While there are too many deceptive and shady practices in the student loan industry, many graduates who are burdened with certain levels of debt need to get over their predicament. I read a story where a guy graduated with some $35,000 in student loan debt and because he began missing payments and couldn’t find a job, over the course of five years that number skyrocketed threefold. Look, in that situation the “problem” likely is the fact that the guy isn’t willing to put himself in a position to be able to afford his payments. Doing some quick math shows that this guy was probably required to pay some $230 per month in order to make his payment.

Come on. Anyone can make $230 per month by working at a gas station or at a retail shop. I don’t want to hear about this guy complaining that he is a victim. I’ll listen to his story about how his life was torn apart and how he’s been stunted from advancing as quickly as previous generations of college graduates (trust me…I know), but don’t act like you’re a victim when – after five years – you couldn’t position yourself to pay $230 per month.

Quite a while ago I wrote an entry called “Personal Clarification on Student Loan Debt” where I stated quite clearly that I am no victim. One of the major problems that I see brewing out of the student loan debt dialogue is this victimized stance that so many people take. Hey – I signed the paperwork to get these loans and while I didn’t fully understand how much the loans would effect me post-graduation, I wasn’t taken advantage of by anyone in the student loan industry. Sure, I think that the “system” which decides who gets free rides and who has to pay is fundamentally flawed. I’m glad that it has been changing (too slowly) over the past six years since I graduated, but don’t paint me as a victim.

On a similar note, I’m not playing the old “fish story” game here either. In other words, I’m not suggesting that the guy whose story I read about only graduated with $35,000 in student loan debt and since I graduated $118,000, then I’m more deserving of pity. First, I don’t want pity (though money would be nice). Second, I’m not interested in promoting a race to the bottom between various student loan borrowers. I have a ton of student loan debt and though I’ve been diligently paying it, I’m still going to be on the hook for a while. That doesn’t mean that I deserve pity, though!

I sincerely hope that an honest national dialogue opens up about how to address the gigantic student loan debt burden that will continue to stunt our economy for the foreseeable future. Once policymakers realize that personal social advancement and personal wealth accumulation are not possible when America’s 20 and 30-somethings are saddled with unmanageable debt, then we might see some positive action. My fear, though, is that no one will realize this until it’s too late (imagine an economy that is poised to succeed but can’t figure out why drastically reduced home prices aren’t selling units and consumer spending is continuing to constrict). Here’s hoping that some forward-looking policymaker or legislator sees this problem early-on and begins addressing it as soon as possible!

Anthony Ratliff of Chicago may become a paralegal instead of a Web designer because he’s carrying $64,000 in debt and can’t afford to continue studying at the Illinois Institute of Art. Instead, he’s pursuing legal studies at a local community college.

“My dreams of doing what my talents allow me to do has been pretty much put on hold until the economy improves,” said Ratliff, 25.

A recent report by The Project on Student Debt found that nearly three of five members of the class of 2007 left school with debt. The average debt graduates carried that year was $20,098, a 6 percent increase over the previous year.

This really is a shame. Mr. Ratliff might be one of the best web designers of our time, but we’ll never know because he is being forced into a different profession. There are many stories of this happening over at Student Loan Stories and I know the feeling (somewhat). I wish Mr. Ratliff the best in his job search and I hope that he can pay down his loans in a reasonable amount of time.

In my situation (which is completely different than Mr. Ratliff’s situation) I might be forced out of my current job because they don’t offer enough of an annual salary increase. The job offers a standard 3% increase over the previous year’s salary – barely a cost of living bump. For those of us who go above and beyond the call of duty, we get an extra point or two in addition to the 3% (I actually got about three points higher because I’ve really kicked it up at work over the last 12 months). Frankly, though, it’s not enough for me to ever hope to get out of the rat race of living paycheck to paycheck with a meager savings for retirement. So I can appreciate Mr. Ratliff’s situation where he wants to do one thing (in my case, stay at my current job), but his student loans are forcing him to do something else (in my case, find higher paying employment).

The message that is reinforced in the article is that these are tough times. You’ll notice in the “comments” section of the Daily Record article that I had to make a comment to another respondent. The worst thing that can happen in this situation is for people to project their own personal situations on to the experiences of the subjects of these articles. Would you ever hear someone who has a job say to someone who just lost their job: “I didn’t lose my job because I’m a worthwhile employee. You should try not sucking at your job and maybe you wouldn’t lose it!” Of course not. The situation is the same with gigantic student loan debt. Sometimes students don’t have access to Auntie Mae’s fortune, the ability to go into the military, or the option to go to a less expensive school. Other times people DO work their entire time in college and graduate school and still wind up with some student loan debt.

All I’m saying is that it’s crazy for people to harangue and blast the people in these stories by using their own lives as an example. How narcissistic? My best to Mr. Ratliff and everyone out there fighting to survive under massive student loan debt.