This is an opinion piece by Robert Hall, content creator and small business owner.
President Biden on Wednesday announced a student loan relief program designed to reduce debt for millions of Americans across the country. Current and former students with student loans are on the verge of having $10,000 to $20,000 in debt wiped out, depending on the type of loan.
An estimated 43 million Americans will benefit from this new plan. This can be a good thing, because people who have trouble repaying their student loans were probably never going to pay them back in the first place. Is this a good policy? It depends who you ask. If you ask a Democrat, they might say Biden’s plan doesn’t do enough to help low- and middle-income Americans.
If you ask a Republican, they are likely to say that this policy is not fair to those who have worked hard to pay off their debt. Both sides are right, and no one would have been happy with what he announced. What might the typical Bitcoin Maximalist think of this policy?
I don’t speak for all Bitcoiners, I can only speak for myself, but basically it doesn’t matter what the feds do, because they are functionally bankrupt. They know it, we know it, but the rest of society doesn’t know it or doesn’t want to accept the reality we find ourselves in, so they play with the charade.
At a fundamental level, Biden’s student debt relief plan is a nationwide vote-buying program. Democrats know that with inflation at 40-year highs and sky-high gas prices, it doesn’t end well for them in November. Clearing the debt of millions of Americans will be enough to get people to vote for the Democrats in November. The chances of a red wave occurring become less likely.
A quote from Alexander Fraser Tytler Lord Woodhouselee stuck with me, and I believe it applies to the current state of affairs. He declares, “Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist as long as the voters do not discover that they can vote the money of the public treasury themselves. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses on lax fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations is 200 year.
Considering what has happened over the past two years with censorship, forced vaccination and outright mainstream media propaganda, this quote is eerily accurate.
The chances of America surviving in its current form under these conditions will take a ton of hopium and prayers, I suppose.
Will erasing student debt help Bitcoin in any way?
Will Eliminating Student Debt Help Bitcoin? The honest answer is maybe, depending on the age profile of the average student loan holder and bitcoin buyer.
According to a White House estimate, 21% of student debt relief will go to those under 25 and 44% of the relief will go to 26-39 year olds.
Demographics are aligned when you cross-reference this data with the average “crypto” buyer. A report created by STILT revealed that 94% of all cryptocurrency buyers are Gen Z and Millennials between the ages of 18 and 40. Generation Y represents 76% of this total percentage.
The average student loan debt for millennials was $43,210. The demographics line up perfectly, so if this debt relief plan goes into effect, there’s potential for the $10,000 that would have been sent to the federal government to pay off student loans that could be spent on buying Bitcoin.
Will this phenomenon materialize in the future? One would hope, but I wouldn’t bet on that because the study was about cryptocurrency in general, and if you’re still dabbling in shitcoins, you’re not ready for bitcoin, period. If this debt relief plan ends up helping some Bitcoiners free up capital to invest in more corn, I’m fine. LFG. The system is collapsing in real time, and people who understand Bitcoin should reap the benefits of early adoption.
In the end, Bitcoin wins, so the feds can write off all the debt they want; it’s still game over for them. Stack the sats, stay humble, and take care of yourself and your family.
This is a guest post by Robert Hall. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.