One way to divide a country by class is to observe who benefits and who pays for those benefits. In the U.S. it almost appears that we are elevating government workers to a Mandarin class with combined better pay, pensions, and workplace and tenure regulations than the people who pay their salaries. It is almost an unmentionable but very real caste system.
From The Associated Press, October 17:
The Biden administration has canceled student loans for more than 1 million in public service jobs
A student loan cancellation program for public service workers has granted relief to more than 1 million Americans — up from just 7,000 who were approved before it was updated by the Biden administration two years ago.
President Joe Biden announced the milestone on Thursday, saying his administration restored a promise to America’s teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public servants. He celebrated it even as his broader student loan plans remain halted by courts following legal challenges by Republican-led states.
“For too long, the government failed to live up to its commitments,” Biden said in a statement. “We vowed to fix that, and because of actions from our administration, now over 1 million public service workers have gotten the relief they are entitled to under the law.”
In total, the administration says it has now canceled $175 billion for about 5 million borrowers using several existing programs. Public Service Loan Forgiveness accounts for the largest share of that relief, while others have had their loans canceled through income-driven payment plans and through a 1994 rule offering relief to students who were cheated by their schools....
....MUCH MORE
This will obviously create resentment in those who don't benefit but I'm not sure the government workers can even be troubled to care about the class division. It's akin to a bureaucrat version of "Oderint, dum metuant" (Let them hate so long as they fear) rendered as "Let them hate us as long as they pay."
