So...it might not be that bad?

I suppose that age 50 thing really is the saving grace of the whole system

So you just make minimum payments on the student debt until you retire

Exactly. The majority of the risk is taken by the government. It doesn't really effect your credit score as long as it's being paid

But I haven't checked that lately

Huh, that's kinda janky. 40 pounds a month for life though depending on what you earn

That's what I pay

I mean, it is less life-interrupting than any of the alternatives

I don't know about others

So, basically if you judge that you are going to repay the loan before age 50, you pay above minimum payment to prevent the interest from gouging you

but if not, you just end up essentially paying someone else's phone bill

I suppose that is preferable to a bankruptcy situation for everyone involved, though owing a large debt while still saving for retirement seems hella janky

@asparkofpyrokravte idk if you know this but college is free in the UK (as long as you are the right age), the loans only apply to uni

...But 40(pounds)\*12(months)\*30(years) is only 14.5k

Wow

Actually it would appear im not paying anything back at all as I don't earn enough. :/

I used to pay 40 when I earnt 22500

That really is the government betting on you getting a highish paying job

My loan is only like 22000

Yup. There losing that bet atm

@InsaneCaterpilla I did not know this. Interesting

So the UK really is doing the whole socialized post-secondary education

Given that I suppose I am a tad surprised the UK male rate of university attendance is still only low-40s%

Though that depends on the difference of utility between college and university

But anyway

Back to the debate.

Losing men at university does mean losing men in important fields that require a degree to enter. Like stem and medicine.

Only if those particular fields have declined

Attendance of uni /=/ attendance of specific degree

Medicine definitely counts then

I don't think it really does there, James. Remember that with affirmative action we're talking about people who are barely capable of entering the fields in the first place

Many university degrees do not find employment in their degree

these things are not unrelated

But if we're to go but oppression logic

They have the ability not the opportunity or the right background

The background being as men they were never given all the "women in stem* days

One of the keys behind the oppression logic is that they do in fact have the capability, but discrimination is stopping them. That claim couldn't really be made for affirmative action for women, and certainly not for men

Because even if the problem was systemic (some of it, much of it isn't), it isn't a matter of discrimination

And therefore affirmative action has no real power to fix it

You forget that the other half of oppression logic acknowledges that even if the selection isn't discriminatory it doesn't mean the sum of all of the differences leading up to it don't need to be righted

I'm mostly playing devil's advocate here

Right, there is that half, but that half doesn't lend itself to affirmative action