimpy blind kid who was just minding his own business.  It happens. We’re not perfect. However, sometimes we see two knights in battle, one for us and one against us, and we side with the one against us…not because we are frustrated with our own knight’s performance (which is what we claim) but because we can hurt our own knight more and we yearn to matter, or at least feel like we do. Now THIS is dangerous.

It is becoming somewhat chic for debtors, hipsters and young people to criticize Obama, essentially for not being the biblical messiah.  They use this criticism to justify their lack of participation in the political process and when criticized are quick to tell you how many doors they knocked on in 2008 and what Obama owes them, etc, etc.
Read the rest of this entry →

So I am aware that there are alot of blogs like this one, particularly ones that focus more on law school. I realize that these, like most blogs and radio talkshows before them are cynical, preachy and well…crazy. But am I a “Scam Blogger?” aka am I a blogger whose primary goal is to encourage individuals not to go to law school because I perceive it to be a scam?

Believe it or not I designed this blog to have balance. We have a conservative voice in Mike Triforce who loves the practice of law. We have someone who went the MD route, the PhD route, the MA route and someone who cut their losses. But there are some damning trends…

Read the rest of this entry →

Please Take What is Left of Me
Though I Must Admit
It’s Not Much

I Cannot Take Care of You
In the manner you deserve
I owe so much

Read the rest of this entry →

Here at Debtor’s Prison, we’re not big on posting links within articles.  But here’s one

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/your-money/student-loans/29money.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1275242514-wCTp6UtEV1S1hPtiShkU6Ahttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/your-money/student-loans/29money.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1275242514-wCTp6UtEV1S1hPtiShkU6Ahttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/your-money/student-loans/29money.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1275242514-wCTp6UtEV1S1hPtiShkU6A

I could respond to this point for point but that wouldn’t be fair to our readers too lazy to click the link and in order to provide themselves with the necessary context SO instead I will give the opposite scenario so my post stands alone.

Johnny and his parents approached college with a grim determination: to get through the process with as little cost and effort as possible.  Like many parents with their own lives Mr. and Mrs. Johnny were anxious to get another body out of the house and college savings weren’t what they could have been if certain cars hadn’t been leased and certain boats hadn’t been purchased.  But you only live once.  Besides, if Johnny possessed any particular gifts there would be scholarships.  There were no scholarships.

Read the rest of this entry →

Being a mother is tough today.  Particularly if you are the mother of an inmate in debtor’s prison.  At a stage in life when you the parent should be looking forward to weddings and grandchildren, to eating holiday meals in the first homes of your children, and to finally receiving a little financial help, whether its to take a dream vacation or simply so you don’t have to worry about coming up short when the mortgage is due…you instead are finding yourself financially supporting your children.  And let’s be honest, you’re not “giving them a little help” like a down payment so they can afford a nicer home for their young family, you are providing them with all the essentials, shelter, food and transportation.  Just like when they were 10.

However here’s the difference.  Even a parent of a ten year-old who is doing rather poorly in school expect said child to be relatively self-sufficient by the time they are in their mid-twenties.  However if you are the parent of a child in their late twenties or early thirties with no job prospects and a crippling debt load you must deal with the uncertainty of whether that child will EVER be self-sufficient even if they have been academically successful all their lives. 

Read the rest of this entry →

Hello my name is Benito Mario. I am a fan of the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies. Due to the gross incompetence and sheer inadequacy of recent films, in addition to a personal written apology I would also like you to pay my student loans. It really is the least you can do.

By way of background:Back when my life had hope I used to enjoy such classics as The Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies. A classic nerd, in addition to memorizing large chunks of dialogue I also had all the books from the Young Indiana Jones chronicles and the Heir to the Empire series…therefore I knew where Indiana Jones comes from and I knew what happens after Anakin finally restores balance to the force. What I didn’t know was how Anakin became Vader or what became of Indiana after he rode off into the sunset after finding the greatest treasure of all time. I spent literally 20 years thinking about the answer to these questions. It would have been nice if George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had spent say, 20 minutes thinking about it.

Read the rest of this entry →

So as my vacation began to wind down I asked myself how all the overpriced coffee shops, dive bars posing as pubs and tiny bookstores with the selection you would expect from any the shelf of an eighth grader with a C average stay in business during the other 11 months and two weeks when I never deviate from the from the well-worn path between the apartment and the hospital.  The answer of course is hipsters.

So what is a hipster? A hipster is a self-righteous individual well into adulthood who rationalizes living off an income they do not generate while contributing nothing to society.  The individuals are plagued by an almost crippling insecurity and the need to validate their existence by constantly talking about their own achievements real, exaggerated or imagined.  Hipsters tend to be very selectively judgmental, priding themselves on their ability to adhere to a personal code of ethics based upon a celebration of their own appetites and a condemnation of others who prefer different vices.  They are also self-absorbed. Facebook.  Twitter. Myspace.  Need I say more?

Is it possible for a student debtor to be a hipster? Am I…a hipster? Read on to find out

Read the rest of this entry →

My name is Icarus. I am 30 years old. Last week I met a 20 year-old older than me. Only two years into school was he. Yet he had borrowed more than me.

We were at a concert but he could not hear. The debt reached up to his very ears. A twenty year-old older than me. For I had much less debt than he.

A girl approached him. He could have been laid, but instead he talked about his financial aid. Aid if it can be called that. She turned to me and together we enjoyed the majesty of the concert.

He could not stay for the encore. For he had books over which to pour. Lest he remain poor. Every month new loans reminding him what was at stake. A twenty year-old older than me. For I had borrowed less than he.

Sadly I was able to take no joy in this. For on that day many years from now when he takes the podium to accept an award for excellence in his chosen field he will hear muted notes from the concert he missed all around him. And he will think of the girl. And his student debt unpaid. And the fact that the podium is in an empty room and the award one he gave himself. Then he will return to the temp agency, having never found a job utilizing his degree.

A twenty year-old. Older than me. For I have lighter chains than he.