Supreme Court deals a blow to Gen Z’s culture of entitlement
Opinion by Hudson Crozier, Washington Examiner, 6/30/23
The Supreme Court has let down countless young supporters of President Joe Biden by striking down his campaign promise to cancel or “forgive” hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt.
The high court found no justification for such a lofty proposal under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, saying it would effectively “rewrite” the law to authorize far more than the modest “waivers and modifications” it describes.
While the decision will no doubt spark outrage among left-wing groups such as the NAACP, which laughably declared that “the Supreme Court has failed America,” the justices did not take away anything that was owed to college students. The entire point of the program is that students owe something and want those who do not owe it to pay it for them.
Higher education certainly needs to be more cost-effective than it is right now, larded up as it is with extravagant spending and worthless majors. Anyone who pays attention knows that the federal government isn’t a good steward of our taxpayer money.
The sheer sense of entitlement from many in my generation, however, is part of a deeper problem. Many colleges and universities from which they want free education encourage this entitlement with their culture of hypersensitivity, obsession with preferred pronouns and “microaggressions,” and tolerance for unacceptable outbursts against those expressing unapproved opinions. We will not help them grow by catering to this immaturity on a financial level as well.
Generation Z notoriously struggles with financial literacy and responsibility and is racking up credit card debt faster than any other generation. Life is complicated, everyone makes mistakes, and not everything is our fault, but the Biden administration’s paternalism is beneath us. If our institutions act like spoiling parents, it will ensure that we continue to act like bratty children.
There is room for grace and charity in a prosperous society. I wouldn’t want to imagine an America without these virtues. But leaders should not foster irresponsibility in young people while forcing everyone else to compensate for it. Fortunately, a plain reading of the law stopped Biden from doing so.