You make an excellent point there, and I have to admit that I don't have a good answer. Your username is apt, and I wish I could double up-vote you for reminding me of the outliers on the downside.
The cold-hearted realist in me says "Well, some people are going to struggle and fail in life, ulimately dying in debt and this is just a different mechanism that manifests in that sliver of folks with stupendously bad luck."
The compassionate human in me says "There ought to be a way to let people not have to suffer the rest of their life for stupendously bad luck when they were young."
The realist then worries about how to make that almost as gaming-proof as the current system where you have to die or at least fake your own death and create a new identity (either of which would "game" any system).
I would go so far as to donate to a charity setup to payoff the loans in those exceptional cases you describe (ideally at a negotiated discount, reflecting that those loans were unlikely to be paid anyway). Perhaps requiring that the person declare "normal" bankruptcy as well, and then that "qualifies" them to apply for a hearing of some sort before this new charity's board where they can state their case and answer questions. The forcing of "normal" bankruptcy as a qualifier is intended not to punish the individual but rather to ensure that it's not undertaken lightly and that the charity is hearing few frivolous cases.
You ahve shaken my belief system enough (in a good way), that you may have literally given me a direction to focus my future charitable endeavors. Thank you...
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You make an excellent point there, and I have to admit that I don't have a good answer. Your username is apt, and I wish I could double up-vote you for reminding me of the outliers on the downside.
The cold-hearted realist in me says "Well, some people are going to struggle and fail in life, ulimately dying in debt and this is just a different mechanism that manifests in that sliver of folks with stupendously bad luck."
The compassionate human in me says "There ought to be a way to let people not have to suffer the rest of their life for stupendously bad luck when they were young."
The realist then worries about how to make that almost as gaming-proof as the current system where you have to die or at least fake your own death and create a new identity (either of which would "game" any system).
I would go so far as to donate to a charity setup to payoff the loans in those exceptional cases you describe (ideally at a negotiated discount, reflecting that those loans were unlikely to be paid anyway). Perhaps requiring that the person declare "normal" bankruptcy as well, and then that "qualifies" them to apply for a hearing of some sort before this new charity's board where they can state their case and answer questions. The forcing of "normal" bankruptcy as a qualifier is intended not to punish the individual but rather to ensure that it's not undertaken lightly and that the charity is hearing few frivolous cases.
You ahve shaken my belief system enough (in a good way), that you may have literally given me a direction to focus my future charitable endeavors. Thank you...