 So everybody's talking about student debt and if you're a student Well, enjoy your ramen because you broke. Yeah, they're taking all your money. I'm sorry. That's that's not funny But how bad is this problem actually, you know, those of us who aren't students were like come on Is it that bad? Yes, it's that bad. It's extremely bad So today think of me as your professor and I'm gonna walk you through exactly why student debt is a major crisis Why it continues to get worse and what we can do to actually fix it. Whoa. Hey Big mysterious number, right? What is that? Well, I'm gonna tell you and You're gonna love it. It's hilarious, but hang on Now this is America's personal debt visualized in 2005 in trillions naturally There's your cars your credit cards and down here is student debt But over time by 2010 student loan debt has eclipsed the others and by 2019 it has skyrocketed past them all Just for comparison. Here's what the increase in wages looks like over that same time period. Yeah, adjusted for inflation. It's flat You're welcome Sorry, I said that wrong. You're screwed You're extremely screwed and it's getting worse. How much student debt are we actually talking about? Well, the amount is Kind of staggering Think of it this way Here's a briefcase of cash. That's a million bucks Here's a billion dollars and this is the 1.6 trillion in student loan debt to scale One in eight of us are shouldering student debt. That's over 44 million Americans It's forcing young people to move back in with their parents delay buying a house or delay getting married Maybe not even retire until they're 75 That's an entire generation not buying homes not buying cars not saving for their families What's that doing to our economy to our workforce to our country? Not now number. I love you and you're hilarious, but I'm on a roll Look a bachelor's degree can increase your lifetime earnings by a half a million dollars or more and Students need to be able to take out loans But they should be fair the average student leaves college $37,000 in debt at 7% interest over 25 years that costs $78,000 and They're the lucky ones in some cases loans cost more than four times the amount borrowed That's not a good deal No wonder a million people a year default on their student loans And that doesn't mean the loan just goes away It means your life gets worse your wages can be taken tax refunds withheld your credit score shattered Even the IRS can come after you all because banks lenders and special interests have rigged the system to make it functionally Impossible even if you're forced into bankruptcy to get out from under your student loans These are special laws just for student loans Congress could fix these laws and make student loans more like regular loans But they're not gonna do that for a very good reason Congress doesn't work for you They work for them the loan companies Executives from student loan companies flew the chairman of the house education committee four times in their private jet to speak with him Do you know what the chairman told them and this is a quote? Know that I have all of you in my two trusted hands. I Don't know if he actually did this hand gesture, but he said those words That's insane. That's called corruption and right now. It's completely legal It shouldn't be happening You know who doesn't get that kind of access? you So we have two options We do nothing and quietly savor our ramen noodles in a deep state of depression Or we can get pissed off fight back to fix the student debt crisis. We have to fix the corruption crisis and fix in corruption Well, I actually have no idea how to do that, but but Nora does. Hi Nora. Thanks Ed Thank you Do you really like them or are you just saying that? Fine have to make corruption illegal and we can do that with a new law called the American Anti-Corruption Act It puts power back in the hands of the people where it belongs It would ban gifts from lobbyists to politicians as well as close What's commonly called the revolving door the tactic of lobbying firms hiring former congressional representatives and staff? it makes our leaders listen to us the people and Here's the best thing the American Anti-Corruption Act is incredibly popular with both conservatives and progressives But asking Congress to pass it isn't going to work Because right now Congress can't seem to do anything let alone bite the hand that feeds them So we have to go around Congress a tried and true way of moving America forward Throughout American history passing state laws has paved the way for federal laws We have a lot of fixed politics and a proven strategy to get it passed. There's just one more thing we need Professor Helms want to take it from here. Yes, I do. Thank you, Nora, but sorry quick question for you Do you like my shoes or not? Don't worry about it. You could be honest. They're I love them. I love them Okay, okay, don't believe you but Nora and I are part of a movement that believes the government should work for you and your family Not a handful of billionaires and special interests Millions of people are already involved in working across party lines to pass anti-corruption laws together We've racked up more than a hundred victories in cities and states across America and in 2018 We passed the most anti-corruption laws in American history But we have so much more to do and we need millions more people like you to get involved So right now like like right now Go to represent US and sign up to be part of the next anti-corruption victory in your state There are people in your community dedicated to this fight and they need your help If that's not for you join the Commonwealth a community of people giving whatever amount they can every month to support local Anti-corruption campaigns every single dollar goes to the front lines of the fight not to overhead or organizational expenses Sadly, we don't have time to wait Ready for the big reveal that number That's the amount the collective student loan debt has grown just since you started watching this video It's a pretty big number over a million dollars That's the rising crushing debt of everyday people trying to get a better education a better job a better life I told you the number was gonna be funny and Well, that was a lie. I just wanted to get you to stick around and watch the whole video the truth is and I'm very sorry to say this that number is horrifying and it is the direct result of corruption We have to end corruption now Join us