Top progressive activist says student debt cancelation isn’t up for debate

Progressive activist Nina Turner is one of the loudest online advocates for student debt “cancelation,” aka having taxpayers absorb the loss for $1.6 trillion in federal student loans. But apparently, Turner also thinks that this issue is beyond debate and that anyone who disagrees with her opposes human rights, or something.

It all started Saturday with this tweet:

https://twitter.com/ninaturner/status/1558440528831733761

Turner said she hasn’t ever heard an argument against her position other than pure cruelty. So, I offered to debate her on it. She declined.

https://twitter.com/ninaturner/status/1558551894070640643

That’s fine! Turner has no obligation to debate me. Maybe she thinks I’m not worth her time. She does have far more followers than I do, to be fair.

But as it turns out, she’s actually unwilling to debate anyone on this subject.

https://twitter.com/ninaturner/status/1558561194398699528

That’s simply unhinged.

Student debt cancelation means spending trillions of the American people’s tax money to pay off the bills of a relatively affluent slice of society. One study even found it would benefit the top 20% six times more than the bottom 20%. It’s a regressive taxpayer bailout.

So, it’s little wonder that this proposal is unpopular with voters. Full student debt cancelation—Turner’s position—is supported by just 37% of the public, NPR polling finds.

That’s right: More than 6 in 10 Americans disagree with Turner’s proposal. But she nonetheless thinks it’s beyond debate, because it’s a question of “human rights” and “people shouldn’t profit from knowledge.”

It’s particularly funny to see Turner claim that there’s no place for profit in education. She is a professor, according to her Twitter bio. I wonder: Does she take a salary or any form of compensation? Or does she just teach as a form of charity?

Anyway, Nina Turner certainly doesn’t have to debate me on this issue. But that one of the most prominent progressive advocates for student debt cancelation is unwilling to debate anyone on the subject suggests that she knows how empty and hypocritical her talking points truly are.

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