The line above is from Dante's "La Divina Commedia," or The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, Cantos III.
It is also the opening line to Robert Penn Warren's Novel: All The King's Men. I have been listening to an unabridged audio book version of this novel over and over and over , all summer, as I have been working, and also in my truck as I have been driving to and from work. I just love the Novel, and RPW's poetic prose.
But, loosely translated, from Latin or Italian I guess, to English, the phrase in this Post title means: "So long as hope has anything of green."
And I cannot emphasize enough the spiritual decimation that massive debt can wreak upon the soul.
I find it ironic that I had once started out with the notion of learning American law so as to hopefully practice law in America, and then, some fifteen years later, to be seriously contemplating leaving America so as to escape a debt that originated in Law School
Keep in mind that my debt started out at 79K, and is now 300K, and growing at a rate just under 2K a month in interest.
So, if one figures a growth of, at minimum, 20K a year over the next 20 or 25 years, my Student Loan Debt will be over Seven hundred thousand dollars.
Probably higher than that, because my Debt has a fixed interest rate of 8.25%.
And the bigger the debt, the faster it grows (if one cannot handle the payments and keps deferring, as I did)
Also, remember that if your debt is over 100K now, you may well reach the 300K mark that I am at now, in a lot shorter a span of time than I did. Perhaps in less than 10 years.
Because when you defer, those interest and penalty fees add up, and up, and up, and up.
So......do I have hope? And does it have any trace of green left?
I don't know.
The way it stands now, and if I pay nothing or the minimun Income contingent payments, my loan will ultimately be discharged or "Abated" (The term of art) in 20 to 25 years.
I will be 65 to 70 years old, and I will owe income tax on the 700K plus amount that becomes "Abated"
Not a happy thought, and, as you can see, I am naturally contemplating another Country in which to live.
A commenter said that my only other two options are: 1. to accept the debt and realize I won't pay it off
(which is probably the mindset that a lot of other Student Loan debtors have or will have, or 2. To resolve to do my best to pay the loan off, and make a plan.
Something like that I think the commenter said.
And perhaps the two or three options I describe are ways or psychological tricks for warding off deep despair and desperateness.
However, one has to keep in mind that SL Debt ruins the credit score, and also makes one incapable of landing a job that requires a credit check.
Thgen comes underemployment, and more financial struggle, and more dings on the credit score.
No chance of getting a credit card, a mortgage, or a small business loan.
Also, what spouse in his or her right mind wants to get tied down with someone with this financial quandry attached to him or her? I mean: Love is grand, but still.......
And as youse all can surmise: I ain't no knight in shining armor no more. I'm just another bum in a rusty tin suit. A toad, and not a handsome Prince, and, when kissed, I will just turn into that indebted bum every time and for the rest of my indebted life.
Because debtors stink like poo.
Like I say, my ex-wife was very unhappy about my Student Loan debt, and did not want any part of her wages being possibly garnished, or her tax returns taken, or her property (in the form of a lien on her house).
And so, once more, and to conclude:
Mentre che la speranza ha fior del verde
But I dunno, because my hope is a very pale and pensive, and washed out, sun bleached pastel green by now, since the issue of 1 Trillion in Student Loan Debt that we all know about.......
keeps getting swept under the rug by......
well, I'll let y'all guess who it is that keeps sweeping the whole mess under the rug.
And, off topic, this scene is for me Lass, Ann Coulter.
Now make sure youse all watch all the way to the end.
Ah! Happy Endings!
