To Agree and To Disagree

Consuming many different news sources is vital to be a fully informed citizen. Often, people find themselves caught in an echo chamber that either solely reaffirms their opinions or solely disparages them. To avoid that for myself, I have two distinct columns, one of which I disagree with and one I agree. I have got to break through that chamber one piece of writing at a time!

The first article is authored by Oren Cass and titled “Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness is Wrong. Here’s How to Handle College Debt Instead.” I realize that this article is a bit older (August of this year), but after reading it I felt that it was incredibly well written and deserves to be spoken about. As one can gather, Cass is against Biden’s student loan forgiveness. He believes that society has made college a “sine qua non of economic opportunity” when in his opinion it truly is not. He says that many students never graduate, and the others do graduate from college end up not utilizing their degree. Personally, the downplaying of a college degree is a bit too much. There are a sizable number of graduating students that are left without a job in the industry that they studied, but there are many that do move on to work with that degree. These people are presented so much more opportunity because of that diploma; without it, they would struggle. College is heralded as something that is entirely necessary because of the opportunities that it provides. It is necessary for some people to accomplish what they want to do and live how they want to live.

The second article is authored by Jessica Grose and titled “Why Parents Feel Like ‘Butter That Has Been Scraped Over Too Much Bread.’” The article overviews a “vibe” that has fallen upon the parents of America. Though I am not a parent, I do still sympathize. Grose explains that many people think that “everything feels more tiring [and their] to-do list is harder to conquer.” I believe that this has to do from a sense of nihilism that has blanketed the country. Grose mentions that the amount of stress that people have been under following covid, and the country’s recent financial struggles have caused people to find things less rewarding and harder to do. She argues that helping parents with better childcare services and reducing the stress on them is vital to removing this fog.