Self-identified socialist atheist teacher goes viral for demanding student loans be canceled after divulging his own debt

A person who claims to be a socialist atheist teacher went viral after posting his personal financial situation and then demanding that student loans be canceled.

Steven Cotterill said that he and his wife had racked up $70,000 in combined student loan debt but still owed $60,000 after more than two decades.

"My wife and I left graduate school 23 years ago with a combined total of $70,000 debt. Since then we've made $500 monthly payments for 23 years ($120,000+). Today, we still owe $60,000," wrote Cotterill on Tuesday.

"Explain to me again why student loan debt shouldn't be canceled," he added.

While the tweet received a lot of support among those who want to see student debt canceled, others criticized Cotterill by pointing out that the outstanding debt was likely because they chose to make interest-only payments.

"Because this isn’t the responsibility of the people who didn’t make the voluntary decisions you did," responded Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review.

"Because you borrowed at a roughly 8.5% interest rate in the late 90s, never refinanced even as interest rates collapsed, made only the minimum interest payment, and failed to take advantage of the 3-year payment pause. Bad financial planning does not merit a government bailout," replied Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute.

"If you have multiple graduate degrees in your household & don't have any clue how to manage your money, that's a you problem, not a society problem. Pay. Your. Bills," wrote historian and writer Mike Coté.

"The rest of us chose to give up things like luxuries and vacations and pay our debts. We aren't paying yours, too," responded writer Dan Gainor.

"Because taxpayers shouldn’t bail out your bad financial decisions. Ever heard of refinancing? Ever heard of paying more than the minimum? And you had an unearned three-year pause. No sympathy, sorry." replied Ilya Shapiro of the Manhattan Institute.

The original tweet garnered more than 10.6 million views on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Cotterill tried to clarify the meaning of his tweet after being heavily criticized.

"It seems that the issue of student loan forgiveness is somewhat controversial in the United States," he added a day later. "My original post does not ask that my wife and I receive student loan forgiveness. It merely states our facts and then asks a question."

President Joe Biden promised to excuse student loan debt as a part of his 2020 presidential campaign, but he has only been able to forgive selective debts. Many in the media have also been excoriated on social media for only presenting the left-wing side of the student loan debate.

Here's more about the student loan debate:

Why Biden’s student loan relief plan is a SOCIALIST FAILURE

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