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Comment by gjjrfcbugxbhf | Hacker News Reader

Don't be in that situation. No seriously. I even went so far as emigrating and moving to a country with a better welfare state partly to avoid this ever happening.

Not everyone has the luxury of being able to move countries+. Which is why we should all vote and lobby for better welfare systems - so that we and our loved ones never have to take these types of decisions.

Edit + It usually takes marketable skills that allow a well paid job such that welfare doesn't seem like a priority.

Edit Would down voters care to chip in with a comment? Drive bys don't really lead to good discussion.

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"Don't be in that situation."

That is not an answer.

If you are actually trying to discuss in good faith, then please respond to the topic at hand. Playing Captain Hindsight helps absolutely no one, especially the people in the situation, and really just serves as "I'm better than you!"

I absolutely agree that better welfare systems would be excellent, and would alleviate these problems quite a bit. But here in the US, that is not going to happen anytime soon. In fact, given the government in power now, I would expect the welfare system to get even worse. So please, do not offer "Don't be in that situation" as a suggestion.

"Which is why we should all vote and lobby for better welfare systems - so that we and our loved ones never have to take these types of decisions."

Pretty sure that is an answer even if its one that is unlikely to work for America this decade.

Please read with good faith and also appreciate that we don't all live in America.

The original situation is horrible. No one should ever be put into it. There is little point answering the question - it has no good outcomes. Instead we need to think about how to prevent it happening. I suggest that we should strive to build societies where it does not happen. I offered a concrete suggestion for how an individual can help themselves and another for how they can try to help everyone.

In terms of the USA - Lobbying by the public has slowed attempts to decrease healthcare provision in the USA. People like you that care and live there need to continue pushing.

I did read with good faith. Regardless of where you are, "Don't be in that situation" is not, nor never will be an appropriate response.

"There is little point answering the question - it has no good outcomes."

That's exactly why there is point in answering the question. It is a very real, very common situation that does actually occur. And that decision needs to be made many times.

"I offered a concrete suggestion for how an individual can help themselves and another for how they can try to help everyone."

You really didn't, as your suggestion is not applicable for the situation.

My point is that instead of standing around crying about how terrible it is that people need to take predatory loans (and it is terrible) we should work out how we can change things so that they don't have to. My suggestion is to work with a proven mechanism - the welfare state.

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