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It's not something I'd do, but I have a hard time blaming someone for making that sacrifice.

a) Why is it that you won't do it?

b) The issue is that they're sacrificing the financial security of their kids by living on the edge and that is irresponsible if you're someone's guardian.

Imagine a company/government says we'll go into heavy debt because we want to give our shareholders/citizens a good shot - is that not irresponsible?



Debt can go away but bad education doesn't.


Imagine a company/government says we'll go into heavy debt because we want to give our shareholders/citizens a good shot - is that not irresponsible?

Those are two different questions.

When it comes to a company, the answer is very often Yes. The purpose of most companies (there are some exceptions) is to maximize profits using all ethical and legal means. If the expected payoff of the capital investment the loan would finance is greater than the interest of the loan, then taking it very often makes sense even if it would risk bankruptcy if something goes wrong.

When asking about the government, it matters a lot about what you think the purpose of government is, and that is a philosophical question I will leave alone for now.


Mainly because I don't have any plans to have kids, but I'm also not the sort to take that kind of risk. I'd rather supplement a bad school with good resources at home and plenty of guidance.


I would say that you haven't thought about the power of a bad peer group can have over a good kid.

I didn't think about that stuff until I had kids myself, so it is not that surprising, given your position, that you haven't thought of that.


They are risking having their kids grow up with less access to resources in order to give those same kids one of the primary benefits of access to resources. If they did the research, understood the consequences, and were sincere about their reasons, it is the very epitome of a calculated risk.

It's not like the potential downside is living in the car. The potential downside is maybe being forced to rent in a worse area, and having trouble buying things on credit for a while.




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