It's possible in most situations. Most people have federal student loans—which are the ones that aren't easily discharged—and as long as you are on an income-based repayment program, the loans are forgiven after 25 years.

You are basically given two choices as an average person after you hit over $150k debt: 1) Spend 5-10 years throwing your life away to a job to try and grind away your debt; or 2) Work a low-income job for 25 years and spend your time more meaningfully.

Low income doesn't mean no income, it just means you don't get to participate in consumer capitalism the way those without debt do. You can fault people for their lack of foresight, but honestly if I was in that situation I'd probably opt for option #2 as well.