So much of folks' stances on issues boil down to one of the following:

"A bad thing happened to me & I got through it so I want to make sure it doesn't happen to other people"

vs

"A bad thing happened to me & I got through it so I insist everyone else go through it too"

This is prompted by the student-debt-forgiveness convo, but I want to stress that I think we're all vulnerable to falling into the latter position, & it's always worth stepping back to ask ourselves how much of our opinions are rooted in a desire to perpetuate our pain.

I think of conversations with older women about racism & sexual harassment--who says "you're all so SENSITIVE & don't know how good you have it, back in MY day" vs "we worked for decades to get where we are & there is still so much to do"

I think it's possible to approach the punitive position compassionately, to recognize that it's often a reflex grounded in fear--that your pain meant nothing, that you didn't *have* to endure what you did, that this thing you made a part of you wasn't necessary after all.

I'm belabouring this because I'm already seeing QTs of the top of this thread sort of assuming that being on the correct side of the student debt issue means never ever falling into the trap of the punitive position. Recognizing its affective power is necessary to countering it.