When people buy a house that is too large or max out their credit cards, we let them declare bankruptcy eventually, right?

Your entire premise is based around the government waving a wand.

What I want to see is some basic reforms to stop student loan debt from crushing my peers' finances.

Like the ability to declare bankruptcy. In your scenario, the person that saves all their money instead of paying it back will lose their money, cars, etc. in bankruptcy. Just like an irresponsible person with other debt.

Is that too much to ask?

Likewise, tackling debt problems can start right now by funding public universities and ensuring nobody else has to go into large debt to get an education that employers expect for entry-level jobs.

If they reform the system tomorrow, and I am of the last generation to have to bear this burden, so be it. I will gladly pay off the debts I took out if it means nobody else has to deal with the torment of facing such large obligations. It takes a toll on my ability to buy a house, car, and even just be happy on a day-to-day basis.

And I'm actually in a really good place compared to most people I know.

Lastly, while I don't expect the government to just waive the debts away, I want to push back on your example.

Debts have been forgiven before. The government bailed out General Motors when it was insolvent, it bailed out banks that were insolvent, etc. We literally saw it happen to big businesses 10 years ago. Many were given 0% interest on the bailout money too.

Where is the offer to give 0% interest on the student loans? Or hell, even 2-3% interest? Not even forgiveness, just stop the ballooning interest rates. The government has more tools than anyone to ensure repayment in the long run, so the risk is lower for them.

If the government is in the business of bailing out entities, why is so absurd to think they can't bail out a generation of people who face systematic and often predatory loan schemes?

Likewise,

Wasn't it unfair to Ford, the only big car company to not take government handouts, when the government bailed out GM and the like for their financial mismanagement? What about the banks that didn't take part in the sub-prime mortgage scam? They did the responsible thing and their competition was bailed out by the government.

Sometimes, unfair actions are allowed to maintain a robust economy instead of letting it atrophy in unsustainable debts. If that logic works for big institutions, I think its kind of fucked up to say our nation's youth is any less deserving.

If someone is responsible and pays their loans off, great! But to say they are harmed if their neighbor is able to destroy their credit score and declare bankruptcy, or can get government refinance options with little or no interest if they don't have a lucrative job is just silly. It ignores the actions previously taken by the government to help the economy with bailouts and creates a phantom harm.

So to your last point,

I want to see

1) No more crazy loans given out. Make school cheaper or just lower the number of attendees. If school is that vital to the economy/American competitiveness, it should be subsidized more by government. -- Save the next kids coming down the line from this shit.

2) Offer some sort of government-funded refinancing at much, much lower interest rates. I'm talking like 3 years @ 0% interest then the rate increases every 2 years until it reaches 6%. This will give students breathing room to get their requisite experience/save for a house/car/marriage while in the 3 year interest grace period. Responsible people will pay off the debt as much as possible in this time, if they can, but those with less lucrative jobs can get the low-paying BS out of the way without having interest ballooning their debt. Then, as the interest rate climbs, the person will feel more and more incentive to pay it down as keeping the debt becomes more expensive.

Since we can't just declare bankruptcy outright on these debts, and the government has unlimited capacity to take the money via garnishments/at death the money will likely be obtained somehow.

And of course, ideally, we'd allow those who cannot dig themselves out of their debts, (think PHD in viking folklore of the 13th century), maybe give them an opportunity to declare bankruptcy after 10 years of payments. And this is not for people making decent money. I'm talking the people who a bank never should have financed the education of. If institutions want specialized students, they should find grants. We should not have banks funding hundreds of thousands of theater majors and gender studies/humanities majors without jobs for them.

Sorry if this is wrong. Maybe just skip to the last few paragraphs for my actual idea on some solutions.