"We" in this case, means US society. You can look at the laws, and the debates, and the campaigns of different political candidates, and the debates over bankruptcy law reforms, and the jokes on late night comedy shows, and you can see fairly clearly the consensus that society has settled on. We have clearly decided that higher education should be open to almost everyone, and that it should be affordable, although we're deeply conflicted on what that means.

> I'm guessing the 'we' breaks down the moment someone defaults on their loan hey?

I mean, we have a major political candidate campaigning in part on forgiving all student loans and making tuition free at state schools, so...apparently not? I mean, she's not doing that well in polling so far, but it's clearly a topic on the table for discussion.

> a bonanza for greedy, rapacious companies who can lump 20 year olds - kids basically - just starting their working lives with a lifetime of indenture that they can never break free from

That's not how it works in the US, as has been discussed a fair bit in this thread. Get into an income based repayment program and you can pay 10% of your discretionary income a year for 20 years, and then the balance will be forgiven.

> It is the ultimate business model! (Of which I'm guessing you're a part).

I don't even live in the US, have never had a student loan, and have never worked for an educational institution or a company involved in making student loans, so perhaps you should try making better guesses. :)

Society - all of us, insofar as we are imperfectly represented by our Congresstrons.